*** No Spoilers ***
While not regarded as the pinnacle of science-fiction itself; the original series of
Star Trek has always been heralded as great television and inspired one of first and largest cult followings ever. As it was created before the age of digital technology [hell, it was created practically before what we now refer to
as technology], when one looks at it now, it can now look and feel incredibly dated. The fondness
Star Trek inspires throughout all who grew up with it, or discovered it later in life is easy to explain: The original series continued longevity [some of which carried over into later incarnations, but not to the same extent], is owed in most part- not necessarily to the quality of it's plots, special effects, "futuristic" technology or even it's vaunted Utopian vision of our future - although those all do play some roles, no - it is in fact the dynamic relationship between "the big three" characters,
Capt. James T. Kirk,
Mr. Spock and
Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy.
Captain Kirk was the quintessential hero, brave, brash and never afraid at just shooting at his problems.
Spock was the antithesis of this, eminently logical, a voice of reason a perfect foil to
Kirk's gung-ho attitude.
Dr. McCoy was a gel that held them together, passionate and compassionate adding a touch of reality to the situation. This dynamic was at the core of all the best episodes of the series and the better of the six movies that featured them. While the writers can claim some credit for this, it was the actors themselves,
William Shatner,
Leonard Nimoy and the late
DeForest Kelley that breathed the true life into the characters.
When
J.J.Abrams, a somewhat controversial choice for a director of a proposed new
Star Trek movie, was hired to rejuvenate the dead franchise after the damage caused by
Rick Berman and the complete failure of the final two
Next Generation movies toppled the
Trek house of cards prematurely bringing the brilliant
Enterprise series to an end; it sent ripples of discord throughout
Star Trek fandom. Even worse was that Abrams intended to swim naked through a sacred pool – the pool from which the original series itself was spawned and - shock-horror
recast Kirk,
Spock,
Bones and the crew with new young actors and touch on the character's
Starfleet Academy days.
Not long after it went into pre-production
Abrams "came out" by admitting he wasn't a
Trekkie. The Internet came alive with chatter, there were angry cries, forum-wars, letter campaigns and suicide bombers* all with
Abrams in their sights! Even in my own circle of friends, a circle constructed almost entirely of
Trekkies, some were simple naysayers or those that were convinced that
Abrams would "rape their childhood"**. I on the other hand, was delighted. If someone was to revitalise this dead franchise, it was someone with the drive, ambition and vision of
J.J. Abrams and I'd have chosen him over
Straczynski or
Whedon any day of the week***. Sure he's produced a whole of of shite in his day like
Felicity, Six Degrees,
Cloverfield but I loved
Alias [well the earlier seasons], I think
Fringe is coming together as one of the better shows on TV now and
you know what I thought of his feature film directorial debut-
Mission Impossible 3 [I was "too late" to watch
Lost - perhaps some day...] and all I asked was that people trust my judgement that it'll be Fuckin' - A, but some still weren't convinced even after seeing the trailers.
I'm delighted to say, that after seeing the movie, no less than 4 ardent naysayers [I'm still waiting on a few others] have contacted me to directly apologise for doubting [
Brian ran across a busy road, almost getting nailed by a bus to prostrate himself at my feet begging for absolution****]. Whether it was doubting my judgement or
J.J.'s ability,
I was right, I always am - it's a blessing but also a curse. Almost riding on a celestial manifestation of my supreme confidence in
J.J. Abrams -
Star Trek is a hit, world over earning almost $150m domestically [please correct this in the comments if you've an updated figure], he got the most important thing right, the characters - specifically
Kirk,
Spock and
Bones who have been born to a new generation of fans embodied by
Chris Pine,
Zachary Quinto and
Karl Urban respectively. They are quite different but yet so familiar - I was truly impressed.
Most of the remainder of the aspects of what
J.J. created exceeded even my own expectations, which were pretty high. The standard of the rest of the cast was extraordinary, especially
Bruce Greenwood as
Captain Pike. The quality of effects were outstanding from the opening shots of the destruction of the
USS Kelvin to the parting shot of the reimagined
Enterprise.
Michael Giacchino provided an enchanting, sublime and perfect score. A dynamic, faithful and of course humorous [when it had to be] screenplay was borne magnificently by all players.
There are three issues however, which detract from the experience, denying it a coveted *****+ rating.
A very minor contention is
Abrams' direction; there was a few too many lens-flares [something which he admitted himself], a bit too much shakey-cam and his characters were filmed at some very odd angles and inconsistently framed - I'm not blaming the DP for any of these, this is all
J.J. - 5-Star producer 3?-Star director.
Something else that was a bit distracting was that
Simon Pegg, while extremely funny, is not and will never be
Scotty; everyone else turned themselves into their character but
Pegg has turned
Scotty into, well -
Simon Pegg. I love the guy on screen but he's so wrong here - I'm wishing they went with
Paul McGillion instead for
Scotty and give a rewritten TFHC [Totally Fuckin' Hilarious Cameo] instead to
Pegg as the
Starfleet Academy barracks officer in
McGillion's place. Sorry
Simon, there was enough humour injected into this already without you trying to out-funny
Star Trek IV.
Oh and finally, the plot was complete nonsense, but that's never bothered me too much :p
This
Star Trek ranks below
Star Trek II and on par with
Star Trek VI. But comparing it to existing
Trek movies is not entirely fair as it's so different. I went into this film with an open mind. There was a time when I would have yelled "heresy" myself at seeing uniforms / insignia / ship designs / technology that were out of alignment with established
canon and would be forced to write letters into the
Star Trek magazine explaining why these things are. But now to me, they're just all part of some new incredible background art. They're not important to be right or "
Star Trek real", it's just important that they look good on screen and should be a problem only for the art director. So leave your cannon at the door people and accept this for what it is - a reboot, but with added
Nimoy :)
A sequel is not only confirmed - they started writing in March. But anything can happen now:
Antino Banderas as
Kahn? The Mirror Universe?
The City On The Edge of Forever with
Megan Fox in
Joan Collins' role? Or give everyone what they always dreamed -
Kirk eradicates the entire
Borg Collective from history after handing
Q his own ass - BOOYAH! Yes my friends - the sky's the limit...
Final Verdict: Wheather you're a die-hard
Trekkie or you wonder why a
pediatrician is in a Sci-Fi movie, you should still see
Star Trek- it's designed, built and was launched as a blockbuster to shatter the Final Frontier of
Star Trek movies eschewing the edicts of standard canon to bring
Trek itself where no fan has gone before: into a cinema with non-fans. Trust me. You'll like it.
Colonel Creedon Rating:
*****
