Okay, Star Trek, you got me.
I tried to get into Star Trek before, I really did. Episodes of The Next Generation were reasonably entertaining, but all the subsequent series bored me to tears. Even the much heralded Wrath of Khan, while not a bad movie, never really made its way onto my list of favorite films. The only Star Trek that I universally enjoyed was the original series, with its Twilight Zone-like philosophizing and cheesy production values. Now I’ve only seen a handful of episodes, but every one I have seen is both intelligent and fun. Seems like since the 60s Star Trek has been heavy on intelligent and light on fun.
No more. Even if you don’t know a thing about the Star Trek franchise, J.J. Abrams’ new version of Trek is phenomenal. Going back to the original crew was a masterstroke. Everyone and their mother know who Kirk and Spock are, and I would wager just about everyone who has heard of them has a fondness for the characters, even if they’ve never seen a single episode of Trek. These characters, and their relationships, are what made Star Trek such a phenomenon in the first place. But thanks to Abrams, these interesting characters are actually doing interesting things for the first time in 40 years, and that makes all the difference.
This is one of those edge of your seat summer blockbusters to be sure. There are show-stopping action sequences starting from the very first scene. I especially enjoyed the opening and closing space battles and the entire sequence with the drill on Vulcan. This Star Trek actually uses the setting to give the movie some excitement. Back in the days of the original series it always felt a little like a show about pirates in space. The Enterprise was the boat, and each week there was an exotic port of call. Until the day space travel becomes commonplace (and we’re all hoping it will) the idea of being on one should be a fun adventure, not a bunch of boring procedural nonsense.
But exciting as the movie is, it doesn’t forget that people love Star Trek because of the characters. Even if you’ve never seen an episode of the show, I don’t know how you won’t get a tiny bit emotional when an aged Spock tells a young and inexperienced Kirk, “I have been, and always shall be, your friend.” The relationship between Kirk and Spock is just so powerful, so much a part of our culture, that it means something to everyone, even if they don’t realize it. The new Star Trek chooses to make that relationship its central focus, and that is where I felt it was most successful. I’m not a “Trekker” so I feel it would be outside my authority to talk about the friendship between Kirk and Spock, but for me its always been a moving and brilliantly understated part of the Star Trek mythos.
I can’t say enough good things about the movie. The performances were all great, especially the new Kirk, Spock, and McCoy (although I don’t know why Winona Ryder was here) and having Leonard Nimoy there to play the older Spock really helped ground the movie in the established Star Trek universe. Eric Bana is good as the villain, Nero, but I wish we would have gotten a little more time with him. The music was appropriate, if not incredibly memorable, though the return of the original theme over the credits is a wonderful touch. There were lots of great little callbacks to the original series (and, I’m told, many of the other series) and moments of real emotion. This is Star Trek the way it was always supposed to be: Character driven space adventure.
You know it’s a good movie when you just can’t think of anything else but seeing it again. Unless something comes along to really surprise me, there’s no doubt this will be the movie of the summer. This movie felt a little like Batman Begins: Great in its own right, but laying the groundwork for something even better. I’m going to have high expectations for the sequel, but it really has the potential to expand on what this movie set up and be something even greater. I can’t wait.
I always considered myself a Star Wars fan instead of a Star Trek fan, but this movie might have changed my mind, at least for the present. It’s baffling that a Star Wars prequel, depicting the seemingly awesome story of Anakin Skywalker’s transformation to Darth Vader, can be so lifeless, while a Star Trek “prequel”, depicting the seemingly mundane story of Kirk and Spock pre-original Star Trek, can be so phenomenal. Just one of the mysteries of the universe, I suppose.
(NOTE: I’ve been having a blast lately watching original series Star Trek on youtube. If anyone is interested in seeing where it all began, that’s a great place to start!)
No comments:
Post a Comment