I've been excited for the new Star Trek film for quite a while. While I've had a complicated relationship with the franchise (when it's fun, I love it; too often, however, it's just a bunch of techno-babble and bumpy foreheads that nobody can identify with), this seemed like a great take on Trek - a modernized version for a younger generation. Based upon this movie, Hollywood doesn't think particularly highly of my generation, but they sure did make an exciting movie.
The film is directed by J.J. Abrams, the man who directed Cloverfield, and written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who wrote Transformers. The result is pretty much what you'd expect of Star Trek as envisioned by the creators of Cloverfield and Transformers. To me, Abrams did a fantastic job; Orci and Kurtzman represent much of what is wrong with this movie.
The story: Young James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) is a rebellious douchebag, who is nevertheless goaded into joining Starfleet by Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood). After beginning a vicious rivalry with the Vulcan Spock (Zachary Quinto), Kirk and the other Starfleet cadets are called to planet Vulcan. There, they find that they alone stand between the psychotic Romulan Captain Nero (Eric Bana) and the utter destruction of Starfleet.
The biggest problem is the script. The film has plenty of fantastic setpieces that look absolutely great, are thoroughly exciting, and are facilitated only by a series of incredibly unlikely coincidences. It is really only Abrams's slick direction that keeps our suspension of disbelief up. Orci and Kurtzman are also responsible for several incredibly painful and generally terrible attempts at humor, and for the near-complete destruction of the character of Kirk. The old Star Trek was enjoyable, as Gene Siskel often observed, because it was about characters who liked each other and whom we liked; in this new incarnation, we do not like Kirk (and neither do any of the other characters). Chris Pine makes a valiant effort to salvage the character, but ultimately it's the most gruesome victim of the script.
This is compensated for, however, by Spock. This is really Spock's movie, which is strange considering that Spock used to be (almost by definition) an extremely boring character. Zachary Quinto plays the character expertly, and the script gives him room to explore an emotional side of him that we've never seen before. The movie is most interesting when Quinto is on screen.
The rest of the cast generally does a good job, with the notable exception of Karl Urban, who plays Dr. McCoy with all the skill of a supporting actor in an elementary school play. He plays a parody of McCoy - every line is delivered like he's satirizing the original series. It is not a natural performance; everything he says is said with the same forced manner and inappropriate emphasis that typifies a small child that is pretending to be angry.
Perhaps the film's greatest strength is the fact that it is absolutely gorgeous. I will repeat that Abrams did a fantastic job; he knows exactly how to use a camera to keep an audience on the edge of their seat (although the light flares and reflections are at times overwhelming). The special effects are, at all times, exciting and beautifully constructed. (I highly recommend taking the opportunity to see them on the big screen.) Also notable is the stellar set design; every location is visually interesting, and for the first time in history, the engineering deck on a Federation starship actually looks like an engineering deck.
I disagreed with several of the decisions that were made in this movie, but I thoroughly enjoyed it - it looks great, it's exciting, and Zachary Quinto's Spock is not to be missed. It is a departure from the old Star Trek, but it retains most of what made the old Star Trek great. Star Trek nerds will not like it; Star Trek fans will, as will those who are less than familiar with the franchise. I recommend that you see it in theatres.
The film is directed by J.J. Abrams, the man who directed Cloverfield, and written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who wrote Transformers. The result is pretty much what you'd expect of Star Trek as envisioned by the creators of Cloverfield and Transformers. To me, Abrams did a fantastic job; Orci and Kurtzman represent much of what is wrong with this movie.
The story: Young James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) is a rebellious douchebag, who is nevertheless goaded into joining Starfleet by Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood). After beginning a vicious rivalry with the Vulcan Spock (Zachary Quinto), Kirk and the other Starfleet cadets are called to planet Vulcan. There, they find that they alone stand between the psychotic Romulan Captain Nero (Eric Bana) and the utter destruction of Starfleet.
The biggest problem is the script. The film has plenty of fantastic setpieces that look absolutely great, are thoroughly exciting, and are facilitated only by a series of incredibly unlikely coincidences. It is really only Abrams's slick direction that keeps our suspension of disbelief up. Orci and Kurtzman are also responsible for several incredibly painful and generally terrible attempts at humor, and for the near-complete destruction of the character of Kirk. The old Star Trek was enjoyable, as Gene Siskel often observed, because it was about characters who liked each other and whom we liked; in this new incarnation, we do not like Kirk (and neither do any of the other characters). Chris Pine makes a valiant effort to salvage the character, but ultimately it's the most gruesome victim of the script.
This is compensated for, however, by Spock. This is really Spock's movie, which is strange considering that Spock used to be (almost by definition) an extremely boring character. Zachary Quinto plays the character expertly, and the script gives him room to explore an emotional side of him that we've never seen before. The movie is most interesting when Quinto is on screen.
The rest of the cast generally does a good job, with the notable exception of Karl Urban, who plays Dr. McCoy with all the skill of a supporting actor in an elementary school play. He plays a parody of McCoy - every line is delivered like he's satirizing the original series. It is not a natural performance; everything he says is said with the same forced manner and inappropriate emphasis that typifies a small child that is pretending to be angry.
Perhaps the film's greatest strength is the fact that it is absolutely gorgeous. I will repeat that Abrams did a fantastic job; he knows exactly how to use a camera to keep an audience on the edge of their seat (although the light flares and reflections are at times overwhelming). The special effects are, at all times, exciting and beautifully constructed. (I highly recommend taking the opportunity to see them on the big screen.) Also notable is the stellar set design; every location is visually interesting, and for the first time in history, the engineering deck on a Federation starship actually looks like an engineering deck.
I disagreed with several of the decisions that were made in this movie, but I thoroughly enjoyed it - it looks great, it's exciting, and Zachary Quinto's Spock is not to be missed. It is a departure from the old Star Trek, but it retains most of what made the old Star Trek great. Star Trek nerds will not like it; Star Trek fans will, as will those who are less than familiar with the franchise. I recommend that you see it in theatres.
