Director: J.J. Abrams
Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy, Eric Bana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Karl Urban
Tagline: "The Future Begins"
Random Trivia: Abrams was not a Star Trek fan growing up. Gene Roddenberry first floated the idea of a Star Trek prequel in 1968. Talk picked up again in the late 80s/early 90s, and a script titled Starfleet Academy made the rounds for a while. Yelchin has now played both a young Chekov and a young Kyle Reese in Terminator: Salvation. Joshua Jackson, of Dawson's Creek/Fringe fame, auditioned for Kirk. I don't wanna wait... for this Romulan attack, to be over...
Better late than never. Yes, it came out a few weeks ago, but here's a belated Star Trek review. See, I lack plot devices like time travel when it comes to getting shit done. Damn it!
Mild spoilers ahead.
My review in one word: MegaFuckin'HolyAwesomeBatman [HB- Batman is awesome, and so is this movie.]
I didn't say it would be a real word.
Where to start with this... when J.J. Abrams was tapped to helm a Star Trek reboot, I was curious. The guy has serious chops - I need to catch up with it, but Lost has definitely caught my interest. Random people I meet seem to constantly recommend Fringe. Seriously, they walk up to me off the street and say "Hey buddy... watch Fringe." It's creepy. I enjoyed Cloverfield, shaky-cam and all, for what it was - a big monster movie that was all kinds of brain dead fun.
So you had me interested. Abrams has written, directed, or produced some pretty solid material over the last few years - and then he happened to mention that he wasn't a Star Trek fan.
Curious.
Here's the thing - I'm not really a Star Trek fan either. I was too young for the original series, although I did see the sixth movie during its original theatrical run (and thought it was a pretty decent flick given I'd only seen a handful of the original series episodes, and The Voyage Home on VHS).
When The Next Generation was at its peak, everyone around me seemed to love it, and I did jump on the bandwagon for a while. Q, the Borg, the Romulans, a solid cast, Data's quest to understand humanity and how exactly he fit into the universe... thematically, this is probably one of the deepest Sci-Fi shows to this day. And the pinnacle of the franchise, quality wise. Argue all you like over which is better, ToS or TNG, but The Next Generation was able to do much, much more given modern technology, a bigger budget, and more time on the air.
On the silver screen, Generations bridged the two series quite well, and was followed up by First Contact, which brought back The Borg. After that, it was downhill for the next two Next Generation movies, and the small screen series that followed suffered from Department of Redundancy Department syndrome - too many episodes covering the same themes. Deep Space Nine had its moments but was often overshadowed by Babylon 5, and eventually, even the writers came to realize that the space station setting was too restrictive, adding in the Defiant. Voyager became yawn-worthy, and Enterprise just didn't spark much interest.
The franchise wasn't dead in the water, but it needed to either disappear for a while, or at least get a drastic face lift. A non-fan would be just the person to trigger that.
Cue the Abrams. Using a time travel plot device to create an alternate time-line for the original series Enterprise crew, and assembling a superb cast, Abrams has pulled off one of if not the best series reboot in ages.
Casting is spot on. This has been said in review after review, but close your eyes: Karl Urban has clearly done his homework. He goes above and beyond with his portrayal of country doctor in space Bones McCoy, taking over from Deforest Kelly.
Heroes bad-guy Zach Quinto looks, if not sounds, like Leonard Nimoy, and he really had the most difficult task here: Original Spock Leonard Nimoy is in the film, playing what has come to be called Spock Prime - Spock as he exists in the "future" of the original series time-line. Advanced in years, but still working to solve all sorts of Federation and Vulcan issues, logically.
Spock is the catalyst for this film, and his inclusion triggers all of the events to come. Or the events of the past. However you want to view it, his failure to save the Romulans in their time of need triggers Eric Bana's Nero to head back in time to destroy Spock, attacking the wrong ship too early in history and creating an alternate future that allows Abrams to do as he pleases without concern to cannon while appeasing die-hard Trekkies (or most of them at least).
Long story short: Nero shows up and wants to wipe out Spock, old Spock (Spock Prime) goes back as well. Nero arrives a tad early and attacks the Kelvin while the ship is under the command of Kirk Sr. and the eventual commander of the Enterprise, Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood), who later on becomes a mentor for Chris Pine's James T. Kirk. Without giving too much away, history is altered, and Kirk reluctantly - more to show off than anything - signs up for Starfleet Academy. See what they did there?
Urban's McCoy befriends Kirk early on, while Spock sees only a hotshot in Kirk, and takes some convincing by Spock Prime that their is, indeed, grounds for a friendship.
How Kirk comes to sit in the Captain's Chair of NCC-1701, and how Spock becomes his first mate, is covered along the way. All the major players are introduced, and each gets a chance to display their respective trademarks - Bones' country drawl, Chekov's accent troubles, Kirk's passion for the extra-terrestrial ladies, Spock's internal and external conflict as a half-human, half-vulcan - with a mother played by Wynonna Ryder?!? I must be high... oh wait...
Effects wise, prepare to be floored. Paramount spared no expense and Abrams got the most out of what he had to work with. Since this is, after all, a sci-fi summer blockbuster I can gladly report that the effects don't rip you out of the movie for a change.
Lightly Baked Observations:
- Sulu signs up for an away mission because he has some combat/weapons experience... fencing! wtf? Except that... John "Where the Fuck Is Kumar?" Cho pulls some bad-ass shit with a blade that actually makes this joke pay off
- Pegg's Scotty is hilarious, although introduced late in the film... keep your eye open for tribbles! I didn't catch them til they were pointed out to me later.
- Yelchin was actually better in Terminator: Salvation - his Kyle Reese impression is pretty impressive, no pun intended, but his Chekov isn't bad either
- the red shirt is a tool! and yes, he bites the dust on the away mission
Screw you, red shirt. You're just fodder anyway.
The only downside - the green alien chick Kirk beds down could have been hotter. [HB- And could have been much less clothed.]
Final thoughts: With the creation of an alternate time-line, Abrams can do just about anything with sequels. If he's got some balls - and it seems like he does - he could pull off some pretty awesome shit. Bring about contact with the Borg early. Kill off a major character. Bring in Seven of Nine and the hot Vulcan chick from Enterprise... bow chicka-wow-wow...
Anything is possible in the final frontier. Well maybe not that last one, unfortunately...
Overall rating: Fully Baked (5 out of 5)
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