Hoo boy do I love this movie. And I was totally ready to hate it too. I grew up on Star Trek: The Next Generation and developed a huge appreciation for the series' attention to detail, believability and subtle character development. Therefore, I have been skeptical but hopeful over the past few years following the development and production of this reboot. But as a huge fan of Star Trek, I have certain standards I expect any entry of the series to meet and this film was setting itself it up to be a disappointment for me. Having a self proclaimed "casual" Star Trek fan direct the new Star Trek movie = strike 1. Intentionally designing the movie to cater to a general audience = strike 2. So, for me, the movie was on thin ice and any one problem could have been the proverbial strike 3. But, instead of returning to the bench hanging its head in shame, JJ Abrams' Star Trek launches that 0 - 2 pitch out of the ballpark and this Trek fan couldn't be happier about it.
As I said earlier, one of the things I appreciate so much about Star Trek is the attention to detail and believability. But in general public terms, attention to detail often translates to "dull and boring." The average movie-goer doesn't care how the quasar pulse generators impact deflector shield efficiency, but as a Star Trek fan, I expect a Star Trek movie to include details like that. The average movie-goer doesn't care about how Klingon - Romulan politics have evolved over the last 150 years. But as a Star Trek fan, I expect a Star Trek movie to include those little details. But all these little details used to be so important in Star Trek movies because they were created after a TV show. As a fan of The Next Generation, it only stands to reason that a movie would stay true to the details of the show. But that very thing, while respectful to the fans and honoring to the show, is what prevents the general population from enjoying earlier Star Trek films. JJ Abrams and his writers brilliantly avoid that catch 22 with their new film in a way that simultaneously respects fans and the old show but remains open to the general population: they set the movie in an alternate dimension.
Time travel is not an unexplored concept in the Star Trek pantheon of films. In fact, it's become almost uncommon for a Star Trek film not to include at least some element of time manipulation. But, by having Spock and this film's baddie, Nero, not only travel back in time but also to an alternate dimension (where this universe's future has yet to be written), the new film can forge a new mythology and structure all to itself. While this film drastically alters certain elements of the Star Trek formula, it's all perfectly ok because it happens in an alternate dimension. Star Trek fans can't complain about the fact that the engines don't function the same way the did in the old show, because maybe the engines in this Star Trek universe function a little differently. Fans can't complain about the fact that this new film doesn't stay true to the politics of the old series because maybe the politics of this dimension progress differently. And casual fans don't have to worry about the film being weighed down with those "unnecessary" details. The film forges a new identity for itself on a clean slate, but still manages to not step on the toes of the old series. Abrams and his writers were brilliant, absolutely brilliant, for including this one small but profoundly significant detail.
The film is sleek, sexy and bold in just about every way. The Enterprise is designed a little more realistically than it used to be, with a noticeable design inspiration coming from your local Apple store. The action is intense, unpredictable and gripping. The story is, admittedly, a little thin, particularly in the area of our villian, Captain Nero, but it's not really something that hinders enjoyment of the film. His motivations are stretched just a little bit to far for me to keep a total sense of believability. True, his planet is destroyed in his future, but the time travel trip sends him back to a time when his home planet is still intact. And furthermore, instead of going back home and enjoying life there, Nero waits 25 years for the character responsible to show up so he can pay for his "crimes." I thought that was just a little too much to ask for from this fan. And Nero's ship, a massive mining vessel, is inexplicably designed both on the inside and out. A collection of intimidating and endlessly complex spikes, spires and spines, the ship is armed to the teeth with devastating weaponry (what are these advance torpedoes and missiles doing on a mining vessel again?) and fraught with peril on the inside as well. Whoever designed the inside of the vessel was an idiot (from the standpoint of functionality). There are bottomless abyss-like drops, tiny little platforms for walking across and no handrails either. It's almost like the ship was designed to make it easier for people to die inside it. As a movie set for housing our villain, it's amazing. As a functioning mining vessel, it's a failure.
But I admit, Star Trek rises above these nitpicking little flaws and leaves them in the dust. The film gets everything else so right that I don't even care about how Nero's ship doesn't make sense or his motivations are a little muddy. He provides a bad guy for our heroes to combat, and for that he serves his purpose. I have only the utmost respect for Abrams for not only pulling this off, but doing it so incredibly well. The cast is spot on (staying true to the characters without simply imitating the original cast), the action is breathtaking, the characters are endearing, the humor is well used and the future is open to endless possibilities. The only real disappointment I experienced is that there is no TV show to accompany the film. Instead of waiting only a week till the next adventure, it will be years before I am reunited with the crew of the Enterprise for another (hopefully) rousing journey across the stars. But for what this film is and all it was up against for me, I can't imagine Star Trek being any better.
9/10
Star Trek
Directed by JJ Abrams
Produced by JJ Abrams and Damon Lindelof
Written by (Screenplay) Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman; (Characters) Gene Roddenberry
Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy, Eric Bana, Karl Urban, John Cho, Zoey Saldana, Anton Yelchin and Simon Pegg
Music by Michael Giacchino
Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action and violence, and brief sexual content
1 comment:
The only thing that wasn't in this reboot of an old franchise that disappointed me was the extended sequence wherein James Kirk received ninja training from Liam Neeson. That would have made Kirk SO much cooler, and it would have been entirely believable too.
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