Posted on: May 13th, 2009 REVIEW: Star Trek (Ryan’s Take)
There was a time, albeit brief but concentrated, that I was doubtful of the new Star Trek. Not doubtful of its quality per se, but for the life of me I couldn’t fathom a franchise so in tune with a niche crowd being a mainstream success, let alone a “summer blockbuster”.
Surely, I believed, a property such as Star Trek had become so ingrained in its own culture, so defined by its fans that the iconography, the name alone would send those who weren’t “Trekkies” running for screenings of Ghosts of Girlfriends Past or Wolverine for a second week in a row.
Surely, I believed, J.J. Abram’s attempt to re-invigorate the sci-fi franchise would suffer the “Star Trek Effect”, as the majority of it’s predecessors have. This refers to the box-office trend, most noticeably in Trek films and other properties with a rabid fan-base – the film has incredibly high numbers for midnight and Friday showings, with the numbers a fraction of that days later. They always come out at once.
Well I eat my words, folks.
Star Trek is a huge, popular, main-stream accepted hit. Everyone’s into it – kids, adults and everyone in between.
Here’s the real kicker though, Trekkies – at least this one – is loving it. Star Trek is fantastic.
To quote my Twitter feed – J.J. effing nailed it.
Star Trek isn’t so much of a “remake” or “reboot” as you think. For a mainstream film, and forgive that terms overuse in this review, the concept and script relies heavily on previously established cannon. Utilizing the time-travel and alternate reality method, what we have is for all intents and purposes a new Trek, one that does establish the concepts and characters of this universe, but at the same time isn’t talking down to hardcore fans. It perfectly balances this with a decent story, great pacing and a fairly stellar cast. The film stands out from every previous entry in the franchise and yet fits in perfectly.
Before I continue felating this new coming of Kirk and crew, there are a couple minor beefs I have with the flick. They certainly aren’t enough to derail me on the love train of Trek, but they should be noted – the film isn’t without its flaws. So, in quick, dismissive, point-form:
- [SPOILER] As the film’s villain, Nero had a more personal motive, bent on revenge at Starfleet and more specifically Spock. I found it a bit unusual that he would turn into this global James Bond-ish driven villain by going after every planet in the Federation after destroying Vulcan, his original goal. When he sends the drill down the Earth, I wasn’t really prepared for it; I didn’t really clue in and think “okay, this is the big bad, finale”. There are direct references and themes pulled from Wrath of Kahn, which is regarded as one of, if not, the best Trek film – which had a very personal, confined story about a villain and his vendetta.[/SPOILER]
- Checkov (played by the young Anton Yelchin) chewed major scenery. He was the one cast member that took me out of the film every scene he was in.
- The script at points seemed a little to convenient. I have seen this before with the writing team of Orci & Kurtzman (Transformers, Transformers ROTF). I think they are very linear thinkers, and maybe underestimate their audiences. I’m not saying they’re bad writers, just simple. Trek in particular relies heavily on coincidence and happenstance, perhaps one too many times. But at the end of the day, it’s still compelling and entertaining. I am left with the small hope that a more intricate sequel will come.
That about does it for the inevitable hissy fit from yours truly.
Now back onto the good stuff…
Like I said above, the film does a phenomenal job of respecting the source material, so to speak, and even paying tribute to it. The cast (other than Chekov) is well formed and executed and bring something fresh to such iconic roles. Given that there are so many characters to include though, a lot of them get minimal screen time. Besides, it really is Kirk and Spock’s film – Star Trek served as a great way to not only re-introduce the two characters, but to really put into context their relationship and how it is and will develop. We also get an incredible amount of depth to these individuals and their rocky starts of self-discovery. Spock battles his conflicting identities, his need for control over fate and the loss of everyone he loves. Kirk goes down that very same road throughout the film, but almost as a yin to Spock’s yang; he’s out of control, unfocused and without guidance. They’ve really established this tri-force of Kirk-Spock-Bones, and just how necessary they are to each other.
There is a risk in going back to a character’s origins with new actors; do you put a completely new spin on them, angering purists and disassociating the franchise, or do you emulate the characters, and mimic them? This Trek struck a fine balance between both these things. We can see that these are younger versions of those characters. They act different, and maybe even sound different, but you can see the subtleties (the opposite in Checkov’s case) that capture the essence of the character. Having them younger and all hot doesn’t hurt either. I do want to make note of Karl Urban’s performance of Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy – hands down the standout of the film. He has a limited role, but goddamn Urban was perfect. He’s definitely channeling the original actor more than anyone, but his casting is just so darned inspired I wanted to see far more. It was really great to see the blossoming brotherhood between Kirk and Bones; this Trek really fleshed out the whole big-brother thing going on with Bones being the curmudgeonly yet protective father-figure to Kirk’s confident bravado.
Kirk is also the source of much of the film’s comedy, something not really touched on throughout the franchise, with exception to the wretched Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. The new Trek delivers constant laughs throughout, with Scotty – played electrically by Simon Pegg doing an incredible Scottish accent – filling the shoes of comic relief.
I’m going to cut this short, as my real passion is tearing down shit films and truth be told I find that more fun…
If you aren’t a fan of Star Trek or are unfamiliar with its properties, I strongly encourage you to go and see the flick. I’d bet my money that you will be surprised. Star Trek is a wonderful action-sci-fi story, full of depth, character green alien chicks and tight uniforms.
And you know we will be seeing a lot more of them over the next decade.
2 Responses to “REVIEW: Star Trek (Ryan’s Take)”
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Richard Christensen Says:
May 14th, 2009 at 2:04 pmI found it odd that there was little character devlopment with Nero, I actaully found it difficult to relate to the character because I did not know exactly why he was doing what he was doing and he had very little back story given, had they done that Bana’s perfomance would have been that much better.
But as a whole I thought the film was awesome and really exceeded my expectations, I really like this idea of an alternate storyline because it opens up a whole new world of ideas and oppturnities instaed being restreicted to the canon of stories and history -
Richard Christensen Says:
May 14th, 2009 at 2:05 pmI am still waiting for someone to bring Q to the big screen, however i may have to wait a while, if not forever.