Review-O-Matic: Star Trek (2009)
The Short Version - How FRAKKING AWESOME was this movie? I loveloveloved it. GO SEE NOW.
Full Disclosure. From the age of eleven (more likely earlier than that!) to about twenty, I was a trekkie. I waivered about the age of thirteen (I discovered heavy rock music) but I always had a soft spot for Star Trek. I *loved* TOS, films 1-4 and 6. TNG introduced me (and the world) to Patrick Stewart (whom I still have an inappropriate crush on nearly twenty years later!)
The rot set in, for me, with Deep Space 9. I fell asleep watching the pilot (I was at a con and didn't get to bed until about 2am the night before... you do the math!) and by the time that I might have given it another thought people were telling me that Babylon 5 was better... Fifteen years later - they're still right you know.
In my defence - I didn't completely walk away from Trek, I still saw the films in the cinema (Nemesis is the exception) but they didn't have the same ZOMGIHAVETOSEETHATAGAIN!!11!!! factor as some films I could name (hellooo thar Lord of the Rings!)
That is until now.
J.J. Abrams has done something that I can think of only one person doing in the past. He has taken a franchise that was dismissed as being 'irrelevant' 'nerdy' and 'dead' and made it something that *everyone* groks. Making it accessible to everyone from 5 to 105, to the hardcore nerds to critics.
The other person is, of course, Russell T. Davies. No, I don't make the analogy lightly.
When the 'reboot' was announced, skeptical monster was skeptical. I had thought that Mission: Impossible III was a good film but questioned whether Abrams could take on a part of my childhood and not completely ruin it. The fact that the film was due at Christmas '08 didn't exactly help his case.
Then I saw the trailer when I saw Watchmen on my birthday and I began to believe that perhaps this *might* work. Then when the reviews started coming in... I was sold.
So - for the benefit of those who have been asleep or on Za'ha'dum for the last six months... This film deals with the birth (literally, in one case) of the team that would become legends. The command crew of the U.S.S Enterprise.
It does it in a way that will appease the fanboys and brings everyone else on board. Not to mention completely reset the entire 'verse in the same instant. Yes, they use the maguffin of time travel and make it *work*.
Thought you knew Trek canon? Not anymore! It just went out of the airlock.
Simply, Abrams and his writers give themselves a blank canvas and I'm pleased to say that they don't waste the opportunity for a moment.
The casting is just great. If you think of these characters in the same way as you would say The Doctor or James Bond and you've gotten it right. Even so, I have to give mad props to Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban and Simon Pegg.
Quinto, like Brandon Routh (as Clark/Superman in the most awesome Superman Returns) sold me on both aspects of Spock's heritage. Spock is not as emotionally repressed as he has been in the past. In one scene he makes 'Live Long and Prosper' sound like 'Shove it up your arse!'. He nails it.
Karl Urban... what can I say? If you're thinking that you've heard the name and weren't sure where from... he was Eomer from The Two Towers and Return of the King I have loved Leonard H. 'Bones' McCoy since I was wee. His gruffness, his heart of gold, his snarking at Spock, his devotion to his duty... DeForrest Kelly was a damn fine actor. Urban takes all of those qualities and makes that Southern gentleman into his own. When he says 'Dammit Jim!' it sounds real, not like a cliche at all.
So much love for this character it's not funny.
Simon Pegg is awesome as ever. No disrespect to James Doohan but it's a pleasure to see and hear someone who was born on the right damn landmass take on this role. Let's not talk about how 'appalled' I was to hear that he was actually Canadian (apologies to the Canadians)
If any of ma Scottish peeps are reading this, please report back on how good the accent is? SP said he was trying for Glaswegian (his missus is from that fair city) and from my badly tuned ear (four days vacation isn't enough!) I think he nailed it pretty damn well.
It goes without saying that he stole each and every scene he was in. He always does.
The rest of the cast all have their moment to shine - Chris Pine as Kirk was... wow. He takes the 'best' bits of Kirk and leaves out the Shatner bits (does that make sense?!)
The inclusion of a 'certain' actor and his character works a lot better than it has any damn right to. There was one line that gave me a lump in my throat; if you know Trek, you'll no doubt have the same reaction as me when you hear it. I don't want to spoil it but it... works beautifully.
The production design is just *awesome*. Yes, the Bridge does look like an Apple store but the rest of the design looks 'normal' and lived in. It might very well be the 23rd century but the tech looks like it's a logical progression from our own. Scotty's beloved engines look like *engines*. Though I have to say, the bad guys ship looks like a Shadow ship (from B5) on steroids!
One thing I loved was the emotional drama of it all. From what I remember of M:I3, Abrams throws the audience right in at the emotional deep end. If you have a perchant to getting teary then take a hankie. You won't make it to the credits before you need it. I sure as heck didn't.
Is now a good time to note that the pairings that arise are not the pairings of old? Though if someone does write good Kirk/Spock from this, I'll happily read it (If they make it Kirk/Spock/McCoy all the better!) The main het pairing does come at you from leftfield but it's a lot more believable than some het pairings I could name *coughTivaSam/JackSG-1cough*.
If you're a Trekkie/Trekker, may I recommend watching *all* of the credits? There is no Easter egg at the end but a dedication that made me very happy.
All in all, I haven't been this gleeful about a Star Trek film for over twenty years. It's that good. I want to go see it again (IMAX ho!) and I hereby name it as a film of the year. It is that damn good.
Full Disclosure. From the age of eleven (more likely earlier than that!) to about twenty, I was a trekkie. I waivered about the age of thirteen (I discovered heavy rock music) but I always had a soft spot for Star Trek. I *loved* TOS, films 1-4 and 6. TNG introduced me (and the world) to Patrick Stewart (whom I still have an inappropriate crush on nearly twenty years later!)
The rot set in, for me, with Deep Space 9. I fell asleep watching the pilot (I was at a con and didn't get to bed until about 2am the night before... you do the math!) and by the time that I might have given it another thought people were telling me that Babylon 5 was better... Fifteen years later - they're still right you know.
In my defence - I didn't completely walk away from Trek, I still saw the films in the cinema (Nemesis is the exception) but they didn't have the same ZOMGIHAVETOSEETHATAGAIN!!11!!! factor as some films I could name (hellooo thar Lord of the Rings!)
That is until now.
J.J. Abrams has done something that I can think of only one person doing in the past. He has taken a franchise that was dismissed as being 'irrelevant' 'nerdy' and 'dead' and made it something that *everyone* groks. Making it accessible to everyone from 5 to 105, to the hardcore nerds to critics.
The other person is, of course, Russell T. Davies. No, I don't make the analogy lightly.
When the 'reboot' was announced, skeptical monster was skeptical. I had thought that Mission: Impossible III was a good film but questioned whether Abrams could take on a part of my childhood and not completely ruin it. The fact that the film was due at Christmas '08 didn't exactly help his case.
Then I saw the trailer when I saw Watchmen on my birthday and I began to believe that perhaps this *might* work. Then when the reviews started coming in... I was sold.
So - for the benefit of those who have been asleep or on Za'ha'dum for the last six months... This film deals with the birth (literally, in one case) of the team that would become legends. The command crew of the U.S.S Enterprise.
It does it in a way that will appease the fanboys and brings everyone else on board. Not to mention completely reset the entire 'verse in the same instant. Yes, they use the maguffin of time travel and make it *work*.
Thought you knew Trek canon? Not anymore! It just went out of the airlock.
Simply, Abrams and his writers give themselves a blank canvas and I'm pleased to say that they don't waste the opportunity for a moment.
The casting is just great. If you think of these characters in the same way as you would say The Doctor or James Bond and you've gotten it right. Even so, I have to give mad props to Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban and Simon Pegg.
Quinto, like Brandon Routh (as Clark/Superman in the most awesome Superman Returns) sold me on both aspects of Spock's heritage. Spock is not as emotionally repressed as he has been in the past. In one scene he makes 'Live Long and Prosper' sound like 'Shove it up your arse!'. He nails it.
Karl Urban... what can I say? If you're thinking that you've heard the name and weren't sure where from... he was Eomer from The Two Towers and Return of the King I have loved Leonard H. 'Bones' McCoy since I was wee. His gruffness, his heart of gold, his snarking at Spock, his devotion to his duty... DeForrest Kelly was a damn fine actor. Urban takes all of those qualities and makes that Southern gentleman into his own. When he says 'Dammit Jim!' it sounds real, not like a cliche at all.
So much love for this character it's not funny.
Simon Pegg is awesome as ever. No disrespect to James Doohan but it's a pleasure to see and hear someone who was born on the right damn landmass take on this role. Let's not talk about how 'appalled' I was to hear that he was actually Canadian (apologies to the Canadians)
If any of ma Scottish peeps are reading this, please report back on how good the accent is? SP said he was trying for Glaswegian (his missus is from that fair city) and from my badly tuned ear (four days vacation isn't enough!) I think he nailed it pretty damn well.
It goes without saying that he stole each and every scene he was in. He always does.
The rest of the cast all have their moment to shine - Chris Pine as Kirk was... wow. He takes the 'best' bits of Kirk and leaves out the Shatner bits (does that make sense?!)
The inclusion of a 'certain' actor and his character works a lot better than it has any damn right to. There was one line that gave me a lump in my throat; if you know Trek, you'll no doubt have the same reaction as me when you hear it. I don't want to spoil it but it... works beautifully.
The production design is just *awesome*. Yes, the Bridge does look like an Apple store but the rest of the design looks 'normal' and lived in. It might very well be the 23rd century but the tech looks like it's a logical progression from our own. Scotty's beloved engines look like *engines*. Though I have to say, the bad guys ship looks like a Shadow ship (from B5) on steroids!
One thing I loved was the emotional drama of it all. From what I remember of M:I3, Abrams throws the audience right in at the emotional deep end. If you have a perchant to getting teary then take a hankie. You won't make it to the credits before you need it. I sure as heck didn't.
Is now a good time to note that the pairings that arise are not the pairings of old? Though if someone does write good Kirk/Spock from this, I'll happily read it (If they make it Kirk/Spock/McCoy all the better!) The main het pairing does come at you from leftfield but it's a lot more believable than some het pairings I could name *coughTivaSam/JackSG-1cough*.
If you're a Trekkie/Trekker, may I recommend watching *all* of the credits? There is no Easter egg at the end but a dedication that made me very happy.
All in all, I haven't been this gleeful about a Star Trek film for over twenty years. It's that good. I want to go see it again (IMAX ho!) and I hereby name it as a film of the year. It is that damn good.