Star Trek - The Review

Let me begin by saying...

THIS is the movie I've been waiting for since the first time I watched Star Trek. 

Let me clarify that statement a bit. I've noted several times on this blog that I have never really been a Star Trek fan. Aside from my dad, I have known many a Trekkie (I mean, I am a dork after all, and Trekkie friends just go with that territory), and they are all hellbent on recruiting new Trekkies. I have seen every Star Trek movie and far more than my fair share of the television shows. The same things always killed them for me: poor character development, horrible acting, cheesy plot lines... etc. 

Then J.J. Abrams gets hold of the franchise, and magically, I'm excited. Another thing I've noted on the blog several times is my general love for anything involving Bad Robot (Abrams and his writers, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman). Cloverfield is in my top 10 movies of all time, and Lost and Fringe are both entertaining weekly watches. So, when I heard that he was heading up the new Star Trek film, I started to pay attention. 

After seeing the movie and having an entire weekend to think about it, I can say that this is what Star Trek has been waiting for since the beginning. For the first time in the history of the franchise, I walked out of a Star Trek movie with an ear-to-ear grin, pumped on adrenaline and giggling like a schoolgirl. 

The list of things that this movie does right is very, very long. Once you break it down though, the movie really begins and ends with its characters, so let's start there. I'm just going to go out and say this right now: The casting was spot-on perfect. I have never seen Chris Pine before (a quick IMDB search gives you a list of chick flicks and Smokin' Aces), but I hope to see a lot more of him. He plays Kirk even better than the man who originally portrayed the character - he's brash, egotistical, a complete flirt, and doesn't win a single fist fight in the entire movie. Tied in with his character is that of Zachary Quinto's Spock. Quinto seems born to play this role as he both channels Nimoy's Spock and adds flair of his own. Even in the movie where he comes face-to-face with Spock Prime (played by none other than Nimoy himself), he holds his own and then some.  

The chemistry between these two actors is just amazing. Every scene which features the two of them together is electrifying, particularly the scene in which... I can't talk about it for fear of spoiling parts of the movie. Suffice it to say they fight (you saw that in the preview trailers so I don't feel like I'm doing anything wrong by saying that out loud), and the scene that leads up to that is one of the best in recent memory. Superbly acted.

What's even more amazing is even though all the characters in the movie are instantly recognizable as their counterparts of yesteryear, each actor (Pine and Quinto especially) adapt their roles and make the roles their own. 

Karl Urban's "Bones" McCoy was perhaps the closest character to the original, but that works for me. His character always provided the fine balance between Kirk's impulsive nature and Spock's logical analysis of everything, and Urban does a fine job of maintaining that balance. Zoe Saldana makes a delightful Uhura, though I found the role a bit too... I don't know what the correct word for it would be. Sexy, perhaps, would be the closest term for it. John Cho was good as Sulu, and Anton Yelchin was absolutely delightful as Chekov, the young but very intelligent Russian, whose accent even the Enterprise's computers has a tough time understanding. Bruce Greenwood is just great as Captain Pike. He's just got one of those voices that fits the commander-type role so well. I don't think I'll ever forget his line from the third trailer: "Your father was the captain of a starship for twelve minutes. He saved 800 lives, including yours. I dare you to do better." That line, and Greenwood's delivery of it, just give me chills.

Eric Bana plays Nero, the story's big baddie. While not as epic perhaps as Khan, Nero provides an interesting and empathetic character. Once again on the subject of voices, Bana's voice lends so much menace to Nero's character. He's a fascinating villain to watch, and while he lacks the sheer evil of Khan, he ranks at this point as my favorite Star Trek movie villain. He has this depth of character that's lacking in most other Star Trek evildoers. 

The two main characters aside, the biggest surprise for me while watching this movie was Simon Pegg as Scotty. He just lights up the screen every time he's even in the frame, and the comedic relief he provides once his character is introduced is priceless. 

I could seriously go on for days about how much I love the casting and the acting and how great the characters were... but I won't. I do have to get this review actually posted at some point after all. :)

Regarding the story: Wow! After the last few Star Trek movies with bland story lines (and bland acting, but I'm trying to change topics here), watching this movie was like a splash of cold water to the face. It was refreshing and exhilarating. Plus, we get the added benefit of knowing that anything is possible with future installments of this new franchise thanks to some alternate-reality hijinx on the parts of the writers. I'm not usually a fan of such story lines (the alternate-reality ones), but I think this is an interesting direction for a reboot to take, and the writers really handle it well. They deliver the jaw-dropper tastefully while avoiding sounding utterly cheesy. But now we now that the sequels can break the rules, can go where no Star Trek has ever gone before, and that makes me positively giddy. 

Casting, acting, and writing aside, this movie excels in many other ways. The special effects are gorgeous. Handled by ILM - Industrial Light and Magic - the effects in this movie raise that bar for what we can expect in movie CGI. The space fight scenes top even those of the Star Wars prequel trilogy in their scope and awe inspiring-ness. Couple these with the powerful score by Bad Robot's favorite Michael Giacchino, and you get one amazing thrill ride. Speaking ofMichael Giacchino, not enough can be said about the work he does. From back in his days of scoring EA's Medal of Honor series, to his current job scoring anything and everything done by Bad Robot (Lost, Fringe, Cloverfield, Star Trek), the man is busy, but he never fails to compose wonderful and varied scores. Compare Star Trek to The Incredibles to see what I mean.

All told, it's hard for me to express how great this movie really is. Everybody's talking about the movie all across the Internet. Blogs are going up, Rotten Tomatoes is all about Star Trek this week (it's poised to become the highest rated Star Trek movie ever), and everywhere people are once again excited about a franchise that many, including myself, had written off as washed up and finished. But now, just look at how the Internet has come alive with this movie. It is, pure and simple, movie magic. It's been a long time since I've seen this kind of excitement generated for a movie. A looooooooong time. Hopefully Hollywood can put out some more "stand up and pay attention" movies such as this. 

In conclusion, if you haven't seen this movie in theaters yet, do so. This movie begs to be watched on the big screen (the bigger the better as far as I'm concerned). Heck I'm going to go see it again tomorrow after work with a friend, and there are tentative plans to go see it a third time in the coming weeks. 

Remember also that movie studios listens to one thing: your wallets. Don't just go out there and download some pirated copy of this movie. It's really a great movie, and you should pay to see it. By purchasing a movie ticket, not only do you get the satisfaction of seeing this movie as it was meant to be seen, you are telling the studios that they should be making more movies that live up to this exceptionally high standard. 

9.9/10.0