| Overall Grade: |
A |
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| Story: |
A- |
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| Acting: |
A- |
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| Direction: |
A |
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| Visuals: |
A+ |
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A New Trek That's Just Amazingly Entertaining
by bck (movies profile)
May 6, 2009
227
of
250 people found this review helpful
Now, THAT'S a summer movie filled with action, adventure, characters you can enjoy wrapped in an emotionally charged story that thrills and excites for the most part. While this is a whole new movie that reinvigorates the legacy that is Star Trek, it also manages to acknowledge everything that has come before while making it a rip-roaring first step into what promises to be long-living franchise.
At the core of the movie is the beginning of the whole she-bang as we follow the lives of two particular Starfleet officers, James Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachery Quinto) as they come together, slowly pulling the other recognisable characters or Leonard "Bones" McCoy (Karl Urban), Uhura (Zoe Saldana - who played a Trekkie back in Steven Spielberg's The Terminal), Sulu (John Cho, Chekov (Anton Yelchin) and Scotty (Simon Pegg) into their gravitational field. While I would put that as the "core" of the movie in that much of the story revolves there, there is a much larger plot at hand which is best that I don't lay out here (you can find plot thread all over the internet at other reviews).
For most fans of the TV series and the Classic Movie Series (that's the first six), there is a lot of history that is touched upon including the appearance of Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood), nods to Admiral Archer (from the Enterprise TV series) and including Kirk's infamous Kobiyashi Maru maneuver that was recounted in The Wrath of Khan. While not all of the main casts completely nail their characters, and let's be fair - it wasn't really going to happen and the story-line allows them the flexibility of change, they do step up to the challenge admirably.
Karl Urban in particular mimics the mannerisms and intonations of DeForest Kelly's McCoy remarkably well while Smion Pegg's Scotty reflects the exuberance of the character. Quinto looks perfectly cast as Spock, taking the character back to his TV roots with the occasional flash of emotion, but he does have to measure up to the original Spock due to Leonard Nimoy's appearance in the film.
The others - Cho, Yelchin and Saldana - all have their moment to shine and pretty much create their characters in slightly new incarnations but not departing too much from the originals. Pine not only has to step into the shoes of William Shatner but also carry a majority of the movie on his shoulders. A lot happens around his Kirk and while he doesn't quite intone Shatner's mannerism, a lot of what makes Jim Kirk the man he is does arise in Pine's performance, sealing the role as his own.
As good as they main cast of characters are, and they are good in taking the characters to heart and making them much their own, balancing up against the good guys is one of the most intriguing "villains" of the Star Trek universe so far. Nero (Eric Bana) isn't out to just do bad things or is after some prized pice of technology or cause civil unrest, he is a pained individual who needs to share his pain with those he deems responsible. It is an incredibly complex performance and yet a simple character to nail down, but Bana brings a sense of gravitas that would elevate Nero beyond the simple "villain" label.
Going beyond the human characters, the biggest change comes from the old Enterprise herself with a very snazzy bridge design and layout that makes it look both sleek and functional. We also get into the barebones belly of the NCC-1701 with all the piping, water treatment, electrical systems being out in the open and anyone who's worked maintenance in a building will appreciate the living systems of the ship being shown instead of the cleaner covered decks that features in previous models. The sense of functionality prevails and I, for one, find it fascinating where spaceship designs are concerned.
Also aiding the movie tremendously is the rousing score by Michael Giacchino that opens the movie with dark overtones over the company logos and then tears away into the first of many action sequences. There are also emotional underscores that play out beautifully. When those familiar tones come on at the end, with the voice-over of those immortal words, I couldn't help but be choked up a little at the nostalgia of it all, especially when the old TV score (by Alexander Courage) plays over the end titles.
Sure there are some minor quibbles here and there (oh, such changes to the mythology), but in respect of the overall presentation, it all serves to give us one great thrill ride of a summer movie that truly entertains and, surprisingly, exceeds any expectations. I already want to go for another round. |
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