Movie Notes: Star Trek (11)

May 16th, 2009

= 5 stars

Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban
Directed by J.J. Abrams

Synopsis

The rebellious James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) enlists in Starfleet Academy and soon finds himself aboard the starship Enterprise, battling the same mysterious Romulan ship that destroyed his father’s starship 22 years ago.

The Good

• I wondered if rewatching all the preceding Trek movies beforehand would hamper my viewing of the new Trek, but I think it had the opposite effect. Beyond the travesty of 5, the most recent Treks 9 and 10 are insufferably boring. I prefer the strong personalities of the original generation (Kirk, Spock, and McCoy) to the cold, cerebral calculation of Picard and the rest, and it was such a relief to see unpredictable, off the cuff loose cannons commanding the Enterprise once again.
• Surprisingly little issues with the new actors replacing iconic characters. Quinto and Urban do better than expected, while Pine was slightly above the bar, definitely capturing that Kirk swagger. Zoe Sandala (Uhura) is a little too serious / sad, while Simon Pegg (Scotty) was a little too comic relief — that shouldn’t really hit until Star Trek 4 and 75 more pounds.
• This new Trek changes a lot from the old, with thankfully more hits than misses (see below). Liked the faster initiation of warp speed (no acceleration), faster phaser fire, and photon torpedoes which are more literally, torpedoes. There’s also an amusing amalgam of sixties sensibility and futurism: levers, knobs, mini-skirts — Uhura wears an old-school earpiece.
• The timeline / canon massacre worked for me, as a completely alternate timeline is created; a decent trick enabling things to veer off in a completely different directions. The “canon” and that annoying prime directive, both guilty of stifling Trek for the past decade, have been obliterated along with a particular planet.
• A few deft nods to the original, namely Kirk’s cheating of the Kobayashi Maru simulation we’ve known of since Star Trek 2, Captain Pike in a wheelchair, and “Admiral” Archer’s beagle.
• I’m a sucker for space battles.

The Bad

• Some sequences / details didn’t work for me, namely young Kirk driving a car to the Beastie Boys (pointless), Kirk running from two scary aliens on a snow planet (gratuitous), and Scotty beamed into a water tube (ridiculous). Silly details abound: the engineering decks of the Enterprise resemble a sewage plant, the bridge a meld of perfume counter, Apple Store, and the Rebel’s base from Star Wars, and Scotty’s Jar Jar alien sidekick. Old Spock’s spinning ship resembles more Lucas-y nonsense.
• Old Spock becomes a little too involved in the movie’s timeline, showing up for several scenes when just one would have sufficed. Things lead to a head-scratcher ending, as if Obi Wan never died.
• Worrying feeling that Abrams is only capable of directing frentic, confusing action. The moment of the two Spocks meeting is rushed through at warp factor unsatisfying.
• Still wish Shatner was in there, somewhere. A scene was written (!) but never made it in.

Conclusion

The new Trek is an entertaining blend of Star Wars and Star Trek, which could have easily, royally sucked. Instead, two hours of giving the prime directive and canon the finger has effectively blown away all the weak Trek of the past decade.

Before Star Trek (11), I was a cynical fan thinking a new Trek adventure was folly, and the entire universe was better off left in the past. Yet despite my complaints above, the movie won me over, and I now look forward to more adventures. That feat alone earns extra star for the time being. Star Trek (11) is the Iron Man of 2009. Highly recommended.

IMDB: Star Trek (11)
Wikipedia: Star Trek (11)
Rotten Tomatoes: Star Trek (11)