|
 J.J.
Abrams, you had a lot to answer for. After the catastrophe that was
2008's Cloverfield (Feel the
Wrath of Diva here), my expectations were seriously lowered for his
subsequent project; a cinematic revamp of the classic sci-fi TV series,
Star Trek. I couldn’t have been more exhilaratingly surprised by what I
saw. As I excoriated the director for making one of the most awful
big-budget monster films I’ve ever seen, I am thrilled to give Abrams
all props and praise for creating the greatest theatrical adaptation of
a TV show ever made.
As Abrams’ Star Trek opens,
the U.S.S. Kelvin’s first mate, one George Kirk, assumes the mantle of
captaincy under some very trying circumstances. We discover that his
son, Jim was literally born in a cosmic war zone, which may account for
the wild, restless young boy and teen we meet shortly after. Similarly,
a half-breed Vulcan child named Spock is fighting his own demons; the
brilliant student suffers daily from the taunts and prejudice of his
emotionally-challenged alien tribe because Spock is the issue of his
adored human mother. Besides being an origin story about the young crew
of the Starship Enterprise, the plot centers on a slightly convoluted
bit of time travel coursed by a pack of angry Romulans, led by the
grieving, insane Nero. In the original series, Romulans were kind of
the also-rans behind Klingons for the title of alien arch-enemies of
Starfleet Command. One of the failings of Star Trek’s script is the
Romulans don’t even merit their own original storyline: In a rip of the
entire plot of Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan, Nero’s planet has been
destroyed and he blames the death of his wife and people on a character
who is decades away from committing the actions Nero blames him for.
Yeah, see what I mean about convoluted?
It’s okay, though, because
there’s so much other stuff to keep the eye busy and the fun factor way
high that thinking too hard about the intertwining chronology will just
give you a headache. The film is lovingly shot with the first glimpse
of the iconic NCC-1701 spaceship sure to emit sighs of awe and
gratitude, as if you’re looking at an old friend all spiffed up for the
first time. The quips from the original show that have become part of
the American vernacular are here, there’s a Vulcanate “live long and
prosper”, a “Good God, man,” followed by Spock being called a
“hobgoblin” “out of his Vulcan mind,” by Bones McCoy. The uniforms are
fairly untouched, including those of the infamous “redshirt” crew. Fans
of Eddie Murphy will chuckle over the inclusion of a green love interest
for horndog Kirk. The famous Captain’s bridge hasn’t much personality,
often looking unfinished in scenes; it’s hard to get a read on what
exactly the Enterprise looks like inside. Instead of the rich,
saturated colours of the original series, Abrams makes the interiors of
the Enterprise blindingly shiny with lens flares off the walls. One
visual clunker is the starship’s transporter; the “Beam me up” effect
looks jarringly cartoonlike, with crudely-drawn animated white lines
crossing over the teleportee, making the original method from 1966 look
downright state-of-the-art by comparison. The Romulan ship is a sharp,
tentacled nightmare and the Starfleet hub itself is a monolith floating
in space, with the smaller spacecrafts hitched around it like petals.
There are some fun action pieces including a neat bit of dangerous
skydiving and some hand-to-hand combat with a nice modernisation of
Sulu’s fencing skills. One of my irks with the film reminded me
uncomfortably of Abrams’ previous cinematic spew; the inability to keep
the camera still when there’s stuff going on. I don’t know how many
times I have to tell Hollywood, shakycam does not, I repeat for the
zillionth time, does not amp up the action. Once we have Spock and
Kirk’s big battle against the Romulans, it’s difficult to make out
what’s happening or even get a good look at their shiny new phasers
because of the jumpy cuts.
The skinny on the James
Tiberius Kirk; I’d seen Chris Pine previously in a film called Bottle
Rocket and found him pleasant, but not particularly attention-grabbing.
Sure, he’s adorable, but he seemed to fade away in the presence of
stronger actors. Unhappily for Mr. Pine, Star Trek’s entire ensemble
consists of stronger actors than he is. With a roguish gleam in his
eye, Pine’s Kirk shows moments of scapegrace charm early on, but never
convincingly evolves into the strong hero we’re waiting to see. His
Kirk is serviceable, but not particularly standout or memorable.
Perhaps he’ll grow into it over the inevitable sequel?
Instead, much of the
brilliance in the film falls on the pointy ears of Zachary Quinto as the
youthful version of the bi-racial Vulcan, Spock. Quinto plays Spock as
a sensitive and devoted Momma’s boy (- in the best sense), with a
very visible undercurrent of the seething emotions so despised by the
natives of his home planet. Sleek and thoughtful, Quinto seizes the
role the way I wish Pine had. Quinto is vibrant and canny, taking the
best effects of the immortal portrayal by Leonard Nimoy. Somehow,
Quinto makes Spock so alluring that he is actually a bit of a sex
symbol, complete with a surprising romantic interest. You go, Vulcan.
There are others in the cast
who are simply wonderful; Anton Yelchin is spot-on as the 17-year-old
wunderkind, Pavel Chekov, bright-eyed and eager with a Russian accent
thick as borscht. Simon Pegg is Scotty, the Enterprise’s engineer. I
didn’t get too much of a nostalgic feeling from Pegg, more like he was
playing an entirely new character with a broad Scots accent. Still,
it’s Simon Pegg and that’s usually good for a laugh, regardless. Eric
Bana proves that even bald and in funny face makeup, he’s still stunning
as the twisted Romulan, Nero; capturing the wounded Shakespearian
gravity of the vengeful alien survivor. The other big joy in the cast
was Karl Urban as a younger Leonard “Bones” McCoy ( - Yes, we find
out how he got the nickname.). Urban is pitch-perfect and utterly
delightful as the acerbic, high-strung ship’s physician. Through every
scene of the good doctor’s increasing exasperation, I kept staring hard
at Urban and wondering if there wasn’t some of DeForest Kelley’s DNA in
him somewhere.
Star Trek does a remarkable
job hitting all the right notes with die-hard Trekkies and engaging
those who’ve never heard of a tribble. Is it as good as last year’s
Iron Man or Dark Knight? No; it’s not nearly as clever and the plot
weaknesses are too glaring. Is it a good, fun time that delivers
exactly what it should and then some? Oh yeah. The bar for the
blockbusters of summer 2009 has been set very high.
Welcome home, J.J, most is
forgiven.
~ The Lady Miz Diva
May 7th 2009
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