Some of you may be asking those questions even as you read this sentence. I can't say that I blame you; there are lots of important things going on in the world right now, and even the most die-hard (DIE HARD!) of Trek loyalists would have to admit that those issues need to be at the front and center of our minds and hearts: a sluggish economy that has forced millions to run screaming into unemployment offices; the tragic slaying of five American soldiers by a U.S. Army sergeant; Mariah Carey's husband going berserk over an Eminem song; and so on, and so forth.
Well, that last one hardly qualifies as important, but you get the gist.
But I'm not here to opine about important things; if you want to read that stuff, go buy a newspaper.
No, I'm here (yet again) to talk about Star Trek--in particular, the latest cinematic offering by J.J. Abrams and Co., which arrived in theaters last Friday (just before Mother's Day. Perfect timing. I'm sure the theaters were positively swarmed with mothers who were trampling each other [as well as the few straggling males and children present] for the best seats. But probably not).
Well, I went. Now, to be frank, I've never been a huge fan of Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 crew. No offense to them, or to the actors who portrayed them, but Star Trek: The Original Series (which I prefer to call "Star Trek Classic") always seemed a bit hokey to me. Obviously, the special effects (though groundbreaking in their day) now seem pathetic when compared to those presented in Star Trek: The Next Generation (again, though, I call it New Star Trek). And when you stand those special effects up next to, say, Transformers (2007, I think), well...I think you get the picture. By today's graphic standards, Star Trek Classic just can't hold its own. And yet, it's one of the most loved television series of all times (it was just released in Blu-Ray, for crying out loud; none of the other Star Trek series has received that honor).
So I went to the movie with a bit of anxious anticipation. I had seen the previews, and I liked what I saw there, but, well--there was a part of me that wished Abrams could have used my favorite crew (from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, or Cherry Star Trek (it's just cooler than regular Star Trek). I just wasn't sure I wanted Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Scotty. But, it was Star Trek on the big screen again, and I had to give it a try.
I loved it. Parts of it weren't quite Trek (mostly action, very little philosophical pondering or big ideas, and greatly reduced technobabble), but it enough of it was Trek-ish that I could recognize and enjoy it. The special effects were, in a word, AWESOME. The plot was a bit formulaic, relying a little too heavily on the tried-and-true Trek device: time travel. But the real shiny spot was the characterization. I worried that no one would be able to play James T. Kirk without essentially mimicking William Shatner, who chewed up tons of scenery and several of his fellow actors each and every time he spoke in Star Trek Classic. And when Chris Pine first showed up as Kirk, I thought, "Really? He's Kirk? Am I supposed to believe this junk?" But there was a key point in the movie--near the end,where Kirk and Spock are working together to bring Kirk's plan to fruition--where I said, "you know what? He's got it." Chris Pine made Kirk his own, without asking us to forget about Shatner. And I didn't think that was possible.
Zachary Quinto owned Spock--his mannerisms, his struggles, and even the slightly nuanced sense of humor possessed by his predecessor, the inimitable Leonard Nimoy. My only problem with Quinto was that I initially struggled to see him as anyone but Sylar, the serial killer he plays on Heroes. But that only lasted for, like, five minutes. After that, he became Spock.
I swear, Karl Urban must've watched DeForest Kelley's Leonard McCoy on a constant loop for four years straight. His portrayal was spot-on, and one of my favorites of the movie. The scene where he and Kirk meet for the first time? Absolutely priceless, and almost worth the price of admission all by itself. His is the perfect blend of professionalism and gruffness that defines McCoy as a character. I loved every minute of it.
Simon Pegg's Scotty was also great, though underused in this film. He is hilarious, and though he played Scotty a bit too over-the-top, I still believed that Montgomery Scott was the most brilliant engineer in Starfleet (even if he was slightly unbalanced).
The rest of the cast performed admirably in their various roles, but their characters were not in the spotlight as often as the others. Make no mistake about it: this movie belongs to Kirk and Spock, and it's a doozy. Go see it; you won't regret it.
One last word: the sign of a good film is that it leaves something with you when you depart the movie theater. Toward the end of the movie, when Spock flashes the Vulcan sign in a gesture of well-wishing, the little girl in front of us--probably no more than 10 years old--held her hand up and tried feebly to imitate the sign. It's been a long time since that sign has been seen in a major motion picture, and longer still since it had any real meaning. But seeing a 10 year old girl try to imitate it made me realize how much I've missed Trek being a regular part of my life. It was a special moment, and one I hope to repeat in the future with the inevitable sequels to come.
Welcome back, Star Trek. Live long, and prosper.
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