General Tod‘s review of:
Put simply, I love Star Trek…as a whole…even the lesser stuff, Space Lincoln…Spocks secret inner-eyelids (look it up)…Insurrection….Nemesis…ugh. I’d been introduced at a very early age through my Uncle and it pretty much became the cultural pre- Star Wars staple for me, In the early 70s, Reruns were plentiful and with so many episodes in syndication at the time, there always seemed to be one on that I hadn’t seen yet. 70+ hours was, at the time, more time than I think I’d spent with anyone in the real world and while I didn’t understand some of the more heady stuff, the colorful costumes and creature-of-the-week theatrics kept me coming back every day.
Movies and Other series came and went, Wrath of Khan, which according to my family, I was incapable of separating when speaking- STARTREK2THEWRATHOFKHAN…I had a close personal connection to Next Gen, as it was the first TV show to make me cry (Damn you, Arblis!!…look it up) and the first show I consciously made an effort not to miss- My Dad and I, Team Bachelor, May not have had the only Satellite Dish in town, but we sure had the only Descrambler!! Our box would catch the feeds from Paramount a week early (!!) so every Sunday, like Clockwork, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Friday the 13th, the series…and Next weeks Next Gen. Picard tussled with Kirk for position as my favorite captain and we got more than twice the episodes this time around, The first few seasons were a little shaky, But they soon found their legs and off they went!! Deep Space 9….Voyager….Even Enterprise….While the critics found every reason to tear them all apart, I just felt they didn’t get it. Well, kids….J.J. gets it, in a big way. We’d been privy to talks of a new Trek for some time, and Frankly, early on, we didn’t know what to think, Starfleet Academy? Young Kirk and Spock? Could that even work?! Matt Damon? Well, I guess that could work….Of course, Damon fell through, Abrams came on board and everything seemed to start falling into place…Quinto….yes…Pegg…YES!! Pine…Who?….Whatever. The trailers were working, not just because everyone looked the part…But there seemed to be REAL action!! Everything was Huge!! Majestic!! Dangerous!! I was Ready. But then this nagging feeling started to get at me…Hollywood sure can cut a good trailer, and I’ve been taken in by that before (I’m looking at you, Crystal Skull). Would I…COULD I allow myself to be put in a position to be soooo disappointed again? Not only would I allow it, I did something I try to NEVER EVER do…Let my expectations soar!!
I let all the trailers wash over me like a warm wave….I took in every piece of production art, Read Countdown (Best Star Trek to come out of IDW thusfar, by the way)- I was ready to be crushed, and I didn’t care…Blind faith, man. This week, My faith was more than rewarded. An early screening revealed a film that both paid homage and explored, not unlike it’s subjects, new frontiers. They’ve taken everything that really worked with the original series…with ALL the series, the connections, the framework of it all and…amplified it, injected it with such heart, vitality…and REAL HUMANITY (an ingredient sorely lacking from most of the franchise) that it’s virtually indistinguishable from the Star Trek we all know so well, While essentially being the same beast!!
Choices were made in the performances, where some may have gone the route of parody, (let’s face it, Kirk IS Shatner…Shatner IS Kirk, Who does Kirk WITHOUT the….Broad gestures….the stilted……………..speech……?) Nearly all the characters lend themselves to caricature and that would’ve just killed this effort right out of the gate. Now, to be fair, Urban is TOTALLY channeling Kelley….Yelchin may catch flack as “heavy-handed” with the accent, But it works!! Pine is fearless as this new Kirk…Spock is conflicted in ways we’ve never been privy to…Pegg could be the best casting in recent history and Nimoy….MAGIC. Oh, and dat Uhura sure is purty.
Everyone gets their hero moment so nobody feels short-changed.
I’ve heard the word “sexy” show up in alot of pre-release reviews concerning our new Enterprise….I can assure you, ours is a beautiful lady. Sleek, modern, and to blatently swipe from Firefly…SHINY. Some may have the same problem with this piece as with the J.J. produced Cloverfield (most effective monster movie of the last, maybe, 20 years). the stigma of the…SHAKEY CAM!! (duhn duhn duhn!!) Relax, Take a dramamine, focus and enjoy!! The hand-held throws you into the thick of the action and J. pushes forward like a man possessed. It’s simply Awesome. Big (like, super-duper see-it-in-IMAX-immediately-big) & splashy in a way Star Trek has always deserved to be. 2 of the people I went with, 2 who had never really seen any Trek, maybe the odd episode, LOVED it. LOVED. That speaks volumes.
I won’t go into the bits (of which there were two) that made me cry like Mufasa died
again. I won’t do it. Not my style. I’ll just say to you, knowing that I was once like you, what I believe must have been J.J.’s primary direction….”GO THAT WAY, REALLY REALLY FAST!!”
Go see this movie, now. See it in a packed house, full price, a dozen times, Punch a child if you must to get the best seat, Do it…I won’t say a word. Take your Uncle, or whoever first showed you Star Trek…as a thank you well deserved.
Leave a Reply |    | |||
Home | Art | Comics | Events | Film | Gadgets | Products | Reviews | Technology | Television | Twitter | Video Games | | ||||
