So as you know I didn’t get to see Star Trek on opening weekend. It was my most anticipated summer movie and I missed it. Luckily time spent with my friends is like twenty Star Trek movies so I didn’t miss it one bit. But you bet your ass I saw it the first chance I got when I arrived home. And man oh man was it everything I wanted it to be and more. From the moment the movie started, it was just such an amazing experience.
I’m a relatively new fan to the original Trek. I was always a fan of The Next Generation, but it wasn’t until recently that I sat down and watched all the original crew movies, and am now working through the television series. Even being a new fan, I felt such a great connection to the characters, especially Bones and Scottie, and I wanted to see their new incarnations given the respect they deserved.
I don’t want to give the plot away for those of you who haven’t seen it yet (and I hate when reviewers insist on using spoilers for their reviews) but let’s just say that I was crying within the first five minutes, and may or may not have cried a few times more throughout. It was just so good. It gave each of the characters the respect they deserved (even Scottie and Chekov with their minimal time on screen) and you could tell that the creators treated the source material with the utmost respect while still making it their own world in a very big way.
All of the characters gave great performances, with Karl Urban as Bones being a standout for me, with a great version of DeForest Kelley’s classic character without being an outright imitation. Chris Pine as Kirk was also a great surprise being both suave and funny. His interactions with Bones as the doctor “treated” him was fantastic. Simon Pegg did great things with his minimal screen time, and Zachary Quinto as Spock was pitch perfect, but we knew that before they even made the official announcement that he was cast, so that wasn’t a surprise. I was surprised with some of the choices they made with Quinto’s Spock (you know what I’m talking about if you saw it) but I thought it was a great twist, and fit the story really well.
If I had one complaint (I’m a fanboy, I have to have at least one) it would be that the action at the climax of the movie didn’t surpass the action in some of the earlier action scenes, but that just goes to show how exciting the rest of the movie was. Seriously, the action was amazing. This was a big budget summer blockbuster that just happened to be a Star Trek movie.
So the movie made $75 million dollars on it’s opening weekend. That’s amazing for a Star Trek movie. I know I plan on seeing it one or two more times. If the title Star Trek kept you away, I implore you to go see it. Or if you enjoy J.J. Abrams’ other stuff, you should go see this just to count the references to his other works, like slusho or the big red ball. Or maybe if you’re thinking about seeing Angels and Demons this weekend, please don’t. Go see Star Trek instead. I really really want Star Trek to beat Angels and Demons on it’s second weekend.
Let’s discuss the movie in more spoilery detail in the comments section, shall we?
Health: I haven’t heard from any non-Trek friends yet, but I think they would like it also. I’m trying to convince as many people as I can to go see it.
Nicolle: I was a little put off by his insistence on letting us all know he wasn’t a fan of Trek also, but I think you’re right in thinking it needed a fresh perspective to get it right. You could almost tell he was a fan of the classic Star Wars instead. This was what the prequels should have been.
Craig: Star Wars has prequels? I’m pretty sure I would remember if that had ever actually happened.
I think the Darths & Droids plot makes a lot more sense:
http://www.darthsanddroids.net/
I loved the movie! It was the first Star Trek movie I’ve seen (and the only series I watched was Voyager), so I can’t say how well it handled the past movies/series. But I thought it had an excellent cast and pacing and action.
I loved the black girl! (Was her relationship also in the original series?)
And as for Star Wars vs. Star Trek, I guess I can’t make a fair judgment call yet, but I like this Star Trek movie better than all of the Star Wars movies.
Man, was I rooting for this movie (still am), but as entertained as I was, and as incredible as the entire cast is, I can’t help but dwell on my nagging disappointment with the overall story–its overall development, the lack of (on-screen) character development for Nero, and the alternative universe reboot concept.
A real saving grace for me was having read the comic book prequel before seeing the movie. I LOVE the comic’s tie-in to existing TNG continuity, and of course if we’ll never get Picard, Worf, and Data on the big screen again, it was nice to visit with them one last time. But better than that, I found the comic’s story involving Spock, Nero, and Romulus very high-stakes, tragic, and compelling. There’s so little compelling about Nero looking at him in the film without knowledge of the comic’s backstory (but he sure yells a lot and looks scary with this Mike Tyson tattoos!).
Beyond this nag, though, is that I keep hearing how “epic” and bold this new trek is. Well, I say, not bold enough. I mean, it’s ballsy to destroy Vulcan — but not ballsy enough. If they’ve gone through the trouble of constructing a story to preserve existing Trek canon by bending over backwards to give us Spock Prime and this alternate timeline, then why not have Nero destroy Earth, too. (Or instead? Or *almost* destroy it by decimating millions? Not too sure). Then this “new Trek” could really forge new ground by exploring the Human condition and our beloved and familiar characters in a more radically altered and truly unknown future (past?). I realize that sounds crazy (and perhaps a bit too Battlestar-inspired), but we’ve already grown up with Jim and Spock and Bones through some great adventures that help define who they are. If we’re going to continue to revisit these great characters as their younger selves, then let’s put them somewhere truly new and different for the audience (old Trek audience and “new” alike!) As a long time Trek fan (and perhaps slave to continuity), I worry about the ongoing adventures here becoming all about these characters we love playing around in Explosive CGI Action Sequel after Action Sequel and losing the signature stamp of what Star Trek is about, which does include its rich, well established “history” (and was never shy about social commentary…)
Ugg! I think I’m the lone naysayer in these comments! But I criticize because I love….
P.S. Chris Pine is my new Imaginary Boyfriend, and Karl Urban’s Bones was pitch-perfect. I hope the next movie gives him more meat to work with than one-liners and comic relief…
Arrgghhh! This is one of the few negatives about life in a small town; we only get one movie a week and it only has two showings. This week is “17 Again,” and we most likely won’t get Star Trek until we can borrow the used film reel from a village in Uganda. Sigh… no Spoilery Puntabulous for me today.
Awww Nico. That’s sad, funny but sad. I grew up somewhere like that. Now in the big city we get ALL the movies. Only one tiny reason I’d rather slit my wrists than move back there.
I so want to see this, but I will wait until the fervor dies down a bit!