Very Brief, Spoiler-Free Notes About The New STAR TREK Movie.
24 Comments | Posted: May 8th, 2009 | Filed under: Star Trek1.
This movie chugs right along. There’s a bit of a sag in the second act, but it was nice to have a breather, honestly. For something that’s spawned from a franchise that became positively overladen with technobabble and speechifying, this movie does not waste the viewers time or insult their intelligence one bit. I’ve never been terribly impressed with Abrams’ direction before, but this felt downright inspired in places.
2.
The whole matter of this being a reboot is handled very elegantly. If you’re an original Trek nerd and the three lines of dialogue explaining how the new status quo works doesn’t please you, then you’re stupid and you’re wrong and I hate you. C’mon, you accepted “Mirror Mirror” and goateed Spock for over 40 years and this is going to cheese you off? I know way, way more about Classic Trek‘s supposed history than any person should and I was positively delighted with how respectful this movie was of What Happened Before while making it possible for someone with only the barest knowledge of things to not feel that they’re missing out on anything.
3.
Everyone on the Enterprise is there for a reason: they’re smart, they’re competent, and they contribute. That made me terribly happy, actually, as TOS focused so much attention on Kirk, Spock and McCoy that the rest felt like bit players instead of supporting cast most of the time. I was particularly pleased to see that Sulu and Chekov became more than chauffeurs and the guys who press buttons to make lasers happened – their solutions to multiple problems made me smile. Yes, I am a nerd.
4.
There’s some very surprising changes to the mythos. None of them upset me one iota, and I could argue for the one that seems to have cheesed fans off the most using reference material from the original series. I’m very curious about how certain character arcs may be handled in a potential sequel.
5.
From the clean redesigns of well-known icons to the cinematography, obvious care was taken to make sure every shot and every setpiece seem iconic, but never in an obvious way. The first shot of the new Enterprise did put a lump in my throat, I’ll admit. I have a strange affection for her, but not in the James T Kirk manner.
6.
When I walked out of the theater, I texted my friend Josh with “I don’t think I’ve ever been happier after seeing a movie.” Every actor inhabited their role well, every moment seemed to fit perfectly, and there were some big fuck-off explosions. I’ll be seeing it again in the theater, very soon.
Please note that the comments to the post currently contain things that are close to being spoilers without actually crossing any real plot point lines that you wouldn’t know from the ads.
I have my tickets purchased at Cinetopia already. Looking forward to seeing it.
AMEN. Can I get a witness?
No Nichelle Nichols, though.
Bravo. I echo you on no. 2. Maybe the people on the boards complaining about the reboot were busy having their minds blown away to hear that reasoning.
You have a witness. I saw it last night and had nearly the same impression. I’ll see it at least once more in the theatre. When asked if it’s better than Wrath of Khan, I have to say no, but I figured out why. The best Trek movies are those with a longstanding villan from the series, so when you see that person on the screen (whether it’s Khan or the Borg Queen), you have a reaction and where the villan is as well fleshed out as the main characters. Still, even without a Khan, the movie was best I’ve seen in the past couple years.
“I was particularly pleased to see that Sulu and Chekov became more than chauffeurs and the guys who press buttons to make lasers happened – their solutions to multiple problems made me smile.”
What spotlight role did Uhura get?
What spotlight role did Uhura get?
I’m not going to put spoilers here, but something about how she helped kick off the whole plot comes to mind. Plus that other thing.
The fact that her contributions are spoilers rather than clear expressions of her expertise and skill… Chekhov was used with surprising cleverness, Sulu was used excellently as an away team member and Uhura got the short end of the stick as far as characterization.
A second! A third! Loved it Loved it. And with Abrams and the screenwriter’s little continuity trick he can pick and choose from the Trek cannon. Brilliant.
If you want to check out a couple more long interview with Abrams I collected them here: http://glasneronfilm.blogspot.com/2009/05/all-about-abrams-and-star-trek.html
Uhura was given the comm because of her knowledge of languages. She was able to distinguish between Vulcan and Romulan, which the officer prior to her wasn’t able to get.
And, yes, the other spoilery stuff.
I love the little continuity trick Abrams and the screenwriters did to pick and choose from the Trek Cannon. Worked for me.
I have talked to a few Trekkers (not trekkies, no heavens no) that are disappointed by the film, such young cadets would never get to fly a ship so soon, Kirk wouldn’t do this, x and y wouldn’t do that. And you in a way I know they have a point. But the movie was a ball. And wouldn’t you rather the franchise was re-energized. I know I look foward to seeing what Abrams comes up with next.
And how about that lens flare eh? Shiny.
If you want to see a couple great interviews check out my site. I got the TED Talks and a recent Charlie Rose interview linked.
Without her xenolinguistics skills, there would have been no movie. How’s that for a contribution?
No spoilers… that really does hamstring me. How about Kirk having to remind her of her xenolinguistic skills?
I’m not saying the movie wasn’t fun and very politely told Trekkies to STFU on continuity in a way that made this Marvel fan proud but with such glowing praise for the support crew, I only wished we could have seen more depth from her.
I agree with everything you said.
On point #4, I can only assume JJ Abrams watched a lot of early first-season episodes which certainly laid groundwork for that plot point.
Good film. Good Star Trek film.
I felt Zachary Quinto seemed to be trying to play Leonard Nimoy playing Spock some of the time, rather than just playing Spock, but no-one else seems to have, so maybe it’s just me.
Good point about the villains above who seemed to be a bit generic bald tatooed violent thugs.
Carla, if you want to go down that route, how about Scotty figuring out one of his character moments with some heavy prodding as well?
While I think all the crew members got their chance to shine, this movie makes no bones about being focused on Kirk and Spock.
While Uhura is brought in as the girl that Kirk wants to nail, she definitely does more than simply be eye candy. She’s definitely an emotional touchstone at times.
I really enjoyed the movie. I’m by no means a Trek fanatic. I have watched very few episodes of TOS or NG, and barely any of the more recent series. Most of my knowledge was by picking up the occasional book here and there, and watching Star Trek 2-5. There were definitely enough callbacks that I was able to pick up on, but you by no means had to be a walking Trek encyclopedia to enjoy this movie.
And I’m very interested to see where they go with the new status quo they created.
I just saw the movie, and loved it! Everything you said, plus:
Bones was spot-on- the crankiness, the sparring with Spock, the black humor… I hope he gets a bigger role in the sequel.
I think they handled the spoilery Uhura plot-point well, upending expectations in the process.
I’ve always liked Captain Pike (based on “The Menagerie” & a couple Star Trek books I read as a kid), and was happy to see him have such a prominent role.
Simply put, this was a phenomenal film. I wanted to see it again immediately after watching it.
Hell, I was excited just after leaving the theater because I realized how perfectly the premise they’ve created leaves every “classic” Trek moment open to an equally vigorous reinterpretation (and in a possibly more dangerous universe, no less, given Act 2).
I hope they don’t just revisit classic Trek scenarios, though. Now that they’ve got all the status quo pieces in place, I’m just really excited to see them cut loose on some new adventures.
The only thing I didn’t like about the movie were the lens flares and the shaky camera work. Just don’t care for it — I wanted to be able to really take everything in, you know?
I agree with the overall points…I especially agree with # 3. I really enjoyed this movie. Can’t wait for the next one!
Just went to see it, and enjoyed it thoroughly. Bright, exciting, payed homage to the show without being ridiculously reverential, and heck, it was even funny. I’d pay to see it again!
“payed homage to the show without being ridiculously reverential,”
This is what I wanted from Singer’s Superman Returns. Instead we got ridiculously reverential.
I enjoyed the heck out of it, and agree with almost everything that’s been said. Except:
When asked if it’s better than Wrath of Khan, I have to say no, but I figured out why. The best Trek movies are those with a longstanding villan from the series, so when you see that person on the screen (whether it’s Khan or the Borg Queen), you have a reaction and where the villan is as well fleshed out as the main characters
For me, at least, there’s one thing about Wrath of Khan that elevates it over all Trek movies, including this one: the climax of the movie is an actual ship-to-ship battle that Kirk wins by issuing commands on the bridge and being a better starship captain, as opposed to some sort of away-team hand-to-hand battle. Not denigrating the new one– it’s jockeying with First Contact for the #2 slot in my preference list– but that’s the special sauce on top of Khan.