Posted on 05/08/2009 1:26:01 PM PDT by LS
This is simply a great movie. For those of us who grew up first on the television series, then the series of motion pictures, then "The Next Generation," this is the TV series on special-effects steriods, and in my opinion the second best movie of all Star Trek movies, next to "The Wrath of Khan."
The first 20 minutes is jarring, and you have to pay attention. It runs the viewer from Capt. Christopher Pike (played by a one of my favorites, Bruce Greenwood), to the evil Romulan Nero (Eric Bana, sans Hulk get-up), to the young Spock, to the risk-taking James T. Kirk (played supremely in this role by Chris Pine), then finally to the late-teen Spock who chooses Star Fleet, played by Zachary Quinto. Yet somehow the editors managed to keep the essential plot lines straight. Kirk is exceptionally bright, but a hell-raiser. Uhura (Zoe Saldana) is as beautiful as can be, and ironically has no interest in Kirk but rather is in love with Spock. Kirk proceeds to get beat to a pulp by almost everyone in this movie. (First it's cadets from Star Fleet, then Spock, then the Romulans. You begin to think Kirk was taught to fight at UN peacekeeper school).
Above all, what makes the movie is the development, on multiple levels, of the friendship between Kirk, Spock, and to a lesser degree, Bones (Karl Urban) and Scotty (Simon Pegg). John Cho plays a straight Sulu, thank God, and Anton Yelchin does a good job as Checkov.
The plot revolves around the "prime"/older Spock (Leonard Nimoy) trying to save Romulus in the future, and failing. Somehow, the evil Romulan Nero comes through a time warp to the past to destroy Vulcan out of revenge---and to make the young Spock watch!
Don't get wrapped up in debating the "time continuum" stuff, just go with it. There is a glitch with this at the end (the same person cannot exist in two places at once, or two people from different times can't co-exist, or . . . ah, forget it).
Instead, just enjoy the origins of the comeraderie, the sexual tension between Spock and Kirk over Uhuru, the one-liners, and above all, the fantastic way the actors adapted the characters to their own personas while maintaining much of the original Kirck/Scott/Bones/Spock personalities. At times, you can almost see Shatner coming through Pine; unfortunately, at times, Urban tries a little too hard to "be" Bones, and of all the characters, his is the least developed in terms of motivations or past. But the friendship between Spock---at any age---and Kirk is wonderful, if rocky at first. When Spock prime says to Kirk, "I am, and always have been, your friend," it brought a tear to my eye as I recalled Spock dying to save the Enterprise in "Wrath of Khan."
If CGI had existed in 1966, instead of cardboard sets, this is what that Star Trek might have looked like. Enjoy. Live long and prosper, unless, of course, you are Spock prime speaking to Spock in which case, as he noted, "It would be self-serving."
The Orion woman is infatuated with him, Kirk.....not so much. LOL.
Thanks for the review! I am definitely going to see it. As a Trek fan, I was afraid the movie might have sucked, but I am going to go see it ASAP!
Off to see it in IMAX Saturday morning. Can’t wait!
Thanks for the review.
And here’s the Top 10 from Dave last night, actually delivered by Nemoy, Top 10 Lines Never Said in a Star Trek movie:
10. Warp factor 8! Arby’s closes in 10 minutes.
9. We’re entering a breach in the space-time continuum or a wormhole or some crazy crap like that.
8. Set phasers to fabulous!
7. Welcome aboard the Starship Enterprise -– today’s in-flight movie is “Big Momma’s House 2.”
6. We’ve been hijacked by Somali pirates.
5. Sir, I’m going to need Saturday off to attend my nephew’s Bar Mitzvah.
4. My baby-daddy is a Vulcan -– on the next “Maury.”
3. The Enterprise just hit a goose –- we’re gonna have to land in the Hudson.
2. Live long, prosper, and keep on hangin’ and bangin’.
1. I find your choice of hairpiece highly illogical.
You had be scared there for a second that this was slipping into K&S fan fiction territory...
I'm an old trek fan that watched it as a little kid in first run from the premiere of the first episode in 1966... The original show try to have some smart writing... this new movie was just stupid .. to the point of almost being a satire of bad Sci Fi...
Ever see Stargate SG1 do it own satire of itself as "Wormhole X-treme"?...The new Star Trek movie is the Wormhole X-treme version of Star Trek done with a straight face
Did they do their homework? Was one of those cadets Finnegan?
2 words: Spock's Brain
Good review, thanks, I won’t see it.
No. Spock's father was around 103 in the original series (and yes Vulcan's live a lot longer than Humans, their average life span is about 250), but Spock was in his 30s just like Kirk. Nimoy's Spock in this movie is about 150, from Picard's era, and goes back in time about 130 years, where his younger self is in his 20s.
>> How did they reconcile that with both Spock and Kirk being youths at the same time? <<
No need to reconcile anything since there's no reason Kirk and Spock wouldn't go to the academy at the same time. This movie DOES play fast and loose with Star Trek canon in certain parts (one of the silliest being the idea that Chekov became an officer on the Enterprise before Kirk, and that's before Nero significantly alters the timeline), but most of the "changes" (aside from the complete set redesign) can be explained by time travel and Nero (the bad guy) trying to destroy the federation in the past to get revenge on Spock.
So in short, the relationship of pre-TOS Kirk and Spock in this movie fit either timeline perfectly. A couple scenes really mess with existing Star Trek canon, but this movie is so amazing we Trekkies are willing to overlook it. :-)
Just got back from the 2:30 IMAX show (at which I won the “Geek Award”, which is a lobby-sized movie poster, for answering trivia questions — much to my children’s delight and shagrin.)
I thought the film was terrific. When I first heard about this movie I said to myself, “I sure wouldn’t want to be the casting director for THAT one,” but I thought the casting was spot-on, with special kudos to Zachary Quinto.
The special effects were spectacular, and the story was interesting and entertaining. There are tender moments, moments filled with sorrow, grief, and a few really good laughs. There are also several inside-joke type moments, and some “firsts,” as well.
I think they’ve done a bang-up job setting the stage for future forays into the ST universe. Well done, I say!
Regards,
Thanks for the warning! LS’s review was frightening enough... when did you realize it was a gold-plated turkey?
You do know there were more than 3 people who played the 3 Stooges?
LOL THIS is what I want for Mother’s day, to go to see this!
That alone would make it worth seeing...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_(Star_Trek)
Meh, see Star Trek first. Wolverine is average at best, nothing to write home about.
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