Star Trek

I want to list my Star Trek credentials before I begin. I have never seen a full episode of any Star Trek series, ever. I have seen only one of the movies and that was in elementary school and I have the most vague recollection of that experience. I am not against the Sci-Fi genre, nor am I against the brand, specifically, but I just never got into the whole thing. However, as the brand has existed in popular culture for roughly 40 years, I know enough about the world and enough catchphrases that I would not be totally lost if the film were to go into full on geek mode. I am, though, a big J.J Abrams geek. You could say I worship at the alter of J.J Abram's slick, fast, time jumping style of creating. I loved Alias, I am loving Lost, I am sure I will love Fringe when the dvd comes out and I loved Mission Impossible 3. For those reasons I was, for some reason, extremely excited to watch this movie.

Oh and before I go on, I am reviewing this movie after a second viewing, which I do not really like to do, but I saw it the first time a few weeks ago and had to sign official looking documents swearing I would not blog or tweet about the movie. So I went and caught a Thursday night screening this week, which may already give away how I feel.

Set sometime in the future, Star Trek exists in a world where galaxies are inhabited by a variety of species and in this future, they mostly get along. Star Fleet is a peace keeping force that patrols the vast universe making sure everyone is safe. It is a kind of optimistic future, not often seen in movies. However, in a thrilling and jarring opening scene, some bad ass looking Aliens, The Romulans, are on a mission to destroy things and in a major way. The Star Fleet captain dies saving hundreds of lives, two of those lives being his wife and new born son. That son, James Kirk grows up into a kind of arrogant, whiny, juvenile delinquent until a nasty bar fight puts him on the radar of Star Fleet and he joins up. On another world, a young Vulcan, Spock, is ridiculed for being half Vulcan and half Human. Spock grows up, turns his back on joining some Vulcan ministry and joins Star Fleet. Kirk and Spock have an auspicious meeting and they do not start out friends. Kirk plays fast and loose with the rules and with authority, while Spock is a being of logic and a follower of rules. After another kick ass action sequence, the rag tag group of Star Fleet members are forced to come to terms with each other and pull together to save the world from the Romluans who have this super bad ass "red matter" that creates a black hole and destroys anything in its path.

As I reread that synopsis, I realize it is a bit vague and makes the movie feel short, I apologize for that, but the story is pretty straight forward. What makes this movie such a thrill ride is what everyone does with the story. As it is an origin story, we are introduced to a bunch of characters that grow into characters that have been much loved for decades. They are all there: "Bones" McCoy(Karl Urban), Sulu(John Cho), Chekov(Anton Yelchin), Scotty(Simon Pegg) and Uhura(Zoe Saldana). And they are all fantastic. Urban's Bones is funny and cynical and Urban is clearly having all kinds of fun putting in every "Damn" he possibly can. Cho and Yelchin have the least to do, but both get laughs and thrills, especially Cho as Sulu gets to go toe to toe with some romulans. Zoe Saldana is sexy and intelligent in her mini skirt and go-go boots, making Uhura instantly desirable sexually and intellectually and Simon Pegg, in an extended cameo just blows this movie up with energy and pure joy of being on a space ship. He is used perfectly and nails every single line he gets.

Of course, the movie hinges on Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto and what they do with truly iconic characters. Pine is one seriously good looking kid and he catches the swagger of Kirk perfectly. The womanizing bit is funny and not overused, but what really impressed me was how effortlessly he controlled every scene no matter how glorious the surroundings. Quinto not only looks like Leonard Nemoy, he captures all of the great stoic logic of a Vulcan, but he also captures the humanity of a young Spock coming to terms with the two sides of who he is. Then, together these two young actors on the rise give the movie a nice grounding center as we root for them to be friends and save the world. They do a really great job of showing that the two men need each other. Kirk has the emotion and Spock has the logic, or Kirk represents the body and Spock represents the brain and it takes the combination of the two to really exist and really be alive. While the movie may lack the philosophy or the political slant of the show, there are deeper themes in the movie and the thematic element of friendship gives the movie a focal center.

I am pretty sure this would still be a glorious summer movie without the center though because J.J Abrams and his two screen writers have crafted a tight script with great references for people who know the world, but it does not bog the movie down in them so new fans can play along as well. Plus, Abrams visual flair is unparalleled in terms of Sci-Fi effects. Every single shot is lit perfectly and every moment of CGi is meticulously gorgeous. The Enterprise is a flawless looking vessel that pops off the screen in a piercing silver that makes you take notice. Then, the Romulan ship, where the nasty snarling Eric Bana breathes wonderfully villainous breath into Nero, is a work of bad guy vehicle art. The monstrous ship has octopus like tentacles coming off of it, but it is the interior that I really loved. The torture chamber, drenched in a pool of water, is a wonderfully creepy green like cave with lights flickering and electricity crackling around every corner. Great pains were gone to to make everything look just phenomenal.

The action sequences are the kind that make you wish you were in the movie experiencing them. There is a sky dive that is even more thrilling because it is void of score and all we hear are the increasingly more ferocious breathing of Kirk and Sulu and then when they land and fight, yeah it stays awesome. Then you have spaceships firing and chasing and blowing things up and things jumping in and out of warp speed and all other forms of Science Fiction geekiness. It is all really enough to make a nerd's giant head explode and get his knowledge all over everyone. I was particularly taken with how often Kirk gets his face caved in. For a guy who throws himself into every scenario without thinking, he sure does not fight real well. I have never seen a leading man spend so much time with blood all over his face. To Pine's credit, he wears a bloody nose very well.

Through this all, Star Trek finds time to posit about friendship, destiny, leadership and heroics. Spock is constantly at odds with the logical side of himself and the human emotional side and Kirk is wearing the shadow of his dead father throughout. Using time travel brilliantly, Leonard Nemoy, as future Spock, gives perspective to the hard headed Kirk about what fate and destiny mean and how we are responsible for our destinies. We create our own history. And J.J Abrams understands that the exposition and the heavy themes need to be balanced, so he is quick to perfectly lighten the mood with some slapstick or a great call back to the series, or an adorable alien friend for Simon Pegg.

If this seems like a very long review it is because I have a lot to say about Star Trek. it is a fantastic thrill ride and should have been the first summer movie. It is everything Wolverine wasn't. It was a funny, fast, sexy, and daring thrill ride that only relented long enough to give us enough story to keep our brains operating. The acting is perfect and I expect a few of these people will break out from here and be bigger stars. I hope this revitalization will continue to be taken in an interesting direction as the time travel aspect provides the franchise the ability to move in its own direction without being hindered by what people know of Star Trek. it is a tight picture with perfectly rendered special effects, but it is much more than that. It is a story that believes things in the future will be good and it believes that heroism is always rewarded and that the good guys may be bruised and they may be down, but as long as they have each other they will come back from any scenario.

I have seen the movie twice already and I would not rule out a third or fourth viewing. Before summer began I just assumed Transformers 2 would be far and away the most "Summer" movie of this summer season, but it has its work cut out for it now. Kudos to you J.J Abrams, way to do it again!

Final Grade- A