The new "Star Trek" sets its box-office phasers to full blast
originally written May 2009
Yes, I said it’s the first real blockbuster; compared to this movie, “Wolverine” and the FOX suits behind it should sit in a corner and cry. I originally had “Watchmen” as my end-all movie experience, but “Star Trek” has taken that title. What made “Star Trek” so fantastic was the balance of soft and hard, seriousness and humor, emotional gravitas and lighthearted moments.
The movie starts with our first glimpses of James T. Kirk (Jimmy Bennett, Chris Pine) and Spock’s (Jacob Kogan, Zachary Quinto) (more on Quinto later) pasts and how they arrived to the Starfleet Academy. When Spock’s home planet Vulcan is threatened by time-travelling Romulan Nero (Eric Bana), the Starfleet students are thrust onto the Enterprise, manning it for the first time.
(clockwise) Karl Urban, John Cho, Simon Pegg, and Anton Yelchin keep the movie firmly rooted with their solid performances
Like stated before, the movie’s winning attribute is how it strikes the right balance between the emotional and humourous outputs. All of the actors in the movie- including other main cast members Bruce Greenwood as Captain Pike, Karl Urban as Leonard “Bones” McCoy, Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov, Zoe Saldana as Nyota Uhura(mention more on her later), John Cho as Hikaru Sulu, and Simon Pegg as Scotty-gave each of their performances just the right mix of the old characters they were inhabiting and new, updated twists. Each character more than utilized their screentime and endeared themselves to the audience (who doesn’t love Chekov with his “Wictor, wictor” and eager, boyish grin? Or Bones being uberneurotic and Sulu being calm and controlled as ever?)
Zachary Quinto (L) and Chris Pine (R) infuse new life into time-tested characters Spock and Kirk
It goes without saying that Pine and Quinto were excellent as the story’s leading men, what with Pine giving the audience the same action-oriented, slightly womanizing bent William Shatner gave Kirk and Quinto portraying Spock’s trademark intensity and solemnity, but Quinto really steals the show. His version of Spock is more ragged around the edges, grappling with his identity (he’s half-human and half-Vulcan), controlling his emotions, and teaching Kirk a lesson. Other events in the movie (actually, the whole movie really revolves around Spock and his past and future actions) leave their indelible mark on Spock, and despite his desire to control and supress his feelings Vulcan style, raw emotion brim up to his eyes. And, especially with Kirk, his voice rarely masks his true feelings.
Spock and Uhura complete each other
Another interesting thing with Spock this time around is his relationship with Uhura. I know a lot of fans were hyperventilating when the news broke in April, but upon reflection (and rewatching many “Star Trek” episodes), I think many of them weren’t surprised. The two actually did have a lot of cheeky interaction with each other (see the post below for an example); it’s just that this time around, the relationship is brought from meager subtext to the forefront. Quinto stated in an interview that in the movie, Uhura is like a canvas Spock can project his emotions onto, and I think he’s right. Uhura is not only a very smart, ambitious woman, but she’s the emotional side that completes Spock’s brainiac and controlled mentality. Quinto and Saldana’s chemistry seem to reiterate this fact (together, Uhura and Spock seem more like one complete and unified person, which is just how it should be if you have a significant other), and the kissing scenes(yes, Spock and Uhura kiss) are intense and heartbreakingly romantic.
Eric Bana portrays Nero, a Romulan bent on revenge
The movie also doesn’t give into action for action’s sake. Even though it’s a summer event movie, “Star Trek” has emotional gravitas that isn’t found in many other summer movies (like, oh, I don’t know…”Wolverine”?). When bad things happen to characters, your heartstrings tug. When funny moments happen, you laugh out loud instead of merely chuckle.
And when the action does happen, it’s not just a big show (like “Transformers”…and “Wolverine”)-instead, the action sequences feel like they belong in the movie and actually move the story forward instead of just being a huge and expensive stand-alone piece. The action is also very well choreographed, which makes for an even better movie experience.
All in all, there’s not much wrong with this movie. Time travel is always a shaky plot device, but this movie uses it deftly and to their advantage-after all, they do have to reinvent and revamp a decades-long franchise.
If you want a short answer to whether you should see the movie, here it is:
GO SEE THIS MOVIE!
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