Well, I took the afternoon of work so I could go and see the film I have been waiting years to see.Some Spoilers Ahead!
I went to a 2pm afternoon showing to avoid the schoolkids and thank god it paid off. Not a morsel of popcorn was thrown, not a word was uttered during the film from the 7 or so people in the very empty cinema.
The only thing seen and heard in the cinema was a variety of incredible sound effects and visuals, including the incredible sound of a fleet of slightly redesigned Federation starships zipping into warp speed, the amazing dialogue from our beloved reincarnated characters and the unbelievable (make that very believable) sights and sounds of a rebooted Gene Roddenberry universe.
This movie quite rightly is dedicated to the memory of Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett Roddenberry and in a single sentence. This film is an absolute triumph.
Before the immortal name "Star Trek" even appears on screen I had tears welling in my eyes from the incredible opening sequence, which alone had more emotion, action and epic-ness (is that a word?) in it that many other movies have in their entire duration.
Abrams has nailed the job of bringing the Star Trek Universe back to the big screen. I am amazed at how well done the casting is. This movie really is about Spock, Kirk, Bones and even Scotty at the top of the list and I have to say, all of them are cast perfectly.
John Cho does a very good job of Sulu and I have to admit, Uhura is not only wonderfully portrayed by Zoe Saldana but she is very easy on the eyes too. Anton Yelchin does a good job of Chekov but the accent does come across a little 'forced' but funny.
Eric Bana does a good job of the villain and like I have always said, a villain is only as good (or bad) as his motive and Nero's motive is simply about getting revenge for the destruction of his homeworld by an action on behalf of Ambassador Spock and the Federation.
Often in Star Trek the Next Generation's era we had a great deal of techno-babble whereas the original Kirk and co films did not. Surprisingly, this film did not attempt to dumb down any of the technological wizardry that Star Trek is well known for and there was quite a few bits in the film that could easily have gone over the heads of many people in the audience but still, they pull it off. Red Matter, Singularities, Beaming at Warp, its all in here and its awesome!
I would not say that this film is perfect, but its bloody close to it.
A+++++
I cannot wait to get my arse back down the cinema to see it again!
Update: Well I have seen it again and on reflection I still love it! I find it hard to flaw this film with the exception of some very convenient polt devices but hey, I put that down to destiny. This crew were meant to be together so there....
If I could change one thing it would be this: The Visual FX by ILM are so incredible, they deserve a little more screen time and what I mean by that is I just wish that they lingered a little longer on some shots, for example, when we see the USS Kelvin return fire on the Romulan mining ship, the shots are so awesome and explosive, that they should have lasted just a second or two longer for the viewer to absorb the action properly.
Same with when the USS Enterprise arrives at the end to take out the Romulan torpedoes, we see an amazing volley of Phaser blasts for about 2 seconds, then bam! it cuts away before we get to properly admire the beautiful curves of this heavy cruiser as it comes to the rescue.
"JJ, amazing job, but when you do the sequel, just add another 5 minutes to the overall film by lingering on those ILM FX shots... trust me. "
4 COMMENTS:
I still have a hard understanding why anyone who enjoyed any of the Star Trek series (except maybe Enterprise) thinks this movie is anything other than pretty garbage. The writing was pretty bad, the characterization was bad for most characters (especially Spock, that was not Spock in that movie), there was no real story, the bad guy was a joke.... on & on. This does not have the feel of Roddenberry (& hence, Star Trek) anywhere on it. Name it Star Voyages & rename the characters/races & it would be a well produced, mediocre sci-fi movie that would've gotten little fanfare. I really expected more for JJ. Theres always the sequel.
Shame to hear that you did not enjoy the film, but then again you are obviously not a typical fan. I loved all the Star Trek series, esspecially Deep Space Nine (my personal favourite) and Enteprise had to grow on me.
I disagree that there was no 'real story', I thought the story was very very good for a prequel and I thought that Quinto as Spock did a superb job albeit perhaps a little more violent than his alter ego.
I saw this film as the Star Trek movie I have been waiting years to see, it was not perfect but it has finally hit the mainstream (Not a bad thing I think).
I do hope that the sequels will bring more of the roddenberry-esque type plots and values now that they have won over the general audience, but I do think it was wise not to bombard the modern cinemagoer with all the morality tales which Star Trek fans have come to know and love.
I did enjoy every series except for Enterprise, which is why I put that as the exception. If you enjoyed the mostly really bad Enterprise series, you may like this movie. DS9 was probably the best & honestly I can no longer watch TNG, but this movie is not trek-like in any sense except the jargon.
What would being a typical Star Trek fan entail? Me and my brother are Star Trek fans (me somewhat more than him) and our final verdict was; amusing, but as a Star Trek film it was rubbish.
Abrams felt that Star Trek should be taken in a new direction, specifically one that caters to a broader audience i.e. brings in more money. But in doing so he is throwing away decades of established canon. I think that as a fan you'd have to be pretty open-minded not to have a problem with that.
The only things that connect this movie to the original Star Trek is the general shape of the Enterprise, the premise and some lousy in-jokes to please the hardcore fanbase (but utterly failing to do so).
And a time travelling Romulan MINER as bad guy? Seriously? What's next? A Klingon freighter captain?
Post a Comment