Star Trek is back from the dead, and I couldn’t be happier…
Well its official people, I’m a giant nerd. Since seeing J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek at a preview screening last Thursday night, I can’t tell you how happy I’ve been immersing myself in Trek in a way that I haven’t really done since I was in middle school. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve always loved Trek and its always been something I’ve gone out of my way to support, but I don’t know Klingon (though I do own a copy of Hamlet written in the language) and I’ve never been to a convention. I have been watching Wrath of Khan since before I could walk, I’ve seen every episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation and I got almost every reference that was made in the new movie.
Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun at a big event like that, and I’m probably going to keep going back to the movie again and again as the summer keeps going. I’m sure Terminator: Salvation and Inglorious Basterds will both get me going, but right now I’m a Trekker through and through and I couldn’t be happier. Well, there was really no other option this week for my column, and I’m even breaking down the reasons why I thought the movie was so awesome.
Reasons Why Star Trek Rocked the Known Universe
1. The Look of the Movie – From its very first moments, you can tell that this is a whole new way to look at the Star Trek universe. Sure, the special effects are supped up and anything having to do with space battles in the movie is visceral and awesome in a way that we’ve never seen before, but the entire movie is shot like many modern film makers would shoot a war movie. I think this goes back to Saving Private Ryan mostly, but this new Trek adventure builds on what was done in TV series such as Battlestar Gallactica and Firefly, throwing out the stagnant camera work of everything else Star Trek has ever produced.
Then again, they don’t reinvent the wheel, either. Even when the captain of the USS Kelvin steps on the bridge, and we’re given a more cinematic low lighting scheme to go with the new cinematography, this is still obviously the bridge of a Federation starship. It’s that mix of new and old that allows for excitement and nostalgia to kick in at the same time. You hear all the familiar sounds that you should hear on a Star Trek vessel, even if the bridge is now a gorgeous white that still manages to keep some of the 60’s kitsch of Star Trek.
2.The “Used Future” – I guess technically you could throw this little bit in with the first category, but I think it’s worth mentioning on its own. Again, the movie borrows from Galactica and Firefly as well as work done on the Star Wars and Alien series here. For the first time ever, there’s a bit of a “used future” motif that is hinted at ever so slightly in this picture, especially when it comes to Engineering in the ship. In whatever form you’ve seen it before, and even if it’s been beat to crap by Khan, the Klingons, or the Borg, The Enterprise has always been the cleanest starship you’ve ever seen. As if you’ve just missed its hardworking janitorial staff in the previous shot, the Starfleet’s flagship looks as if you could eat off the floor, even in its dankest, darkest corners, which are few and far between.
Engineering especially has always looked like one guy, whether it’s Scotty on the Original Series or Geordi La Forge on The Next Generation, working his butt off to keep the ship going while everyone else stands around with clipboards or view screens. Here, the new engineering looks like the underbelly of a battleship, and everyone is working their asses off. The huge engineering set also manages to give the ship scale on a level we’ve never seen before. Often times, even on the newer versions of the Enterprise, it looks as if the whole thing were confined to one room, which throws you off from how large the ship is supposed to be.
3. The Scale of Everything – This thing is epic like we’ve never seen before. It’s unfortunate that Paramount has always tried to keep Trek as cheap as possible. Until recently, the film series was always profitable, but there was a stigma attached to the franchise after Star Trek: The Motion Picture, when it made only a small profit instead of the Star Wars-type money executives had hoped. Since then, the movies have been kept on a pretty tight leash financially, never really getting a blockbuster budget until now, which I think tied the hands of film makers trying to make a movie on this scale. Abrams has us jet-setting around the galaxy in a way that the series hasn’t really done since Khan, but this just feels bigger and the stakes are higher in a lot of respects.
4.Ahead, Maximum Warp! – This movie just moves. While no Trek film has had the lumbering giant pace of The Motion Picture, none of them fly along like Abrams’ film does. I know Star Trek has always been about ideas as much as its been about adventure, and that the first film is as hardcore science fiction as the series has ever gotten, but it also consists of its cast looking at its view screen most of the time. Sure, it’s the only movie that can probably match this one for scale, but there are only so many shots of V’ger’s inner workings you can look at before you just want the movie to get on with it. I know some people would like more diplomacy and exploring to have gone on in this movie, but after watching three Star Wars prequels with plenty on intergalactic hearings, I’ll gladly choose space battles, bar fights, and giant aliens any day. The movie gives this series the biggest kick in the pants its had at least since First Contact, and maybe since Wrath of Khan.
5. Casting Magic – I remember my girlfriend saying after we heard the news that DeForest Kelley had passed away in 1999 that she was sad that we could never see the original cast in a Trek movie again. It really did feel like an era was passing, but then again, I had liked the Next Generation movies so far and had expected them to continue for some time, until Nemesis put a stop to all that. Rumors of a prequel film had been floating around for years, really even before The Undiscovered Country had come out, and I’d always been kind of opposed to the idea because I never thought that any cast could even come close to filling the iconic shoes of the original cast, but as production rumors became news of JJ Abrams getting hired and this new cast coming on board, I slowly warmed to the idea.
The thing is, more than adventure or ideas, I love Star Trek because I care about these characters. That’s why I don’t mind even watching the bad Star Trek movies because I like seeing these characters interact and grow together. The world has been watching Kirk, Spock, Bones, Scotty, Sulu, Chekov, and Uhura for 40 years now, and I’m amazed that somehow I’m getting to see those characters again, even if it’s not quite the same as it was before. Now after seeing the movie twice, I don’t think this new cast will ever eclipse the work done by the original Star Trek crew, but there’s definitely room for them to carve their own niche, just like other actors who have had to step into iconic roles such as Daniel Craig’s James Bond, Christian Bale’s Batman, and to some degree Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Brandon Routh as Superman. Just the fact that I’m able to watch these actors onscreen and not just wish we were seeing the original cast is some sort of miracle. I can’t imagine the type of pressure these gentlemen and lady were under to try and bring something to these roles while still embodying the characters we’ve always known and loved.
First off, I think Chris Pine is a real star in the making. This guy came out of nowhere, and while our worst fears could have been realized if he had turned out to be another Jake Lloyd, the guy turns out to have Kirk’s swagger down pat. This guy is all charisma and charm from the first time you see him, and never once do you see him just try to do a William Shatner impression, but still at the same time you can see the old 60’s Kirk in this performance. Let’s face it, Shatner’s Kirk is awesome and iconic, but hadn’t really changed at all since Star Trek II. Pine gets to try and embody James Tiberius from the 60’s show; the glory hound and lady killer who likes to disobey orders and get high on adrenaline. Now while I still really want to see him grow into the authoritative captain we need to see in the next film out, I’m happy to see how much life that he’s given Kirk this time.
Let me tell you, getting to see Kirk take the Kobayashi Maru is a moment that absolutely seals the deal for me when it comes to this character. I watched Wrath of Khan last night on Blu-ray and I’d actually forgotten the moment where Shatner’s Kirk is explaining how he doesn’t believe in the “no win scenario” to Kirstie Alley’s Saavik. “I don’t like to lose,” he says, as he takes a huge bite out of an apple. Then, you see Chris Pine’s Kirk, also with apple in hand, munching away confidently as he breaks the rules and pisses off Spock by cheating on this ultimate Starfleet test. To see a moment, only hinted at before, finally realized in such hilarious fashion only helps strengthen my opinion that Pine has what it takes to lead this new bunch of Trek regulars.
Alright, well that’s enough gushing for this week, I’ll continue this later and talk about the type of geek nirvana that comes only with seeing two Spocks onscreen at the same time.
