To boldly go where man has gone many times before
Before pinball, Mr. G and I went on a "date" to see Star Trek. (It was cute; I paid for both tickets, he paid for the refreshments, and we shared a single tub of popcorn and a single giant soda (two straws).)
I'm not really any kind of Star Trek fan. I enjoy the original series, half ironically and half sincerely, but I've probably only seen a dozen episodes. I've never seen more than 10 minutes of any of the subsequent series, and the only Star Trek movie I ever saw was Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. I have been told by pretty much everyone - fans and non-fans - that that was the best Star Trek movie ever made, but I personally found it boring (especially compared to Star Wars movies) so I never had any interest in seeing any others.
I'm also not really a J.J. Abrams fan, though I've heard he does good stuff. I still have never seen an episode of Lost (I might wait till the series is over and watch them all consecutively), Alias, Fringe or Felicity. The only Abrams work I've seen was Mission: Impossible III, which was pretty good, but nothing to make me say, "I can't wait to see his next movie!"
Now, despite not being a Trekker or an Abrams fanboy, I was pretty excited about Star Trek because that trailer was pretty freakin' sweet. It looked better from a production-values standpoint than anything that has ever been set in the Star Trek universe, and it looked like it might be fun.
The movie lived up to all of my expectations. It was "big" and "small" at the same time. "Big" in that it spanned 25 years, traveled to several planets and had lots of things blowin' up real good. "Small" in that the story was simple and compact; the bulk of it took place over a single day, and the villain was not an alien race or a planet or an empire, but just a single rogue looking for revenge. So the "action" played out like an hour-long episode of a TV show - enjoyable but not gripping - but really that was just a framework for the real point of the movie, which was to (re-)introduce the Star Trek characters and set them up for (hopefully) many more movies.
This is where the movie is at its very best, thanks to an outstanding cast of mostly unknowns and nearly-unknowns. Chris Pine (Captain Kirk) and Zachary Quinto (Spock) are particularly good in the lead roles. They manage to capture the look and feel of William Shatner's and Leonard Nimoy's characters with the added benefit of actually being good actors. (Sorry, Trekkies, you know it's true.) I have no idea who Chris Pine is, but I felt like he was blossoming into a Movie Star right before my eyes on the screen. His Captain Kirk is wonderfully charismatic; a born leader, but also something of a cad. He's the best part of the movie. The minor characters, for the most part, were great, too. Scotty, McCoy and Chekov offered comic relief, Uhura played a larger role (I think) than in the original series, and all were faithful to the original characters (or at least what I think I know about them). I couldn't quite accept John Cho as Sulu, just because I kept seeing Harold wanting to go to White Castle.
The only time the movie dragged was when Leonard Nimoy was on screen (as a time-traveling older Spock). I know you can't make a Star Trek movie without Leonard Nimoy, but his wooden delivery and the talkiness of his character really didn't mesh with the rest of the movie. (Please don't flame me, Trekkers.)
I imagine if you knew more about Star Trek than I do, you would appreciate it even more. (If you weren't outraged about continuity issues.) There were a bunch of tributes and reference and "in-jokes" that I caught, but I assume there are dozens more if you know the source material.
Go see it!
I'm not really any kind of Star Trek fan. I enjoy the original series, half ironically and half sincerely, but I've probably only seen a dozen episodes. I've never seen more than 10 minutes of any of the subsequent series, and the only Star Trek movie I ever saw was Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. I have been told by pretty much everyone - fans and non-fans - that that was the best Star Trek movie ever made, but I personally found it boring (especially compared to Star Wars movies) so I never had any interest in seeing any others.
I'm also not really a J.J. Abrams fan, though I've heard he does good stuff. I still have never seen an episode of Lost (I might wait till the series is over and watch them all consecutively), Alias, Fringe or Felicity. The only Abrams work I've seen was Mission: Impossible III, which was pretty good, but nothing to make me say, "I can't wait to see his next movie!"
Now, despite not being a Trekker or an Abrams fanboy, I was pretty excited about Star Trek because that trailer was pretty freakin' sweet. It looked better from a production-values standpoint than anything that has ever been set in the Star Trek universe, and it looked like it might be fun.
The movie lived up to all of my expectations. It was "big" and "small" at the same time. "Big" in that it spanned 25 years, traveled to several planets and had lots of things blowin' up real good. "Small" in that the story was simple and compact; the bulk of it took place over a single day, and the villain was not an alien race or a planet or an empire, but just a single rogue looking for revenge. So the "action" played out like an hour-long episode of a TV show - enjoyable but not gripping - but really that was just a framework for the real point of the movie, which was to (re-)introduce the Star Trek characters and set them up for (hopefully) many more movies.
This is where the movie is at its very best, thanks to an outstanding cast of mostly unknowns and nearly-unknowns. Chris Pine (Captain Kirk) and Zachary Quinto (Spock) are particularly good in the lead roles. They manage to capture the look and feel of William Shatner's and Leonard Nimoy's characters with the added benefit of actually being good actors. (Sorry, Trekkies, you know it's true.) I have no idea who Chris Pine is, but I felt like he was blossoming into a Movie Star right before my eyes on the screen. His Captain Kirk is wonderfully charismatic; a born leader, but also something of a cad. He's the best part of the movie. The minor characters, for the most part, were great, too. Scotty, McCoy and Chekov offered comic relief, Uhura played a larger role (I think) than in the original series, and all were faithful to the original characters (or at least what I think I know about them). I couldn't quite accept John Cho as Sulu, just because I kept seeing Harold wanting to go to White Castle.
The only time the movie dragged was when Leonard Nimoy was on screen (as a time-traveling older Spock). I know you can't make a Star Trek movie without Leonard Nimoy, but his wooden delivery and the talkiness of his character really didn't mesh with the rest of the movie. (Please don't flame me, Trekkers.)
I imagine if you knew more about Star Trek than I do, you would appreciate it even more. (If you weren't outraged about continuity issues.) There were a bunch of tributes and reference and "in-jokes" that I caught, but I assume there are dozens more if you know the source material.
Go see it!