Star Trek (2009)

All you need to know is that this is the 2nd best film in STAR TREK history coming just behind STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN. This is also the best film I've seen this year (so far). I guess I would count myself as a "trekie/treker". I watched the original series in syndication as a kid, then as a teenager, although skeptical at first, I grew to love THE NEXT GENERATION (TNG).

But I also have certain quality standards so when DEEP SPACE NINE and VOYAGER hit the scene, I gave them a shot but they just could not capture my imagination. Both seemed to spend endless amounts of time in cerebral negotiations with ambassadors from all over the galaxy who tended to be very uninteresting characters and the big climax of the show was that someone ended up agreeing with someone else. TNG was guilty of this sometimes too but have some really strong writing that brought action and intrigue into the process.

I am a huge fan of STAR TREK II, III, and IV. I can't even sit through V. I really liked VI. GENERATIONS was boring to me. FIRST CONTACT is the best of the TNG crew and a really solid film. INSURRECTION is a disaster. I though NEMESIS was pretty good when I first saw it but now I get really bored of watching it when it comes on TV.

So I guess this is all to say that I was ready for a "reboot" and thanks to JJ Abrams, I got one!

What worked:

Karl Urban as Dr McCoy was GENIUS. He has been hit or miss for me in the past. After PATHFINDER, I feared the worst but he owns this role and frankly, is one of my favorite parts of the movie.

I was really worried about Chris Pine as Kirk. How do you capture James Kirk without impersonating some of the cheesier parts of Bill Shatners role? Bottom line, I'm sold. He gets this pitch perfect right which is no small work of art to complete. The film could have lived or died on this.

Quinto as Spock Prime is really solid. There a few times where it feels like he plays Spock more like a know it all but overall, this was a important role and he gets it right.

Bruce Greenwood as Capt. Pike is awesome here. He is a solid weight of someone with a bit more age than the really young crew. And really brings some weight to the film.

The special effects look amazing. Not just for Star Trek but in general. Unlike WOLVERINE, this film really got its money worth on the effects costs.

I think it was right to bring Leonard Nimoy into this film. He does a lot to anchor things and keep some touch-point back to the original series and continuity.

The cast hits so many right notes that it erases any negatives I had along the way. What is achieved here is so amazing to me that it demands to be seen twice just to appreciate how right they go things.


What didn't work:

I like Eric Bana a lot. He is pretty good here but frankly, his villain just doesn't do it for me. A miner? His motivation is explained in 1 minute of film, does not come off as convincing, and frankly, the timeline doesn't make a whole lot of sense with some of the things he does. Again, typical of Trek, the film has trouble overcoming lame villains.

Simon Pegg as Scotty... Let me just say that I went back and watched season 1 of the original series and Scotty was dead serious. I thought the comedy was funny (minus the ridiculous stuck the a pipe routine) but I really wish they hadn't played Scotty for laughs. I love Pegg and it was the writing but it just didn't work quite right. Too jokey for my taste.

The science is a disaster, especially by Trek standards here. Black holes that a ship can outrun. Why have the red stuff in a huge blob if one drop can create a black hole? The timeline doesn't fit into the original canon as you may be lead to believe by some fans. It is just really a big disappointment because the writing is so strong in other places. They couldn't be bothered to run this past a BS meter before putting it to film? I mean a few simple changes to some explanations and it would have been WAY more solid.

All in all, it's a great film with a lot of fun. The best testament to its worth is that I want to see it at least 1 or 2 more times. I can't say that for most films.