Star Trek

I watched Star Trek this past weekend, and I have to say I was impressed. I grew up on Star Trek (the original, then next generation, then deep space nine.) since my dad was a fan. Watching reruns of the original always got me thinking, "Wow.... that looks so not real..." in the bad special effects category, not the sci-fi world aspect. I kept wishing there were better special effects done to make it look so much cooler.

Admittedly, my interest in Star Trek has waned over the years since then, particularly because I am soooo NOT a fan of William Shatner. That would take up an entirely other blog in itself to rant about that, so suffice it to say that I am not fond and not a fan.

So, with the new Star Trek movie, I wasn't sure what to expect. I was trying not to expect too much. They had newer actors on the set, with few that many would recognize before this, so I wasn't sure how well it would come together.

I thought the acting was actually well done by most of the cast, and LOVED how they put Leonard Nemoy into the movie. I think he was one of my favorite parts, actually. I was intruiged with the portrayal of young Spock by Zachary Quinto. I heard some criticism from other people that he showed too much emotion. I was surprised to hear towards the beginning that Vulcans experience a greater depth of emotions than humans, and so use logic as their means of controlling that emotion. I had always thought they were just very emotionless logical creatures. For me, it makes sense for young Spock to show emotions as he did since he is still learning to control those emotions and he just lost his mother and home all in a 5 minute period. I liked how "Spock Prime" (Leonard Nemoy) put it when he is talking to young Kirk, "Jim, I just lost my home. Believe me, I am feeling very emotional."

I thought it interesting that rather than focusing just on young Kirk, they also focused on Spock, possibly because Spock has become just as popular as Kirk in the previous Star Trek films. While Chris Pine was a very convincing and less annoying Kirk, it was actually Spock that I found myself more interested in as the movie went on. Kirk was good, but predictably Kirk. Young Spock had more internal tension going on throughout the movie, which made for a more interesting character.

The rest of the cast filled in well with the traditional angst of McCoy, and the amusing antics of young Scotty by Simon Pegg. Bruce Greenwood provided a great mix of mentor and humor as Captain/Admiral Pike, with his line, "Did you take off the parking brake?" to young Sulu causing me to laugh out loud. Sulu and Checkov were appropriately cast. I have to admit, the romance between Spock and Nyota Uhura surprised me. Perhaps I just misremember my original Star Trek, but I don't remember that being a plot line before.

Speaking of plot, I think they did fairly well in working all the elements together. I was amused at how they looped the history of Star Trek such that it made sense in making the movie and provided reason to continue should it be successful. (Trying not to give away the movie, here). I wondered how they would incorporate this and the creativity of it impressed me.

If I have one criticism, it is that the director definitely didn't "play up the bad guy" very well. Eric Bana was a convincing Nero but forgettable, and the whole Romulan ship and crew was more menacing in presence and effect than the characters themselves (again, trying not to give away the movie). There definitely is more that could have been done with this dynamic.

Those fans of the original Star Trek may not have liked it as much (my dad had some issues with where they took it), but this is Star Trek for a new generation. I think they did that well, and found myself interested in seeing where they take it next.

Star Trek - ****