It was, beyond a shadow of a doubt, one of the most enjoyable movies I've seen in a long time. The writing truly was excellent. A perfect mix of humor with seriousness and catastrophe. There were a number of times when I was cracking up so much that I almost started crying. I really did love the writing, because they could have butchered it, but did a great job making it entertaining.
The cast?
I think I'm going to have to point them each out individually. Because they were all wonderful. Only read if you don't care about spoilers.
Chris Pine, for me, was a very pleasant surprise. He was amazing in his ability to just make me crack up. There's a point in the movie when he has an allergic reaction and the interactions between himself, Zoe Saldana, and Karl Urban are spot on and a great spot of humor in the middle of the story. I loved watching him play Kirk as he tries to find his way through the world. And the Kobiashi Maru test? Hilarious! Towards the end of the movie, Spock, (Zachary Quinto), is quoting the probability that they will be successful is under 5%. Kirk then says, quite simply, "Spock, it'll work". Pine's delivery of the line sounds remarkably like Shatner. It was a quick trip down memory lane.
Zachary Quinto, as many already know, is someone I respect as an actor from watching him play Sylar on Heroes. Once again he did a great job portraying my favorite Star Trek character - Spock. Seeing Spock's origins was very nice to experience. Yes, we've seen in the show and movies little glimpses into his past, but not quite as much as we were allowed to see in the new movie. But for me, the most wonderful thing to see was the performances of both Zachary Quinto and Jacob Kogan, who played the young Spock. The struggle to find a balance between Human and Vulcan was something that we as fans have never been allowed to see before. It was refreshing to look into a different side of the character. My favorite Spock moment? Hm. Probably when Pine makes Kirk 1st officer and Spock says "Captain, I'm sorry. The complexities of humor escape me."
Karl Urban as Bones. Talk about someone getting the diction down! The moment he started on the screen talking about his "fear of dying in something that flies" and the effects of Angorian Shingles, it was like listening to DeForest Kelly all over again. And like I said when talking about Chris Pine in the allergic reaction scene, he was brilliant. "I can fix that!" I completely believe that he's just beginning to figure out where he belongs on the Enterprise. When Spock informs him that obviously he's going to have to assume the roles of Cheif Medical Officer, and he's already assumed that was the case and took over. It was a step into his role that he didn't need to be told to do, which is so like Bones.
Now, in order to talk about Zoe Saldana, I'll have to take a moment to talk about the whole relationship thing. If I saw her getting together with anyone, it was Kirk. Yes, in the series and the movies they did hint at something possibly being there, but back then, they hinted at everything. The only true reason I actually accept it was her and Zachary Quinto's performances. They made it completely believable. Because of that, I can take what used to be impossible and make it possible. I may not be the biggest fan of it, but hey, if that's the only blip on the radar, then I'll take it.
But Zoe Saldana. She was wonderful. I had forgotten that she had stared in X-Men: The Last Stand, until I watched it again this past weekend. Regarding Star Trek however, I loved the slight pause she gave Pike when he told her to relieve a Lutenent on the bridge. That slight amount of unease was all I needed to see. For the remainder of the movie, she seems much more at ease with her sudden promotion, but at that first moment, where she seems unsure of herself for the slightest second. That meant the world to me. It showed me that she may seem tough as nails on the outside, but inside, she's probably terrified of screwing up. My favorite moment for her was the scene when Kirk runs to her with his allergic reaction. "Oh my God, what happened to your hands?!"
John Cho as Sulu. His introduction was great. Trying to go to warp and forgetting something that only took a second to fix. His reaction was excellent. He just sat there, looked frustrated with himself and pushed a button, "We're ready for warp". My favorite moment for him was probably when Kirk asked what kind of training he'd had and he replies simply, "Fencing". What a great throwback to George Takai!
Anton Yelchin as Chekov. Okay, first off, his accent was dead on. Like, I know he doesn't look quite like Walter Koenig, but his voice sounded exactly like what I remembered from the movies and series! And I totally believed that he was seventeen. His unparalleled enthusiasm showed that more than anything. His excitement at finding out that he knew how to save Kirk and Sulu was so superb. The announcment over the ship about the mission was fantastic!
And Simon Pegg? Do I need to say more? When he said Scotty's trademark line, cheers errupted from the audience mixing with laughter. Which was the case when anyone said a line we all as fans recognized. Pegg as Scotty was a great bit of comic relief. When Kirk first meets him and hears about the failed experiment, I was cracking up. "I'll tell you when he reappears."
Eric Bana as Nero was terrific. A man so misguided by revenge for the death of his world that he can't see beyond the possibility that he had already changed what he preceived as history. But it's compellingly believable. When Pike says that he's mistaken, that Romulus was fine, he screams in both anger and agony, "Don't tell me it didn't happen! I saw it happen!" You half want to cry and half want to kill him. You understand his side of the story, you understand his pain. But on the flip side you just saw Spock's complete torment, (I started crying. Whenever I see Zachary Quinto start to cry I want to bawl my eyes out).
Bruce Greenwood. He has some great lines. Now Pike in the original series only was around, if you count the first pilot, for three episodes. So we don't have much of a feel for him. But Greenwood seems to reach out, trying to bring Kirk under his wing. The relationship that he has with Kirk is pretty wonderful. He does change Kirk's life, and puts him on course to become at least somewhat of the man that we know.
And last, but most certainly not least is the marvelous, legendary Leonard Nimoy. How extraordinary is it to see him back on the big screen? Pretty extraordinary. I loved to see Kirk's reaction to "Spock Prime" and his version of the past. And naturally, when he did the Vulcan salute, I, being the nerd I am, showed the Vulcan salute to the screen. It was nice to see Spock at peace with himself and his duality, which technically we haven't seen yet. I will never turn down seeing Leonard Nimoy on screen as Spock. He did introduce the world to my favorite character.
The last comment; JJ Abrams. I don't think he's ever going to make anything I hate. I think, from here on out, I'm going to just blatently trust him.
The music was...well, I'm a pretty bad person to ask about music from movies. But the theme, I think, was great. Very memorable. All the way down to Philadelphia, the theme was stuck in my head. It's the next score I plan on buying. It was defintely sweepingly epic, and every now and then the slow, quiet, emotional music just displayed that the whole thing was amazing.
Overall, Star Trek was brilliant. The casting was great, the interactions of the team was great, and long live the magnificent seven! Me being crazy was so psyched for the movie that as the music began to play and the Paramount screen showed up, I thought I was going to pass out from excitement. I know, I'm a dork.
I'm sorry if I screwed up the story for anyone. This movie is all I can think about. And I did see it twice in one day. 7pm with the family and a few friends and then 11:40 in IMAX with Tara. Pretty amazing right?
To cast, crew, and everyone that helped to make this movie and ressurrecting Star Trek, thank you!!
No comments:
Post a Comment