In anticipation of he upcoming sequel, I thought I would touch on my current favorite movie. Now, don't get on me because I'm not choosing a "classic" as my favorite of all time. Some would choose "Caseblanca" or "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly". I simply have different parameters for what gets my mojo going.
Ok, on with the show. Stop talking so much! You're so rude!
Star Trek: (2009) PG - 13 (Action/Adventure)
Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Eric Bana
Overview - J.J. Abrams takes the wheel in this 2009 reboot of the Star Trek franchise. James T. Kirk (Pine) is a fearless cadet with a flare for breaking the rules. He must rise to the challenge and lead his crew into a perilous battle with Nero (Bana), the Captain of a Romulan Mining vessel. Blaming one man's actions, or inactions rather, he is hell-bent on taking his revenge on the entire Federation.
Review - When anyone decides they're going to take on a franchise, I get a little skiddish. Disney has recently taken control of Lucas Film, and will be heading up the final 3 installments of the original Star Wars story. The problem is that it's very hard to follow up something that has already been hailed as brilliant and timeless. Granted that Episodes 1 - 3 gained worse reviews than a tone-deaf quartet. I had similar fears when I heard J.J. Abrams ("Lost") was going to "rewrite history". How can you try and capitalize on a franchise that has captured the hearts of so many people? They literally pack out a convention center with geeks who pay top dollar for replica Captain Kirk uniforms.!
Let's dissect this one a little. In the beginning of the movie, Nero (Eric Bana) comes through a worm hole, and engages the father of James T. Kirk. Within 15 minutes, Abrams was able to justify completely rewriting the entire Star Trek legacy without pissing anyone off. He has free reign to do whatever, with whomever, he wishes. The unadulterated brilliance of this single moment is beyond measure. Most directors would have simply built on the storyline established by Leonard Nemoy and William Shatner. For this, I can not praise Abrams enough. Even after the absolute GARBAGE ending to the 8 seasons of "Lost".
Abrams and his producers had plenty of wiggle room with the budget, as this film hit the 150 Million Dollar mark. Making it the most expensive Star Trek movie in history. That's not surprising when you find out that they paid the graphic/animation team an incredible amount of money, after they turned them down the first time. The CGI in this film is absolutely stunning! This movie is going to hold up for a very long time. Everything from the shadows on the hull, to the lighted ridges of the photon torpedoes is astounding. These guys were well worth what they were paid. The cinematography was breathtaking, as well as incredibly sharp. They didn't overdo any aspect of this film. The fight scenes were satisfying in length and outcome. The cameras didn't linger, or cut too much (it always bugs me when the camera cuts so much that you feel like you're in a pinball machine). And you don't get bored with long cuts of dialogue.
Let's talk acting. Except for a couple of people, I thought this was one of the best cast films I have ever seen! Chris Pine had done very little outside of "Princess Diaries" and "Smokin Aces". When I heard he was playing Kirk, I was deeply saddened. But Abrams saw something I didn't, apparently. He pays a slight omage to Shatner's version of Kirk, but makes the role completely his own in the process. Zachary Quinto is so dang good at selling his character, it makes me wanna cry (but I won't, cuz I am a man, and men don't cry....or at least admit that they do). He got his big break playing the super-villain, Sylar, on TV's hit series "Heroes". In that show he is so good at being evil that it almost made me want to be a villain. Needless to say he was the perfect cast for Spock. When my brother in-law leaned over in the theater and said "wait til you see who they got for Scotty!" (who was a sarcastic, but brilliant mind in the show/movies) and the camera panned over to show Simon Pegg ("Shawn of the Dead") I crapped a squirrel. There is not a single person living on this planet who could have done a better job at playing that role than Mr. Pegg. Even Eric Bana ("Troy") did a stellar job playing a sold-out psycho Romulan Captain. About my only real complaint on the casting is the small role given to Tyler Perry ("Madea's Big Happy Family"). I don't get why they used a cast of essentially "unknowns" and threw in one of the biggest names in WCM (Who Cares Media).
Overall I give this one 5 out of 5. Very few movies earn 5 stars, in my opinion. The movie was well crafted, well written, well cast, and very well acted. Besides Tyler Perry, I have no complaints against this one. Even if you are not a "Trekkie" you will enjoy this movie. My sister in-law had never seen Star Trek before, and still raves about it. See it! Trust me! Have I ever lied to you, that you are aware of? I don't think so.
Have anything you want me to go off on? Email me at entertaindave@gmail.com and follow me on Twitter @entertaindave
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