The new "Star Trek" movie was even
better than I had hoped.
Whew!
My friend Andrew took me to a special screening of the movie last night on the Paramount lot. As much as I've tried to talk myself into having low expectations (so I wouldn't be disappointed if it was bad), my hopes were pretty high as I sat down in my comfy seat.
Don't worry...I'm going to keep this review very general so that it doesn't spoil any of the many surprises and twists in the film.
That being said....here are some of my general thoughts.
Overall, it is certainly the best produced "Star Trek" film ever. The effects were top-notch, the sets were great, the action was pretty much non-stop, the soundtrack was epic and each of the actors did a great job playing well-known characters without doing hokey caricatures of the original actors who played the roles.
Even if you've never been a "Star Trek" fan, but like a good action/sci-fi movie, I think you'll really enjoy the film.
Chris Pine, Zarchary Quinto and Karl Urban really do a nice job with their characters Kirk, Spock and McCoy. Seeing them all meet for the first time and, over the course of the movie, begin to get to know each other and build the strong bond that we all remember and love was a lot of fun.
It was also refreshing to see the supporting characters get much more screentime than they've ever received in past movies or the original TV show. Uhura, with her ear-piece in place, gets far more to do than just toss out a "Hailing frenquencies open" now and then.
Even watching a very young (he's 17 in the film) Checkov wrestling with his English dialect and actually looking Russian (unlike the original with his Monkees haircut) was enjoyable.
And, as the villan Nero, Eric Bana is unrecognizeable and quite effective as a sullen skull-tattoo'd Romulan seeking vengence against the Federation and, specifically, Spock. He's not as theatrical as Ricardo Montalban's "Kahn", but he's definitely got his moments.
Plus, the inclusion of Leonard Nimoy's Spock into the story really ties the original series and the new movie reality together nicely. Does it feel a bit convenient? A little, but you can forgive it because of the greater storyline possibilities for future Star Trek movies that it creates.
The most difficult part of the movie, for me, was...when it was over.
Other than my friend Andrew (who is not a Star Trek fan at all, but really enjoyed the movie...a good sign for all of you non-Trekkies out there), I had no one to discuss it with. My excitement and enthusiasm was bursting and it took all of my strength and restraint to not just call a friend and spoil the whole movie for them by spewing every miniscule detail, surprise and plotpoint that I had just experienced.
But, I didn't.
Bottom line...
If you've always been a fan (die-hard or casual) of the original series or any of the series that followed....you should really enjoy it.
If you've never really watched "Star Trek", but usually love a good action/adventure/sci-fi blockbuster....then you should also enjoy it.
If you hate "Star Trek" and/or anything Science Fiction related, then, although I think you could still enjoy it, you probably weren't planning to see it anyway.
If that's you, then I'm sure Matthew McConaughey will be thankful that you and four other people opted to see his film "The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" instead.
Being a new Dad...he definitely needs money for diapers and tanning lotion.
