Star Trek, with spoilers
From a packed late Sunday showing on a gorgeous spring evening alongside the Potomac River . . . .
What I Liked:
(1) Abrams being ballsy enough to take the franchise in a radically different direction. Of course, if this parallel universe business takes off, then we’re going to get endless permutations of reboots, but that’s a lot better than the same ol’ stuff. This was a bold move, and it looks to be repaid fully in box office glory.
(2) The Evil Starship, complete with Evil Interior Decorations. Not a cushion in sight . . .
(3) That giant drill sequence. That’s the part I’ll watch again and again on the DVD. And I won’t be the only one.
(4) Watching the dude in the red suit get sucked into the drill. Probably the only coy inside joke I thought they got mileage out of.
(5) Planet becomes singularity, wrecks everybody’s day. If you ever see this in real life, just run.
Not So Much:
(1) Kirk seemed like he was far more likely to win the Darwin Awards than end up in command of a ship. The bit where he opened the pod’s hatch and traipsed off into a wilderness he knew nothing about was particularly classic.
(2) I’m not an expert on military law/justice .. but . . once you’ve beaten up people on a ship’s bridge and been banished from that ship, I don’t think you’re still in the chain of command anymore.
(3) Eric Bana just wasn’t doing it for me as a super villain. Though he scored some points with that brain-beetle. . . .
(4) All the women on the Enterprise have skirts that go down to their belly-buttons. I appreciated this aesthetically, but c’mon. After a while, the future started to feel like a big frat-party.
(5) The awards ceremony at the end. Brought back blacked-out flashbacks of the last scene of STAR WARS . . .
All in all: delivered what it was supposed to, though I find myself unable to hail it as the second coming like everyone on Twitter seems to be doing. Must be a zeitgeist thing . .
Tune in tomorrow for a chance to win copies of BURNING SKIES!
May 11th, 2009 at 11:57 am
Being a fan since the 60’s, I loved it. Seen it twice already and I now have a reason to buy a Bluray.
May 11th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Reboot or not, I think it would be straying too far from canon to have Kirk get *smart* all of a sudden.
And the skirts were actually a big improvement on the women’s uniforms from the 60s TV show. And civil rights icon or not, I blame Nichelle Nichols, who’s basically said it was her idea that the skirts should facilitate flashing the captain as much as possible. As Patsy once said on Absolutely Fabulous, “With a snap of my fingers I can raise hemlines so high the world’s your gynecologist.”
May 12th, 2009 at 9:21 am
What did you think of the opening sequence? IMO it was the best part of the film, and nothing after it matched it’s emotional peak.
Re Kirk, how consistent with his character would it be for him to sit in an escape pod for days/weeks/months to await pickup? Remember that he thinks the earth is getting blown up right about now and oh yeah the entire Starfleet armada has been decimated…leaving whom to save him? The bigger fail is why he wasn’t thrown in the brig but jettisoned on an ice planet for insubordination. There had to be a better way to meet Spock…
Agree on the Eric Bana fail. Actually feel the Romulans as tattooed Nosferatu was a tired, uninspired design. Someone got paid for that?
Meh on Simon Pegg as Scotty. Old Scotty was an ENGINEER…new Scotty is a comic relief grease-monkey. I do like new Scotty’s little alien sidekick, though!
Overall enjoyed it and look forward to the sequel!
P.S. Winona Ryder as older lady = still hot!
May 12th, 2009 at 10:48 am
@JW: agreed, the opening scene hit home, though for me it was almost a little too contrived. the pyrotechnics were fab though.
And good point re Kirk. And I guess we have to assume that he at least knew the atmosphere was breathable.
Re Winona Ryder: she can shoplift my clothes anytime.