Rated: PG-13, sci-fi action and violence, and brief sexual content. 2hr. 6min.
I am a Trekkie from way back. The different tv series’ have always been a favorite for me. I love TOS, enjoyed much of TNG, liked the deeper stories of Voyager, appreciated elements of what Enterprise was supposed to bring (at least in the first two seasons) but the movies have always been plagued. There were things in the “Motion Picture” that I enjoyed, TWOK has always been my personal favorite and I liked parts of First Contact. Nemesis was good to bring a different feel to the extended Next-Gen series. But the offering by J.J. Abrams has caught everyone’s eye. I can honestly say that I have been skeptical up to yesterday.
Early teasers and the quite limited release of trailers made me a bit wary of what more could be done to destroy my favorite franchise of all time. I have not had the chance to catch J.J.’s Lost, but I thoroughly enjoy Fringe. Anyway, when I got to the theater, I half-expected to see no real acceptance of the film. You can usually get the impression of how a film is doing (or going to do) based on the decor. Well my wife and I were greeted with a pair of 8 foot long tables with theater help selling Trek gear and giving away swag. It was like going to a mini-con! The walls were adorned with Star Trek emblems, Saturns and various types of space craft. The movie was obviously good and being that we saw it one day after the continental release, there was time for early reactions to generate this kind of acceptance.
I became quite excited about seeing the work that J.J. had slaved over and I was glad that we were 15 minutes late to get our seats. We sat 6 rows from the screen, dead center, and had thankfully missed the commercials and only saw the upcoming film previews. The opening sequence doesn’t offer any familiar theme music, or anything else for that matter, with the exception of Star Fleet uniforms.
Without spoiling the movie, I will continue by not speaking of the plot but only continue on the major elements of the film. I will begin by saying that the casting for this movie truly could not have been any better. To say that the actors portrayed their predetermined and preconceived characters well, is a gross understatement of their expertise. My wife nailed it when she told me that the light-hearted humor and “corny” things that were evident in TOS are not embellished but merely visited for brief periods throughout. This gives familiar breaks in the action and throws a laugh in between fist fights and impulse powered combat. The character development was thorough enough to hold the seasoned fans (as it isn’t really needed) and light enough to keep newbies from feeling overwhelmed or bored.
There is action a-plenty, some funny bits, some romance and periods of emotional trauma that seemed palpable among the screen actors and the screen watchers alike. The sign of a really great movie to me, is the reception of the end credits and whether or not the murmurings while leaving are favorable at all. I can say for my wife and I, that we were tempted to stay and watch the movie all over again. We were both saying to each other that it will be a real bummer to have to wait for the next one. Something that we have NEVER really felt about any previous Trek film, although I had hoped that the Search for Spock would have been better. The credits brought applause from everyone in the room, not unlike when I felt like I was ring-side during the final bout in Rocky 4, when Balboa K.O.’s Ivan Drago (the room erupted). Other leaving movie goers were talking about the film too, as we all herded out. Discussing all different parts and elements of what they had just witnessed…movie magic, that’s what it was!
If you are unsure about it, being either a hard-boiled fan or a newbie, it will definitely NOT be the worst 2 hours or $7 you have ever spent.
Leave a Reply