BY COLIN ENQUIST
J.J. Abrams (Cloverfield, TVs Lost and Fringe) directs the reboot of the space opera, which has a solid cast of mostly unknowns that steal the show in Chris Pine (Smokin’ Aces), Zachary Quinto (TVs Heroes), Leonard Nimoy (Spock in the original Trek series), Eric Bana (Hulk), Bruce Greenwood (Deja Vu), Karl Urban (Pathfinder), Zoe Saldana (Vantage Point), Simon Pegg (Hot Fuzz), John Cho (Harold and Kumar) and Anton Yelchin (You and I).
When I first heard about the Star Trek reboot, I kept wondering who could play Kirk and Spock. Instantly Joshua Jackson jumped out to fill the role of Kirk, but I couldn’t narrow down a solid choice for Spock. Once I heard Pine was selected to play Kirk I realized why I am not a casting director as he not only surpassed my expectations but blew them right out of the water. Not one actor was cast out of place during the entire film.
The film sets up early that this isn’t the normal Star Trek universe, but an alternate timeline that could happen if certain events were triggered. Using time travel, which I thought was going to ruin the movie, turned out to be extraordinary as it basically merged the old Star Trek universe with the new one without using cheesy over the top explanations. Plot wise the film was solid, tying everything together and leaving very little questions asked. Aside from the Spock and Uhura relationship which is never really explained, you just assume they have a relationship to piss off Kirk.
One of the best scenes is probably the orbital dive, showing Abrams’ smart direction, fading to the complete soundless space as they are blasted from the ship, no music, nothing except for the divers breathing in their masks, and then a large boom of them entering the Vulcan atmosphere. Abrams uses the soundless of space a couple times throughout the film and it really jumps out at showing just how lonely and vast it really is.
The choice of using the X, Y axis more on the levels of Star Wars brought realism to the dogfights the Enterprise and the other Starfleet ships were going through. Seems simple having the ships come at each other from different angles, as up and down don’t really apply in space, but this effortless change makes for some great action and an evolution from the original Trek films. Another big budget film recently released (Wolverine) had horrible misuse of the CGI but Star Trek gets it right, creating ships and landscapes that seem plausible and real while keeping with the cinematography of the film incorporating Abrams’ use of lens flares throughout the film.
Some questionable music choices throughout the film, not necessarily bad choices, but I felt they could have been better. A few times it seemed they tried to create new music, trying to fit the futuristic world, while other moments they decide to use older rock and roll.
Star Trek does all the little things right, providing faultless back story that is intricately interlaced into strong character development. Mixing that with the very strong acting makes for almost pitch perfect emotional attachment to everyone on screen hoping they make it through the peril that is being caused during the exciting action sequences.
4 out of 5
Colin Enquist
No comments:
Post a Comment