Star Trek (I've Finally Seen It!)

I don’t remember the last time I went in to watching a major Hollywood blockbuster and finished with such complete satisfaction. Is it perfect? No. Is it as good as a Star Trek reboot could possibly be? Absolutely. I knew a lot of people liked it, but a lot of people liked Hitler. I was cautious, fearing a more socially acceptable Transformers 2, but I was sorely mistaken. Everything Michael Bay lacks is found in this film, most notably HEART. I credit much of this film’s success to the directorial work of TV titan and keyboard enthusiast J.J. Abrams.

I am a big fan of Abrams, most notably his newest series Fringe. I know I would like Lost, but I don’t feel like dedicating myself to 6 seasons at the moment. His directorial debut was Mission: Impossible 3 which I also really enjoyed. Name the last director whose first two features were films of such financial magnitude. What’s more impressive is that he has delivered on almost all accounts thus far.

How does he make Star Trek such a success? I think it’s in the little things. He doesn’t move the camera so much that you cannot tell what you are looking at. He shoots in film instead of video, making it feel more like a movie instead of a product. If it doesn’t require CGI, he doesn’t use it. It’s amazing how many real sets he uses in this film, and real outdoor locations instead of modern Hollywood’s constant (INSERT GREEN SCREEN HERE) mentality.

Also, an entire universe is created here, and done convincingly. This is a futuristic universe which I bought from the beginning, except for the fact that apparently the Beastie Boys must make a resurgence at some point. In fact, one complaint I may have is that we were not on Earth long enough to enjoy any of it outside rural Iowa, and some area with San Francisco in the background. What we do see is not so cartoonish as most of the Star Wars prequels, so it is able to project some kind of realism. Quite frankly, I bought just about everything this film threw at me, including the stuff involving time travel and creating a black hole out of a planet. That was perhaps what was most impressive.

The audience also cares about the relationships between the characters, which I think is mostly Abrams. The screenwriters here are Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who also wrote Transformers 2, a film which I really don’t think has a script. They’ve written just about everything Abrams has done, and I have my problems with them. They enjoy getting women in their underwear in everything they’ve done, and Star Trek is no exception, leading to the most pointless and sophomoric scene in the film. They seem to follow a formula with everything they do, and I just don’t think they are responsible for this film’s maturity and character focus. It’s either they are good at writing and Michael Bay takes what they’ve done and defiles it, or they just aren’t very good and it’s up to talented filmmakers such as Abrams to pick up the slack.

If you don’t know the plot here, it essentially follows the crew of the Enterprise as they become the legendary ship helmed by William Shatner. In this case, Capt. Kirk is played by Chris Pine, who I was worried about going in. Within minutes he leaped through the screen and force fed me my words. Pine pulls it off with a performance that stays away from being one-dimensional. We understand this character from frame one, and he does not make one decision that breaks character. The casting here is near perfect, including Simon Pegg as Scotty, and actor I am convinced is the greatest thing ever. Also on board the Enterprise is the female Na’vi, Harold continuing his crusade to be taken seriously, and Zachary Quinto, who is as good a Spock as you could have asked for. My only problem here is the third grader with the accent playing Pavel Chekov.

My last item of praise here goes to the special effects, which actually don’t look like special effects, for the most part. There is not a second in this film that strays too far in to cartoon territory. I thought that was the Enterprise flying through space, and I never thought “Gee, how did them special effects guys do that?” I watched the film as if it was a story, not a fireworks show.

This film restored my faith in Hollywood that they are actually willing to give money to someone and let them make a big budget film of quality. Seriously, watch this film back to back with any Michael Bay piece of (insert filthy object) and there is no comparison. If I want a project like this made, I would be tempted to go to J.J. Abrams before just about anyone else. Bravo, sir. Bravo.

Rating: (out of 4)