Ooooooooooh Myyyyyyyyyyy

Rating: 8/10 (15 July 2013)

I heard JJ Abrams in a recent interview expressing his experience with movie trailers and how scenes are selected in a way that the actual movie is a letdown. Well, that's not the case here as JJ and crew put together a preview structure that ensured a complete and pleasant surprise. It's my opinion that just like the first ST from JJ, these current actors portray the Enterprise's characters better than the originals (with due respect of course). Chris Pine met with and studied William Shatner for the first JJ Abrams feature. However, his Kirk interpretation remains very unique and he spares us the less than enjoyable Shatnerisms. Such as . . . that . . . annoying . . . dramatic . . . pausality . . . of Shatner speak. Zachary Quinto's Spock, dealing with the complexities of love with co-worker Uhura has migrated from the first film as well. Spock has to master his emotional, human half if his relationship with Zoë Zalandra's Uhura has any hope of lasting. As a viewer I love these inside glimpses rather than just the "talking the mission" expositions. Zachary has an excellent ability to transform between Zen like calmness and absolute rage at warp speed without being unrealistically theatrical. Equally Simon Pegg as Scotty, Anton Yelchin as Chekov, John Cho as Sulu, and Karl Urban as Dr. McCoy show equal ownership of their characters with an "amped up" set of skills as compared to the TV portrayals. That is, I don't get the impression of the chain like structure orbiting the lead character as in the original 60's TV series. Rather, everyone seems to have equal or at least semi-equal footing displaying confidence and skills in their duties. To compare with the TV crew that in spite of all their education and skills were quite helpless without the captain. I never understood how the engineer "Scotty" in the TV series who was known to have taken part in ship design, just can't figure things out until that suggestion from Kirk. Only then would the light bulb come on with the over the top "Aye that just may work after all." Or, the helpless female Uhura who's quite incapable of performing the duties she mastered without the strong arms of her captain. Well, you'll see none of that nonsense with JJ's muster mister!! For this new crew has totally upstaged the originals. This movie as well as JJ's first effectively conveys that everybody is equally capable of saving the day. (Hmmm, maybe the rumors about a certain actor's scene stealing in the original series are true). These comparisons are not to disparage the original actors and their abilities. I'm sensitive to the available: technology, budget, and overall 60's attitude toward weekly episodic TV production whether sci-fi or other genre. And the original ST did have a healthy supply of veteran guest actors such as Edward G Robinson's Klingon appearance. But truly a greater depth, range, and overall performance, was never expressed by the original cast, in that original setting. I enjoyed the story as well however, I didn't feel it was quite as strong as the performances. I understand the "wink and a nod" to the earlier elements. The resurgence of the villain "Khan" although not a repeat of earlier scripts, leaves me wondering "OMG are they running out of ideas this early in the game?" Or, "Is this newly rebooted franchise on a diet of old stories?" Maybe so, but personally I'm hoping for totally new adventures. In fact this is my version of the Enterprises five-year mission statement: "To Seek out New Stories and ideas . . . To Boldly Go Where No Producer Has Gone before" I think this needs a little polishing but would you agree with the overall message? Otherwise, it would seem that the new ST is doomed to do an endless cycle of reboots as seen in some movies. CGI and other SFX are excellent as in the first film. However, the least accolades goes to the Enterprise which seems more prone to easy bruising in a fight. But this does add to the dramatic license as we see many forever nameless crew members sucked into space. (It is sucked or blown into space)? I like that it's scaled up from the original to about twice the volume. However, I'm not too keen on the features. The CGI artists stated their reasoning for the new design changes, I just don't agree with them. And I will admit to some bias on my part. For in late 2007, quite by accident during an Internet search, I came across the CGI artist: "Gabriel Koerner" who I've been a fan of ever since although totally unsuccessful in contacting him. He modeled up his own version of the starship which you can search for as: "Gabriel Koerner Enterprise Reimagined." The Enterprise is just as strong a character as any of the crew. And likewise, it also has to be done right. And that's exactly what Gabe did. For example, he has sharply defined counter-rotating, multi colored elements just behind transparent nacelle domes that's truly hypnotic. As compared to the plane Jane version in the movie in which one CGI staff person said "I never liked the little light show on the front of the nacelles." I guess it's all a matter of taste but I'll take Gabe's version any day. Gabe worked on the new Battlestar Galactica, Enterprise, and quite a few movies. However, it's a mystery to me why he wasn't hired for the 2009 or this latest ST movie. As a 3-D CAD monkey, I would love to pick his brain one of these days. But as hard as it seems to be to contact him I stand a better chance of meeting one of the actors.