cinema, Star Trek (film, 2009)
It had to be mixed feelings, didn't it? I mean I'm far too involved not to find fault with any new production unless it meets my every expectations. I made sure I had little to no expectations with all the build up to this film, because I expected to be 50-50 on it. Surprisingly I managed to get past a lot of the things you'd expect to be upset about, such as new actors playing familiar characters, or new sets, etc. The beginning was powerful and really made a tragic and involving opening where you care about these people you've never met even in 'proper' Star Trek. The sense of scale and weight and damage that was evoked with the effects was very real, and was exactly how I felt 'Nemesis' should have been like, with the massive Scimitar battle.
Before the film I knew there was a Romulan villain, from the future, and I wondered why they would do that when the last film was reliant on this race and time, and I thought they must be linking this to the last film. Unfortunately they didn't. The early life of some of the characters is well done, if odd to see, but this was a perfect point in Trek history to bring to screen because we know so little. Unfortunately what we do know is gradually eroded until they're practically tearing it all apart! This is actually fine in the historical context because we find it's a different timeline, so they have the right to rip up the rule book and do whatever they well want to, as McCoy might say. But this is definitely aimed at people who know little to nothing of the past, because they so change some things that only non-regular viewers would know or care too much.
It's a business making films, and Trek is a hot property that Paramount has often been accused in recent years of not taking seriously. Well they've taken it seriously now, booted out the old team, the old rules, thrown money into it (and you can see that!), got new ideas and a new timeline... screech to a halt if you care about past Trek. Because what this is saying is that that's all gone now. I was hoping vaguely that there would be a giant red reset button dangling in space like 'red matter' to put some of the things right at least, but no can do. We're here, and we're making Star Trek, so sit back and either enjoy the ride or get off (or bury your snivelling nose in the DVD's!), because this is Star Trek on steroids.
It's primarily an action film, and the early promise of a heart-tugging element is pretty much lost, but the action is certainly active. You get some expert moments never done in the franchise before, such as the orbital skydive (took 15 years for us to see a proper one, but we made it, and they couldn't have done this in 'Generations'), with Sulu getting to make his mark. The purely aesthetic side of me always finds squiggly camerawork annoying, and for once it's crept into Trek, with fights where you feel like you're in amongst the fighters. I prefer to be seeing these stunts perfectly, less realism of what a close view would really be like, and more film magic. So a problem, but that's a directing choice rather than anything too bad.
So what did I not like? The story. The fact the timeline is a new one, but most of all the shocking and unbelievable events, as well as some of the characters doing things that were terrible to a regular viewer but wouldn't mean a thing to anyone else. Uhura and Spock. Kissing. Touching! Vulcans don't like to touch, whatever timeline you're in. The power of Spock as a character, as an alien is lost, even if the Vulcans tend to be more Vulcan than in 'Enterprise'. And Kirk. It's a common misconception that he was a flirty ladies man always out to chase them, because if you look at the evidence (as a superb article in the Star Trek Magazine did), you see that he actually has a much more stable persona than that. But it doesn't matter, it's an alternate timeline. Anything goes. In some ways that's thrillingly liberating to create new ideas and stories. But it's chucking out most of what has happened, and is tough to overcome.
The destruction of Vulcan is another incredibly shocking event, it feels like the new team are putting their heel into your face and telling you this Star Trek is going to be different. The most shocking of all must be that Romulus was destroyed, in the 'proper' timeline, and Spock couldn't prevent it. We come to the things that made this a good film, a good Trek film, beyond the spectacle and scale (the Narada puts the Scimitar to shame!); that Leonard Nimoy is there once again, and probably for all - the real Spock on screen. That's what we want, that's the core reason we can watch this film and not feel cheated out of old history. Spock is there, in the past. I only wish somehow Shatner could have been included too. I sort of expected maybe a cameo or two from other branches, like 'Enterprise', but the thing about 'Admiral' Archer's pet beagle which Scotty had transported and never returned was almost as good! Hilarious (even if it makes no sense since the original dog would be long dead. It could be another dog of course).
The humour was a nice nod back to the original series, the thing with the hands, for example. Perhaps the Orion scene was a bit much for children. And some characters worked better than others. Chekov came across a little acted, perhaps because he was the youngest actor. And Kirk and Spock were sometimes visible as themselves, but other times were wrong. Kirk particularly came across as precocious and a slimy brat - not how we know him as the hard-working gentleman of the Academy, who worked too hard. McCoy was the closest and a really good portrayal from Karl Urban. And Scotty too was a fun, similar version. Uhura was fine, apart from the terrible character-altering stuff with Spock. Majel Barrett-Roddenberry was hard to hear in the computer voice, but I did like the end where the film was dedicated to her and Gene. If the film had come out as originally intended, December 2008, the dedication wouldn't have included her as she died in January 2009.
The musical theme was a strong one, if a bit repetitive, though it was a shame this wasn't at the start: like with 'Nemesis' they got straight into the action. And they did a new version of the old series theme, which was nice. For regulars there were lots of little things to notice, as mentioned above, and McCoy's 'I'm a Doctor, etc' and little things like this. But for me I felt 50-50 in the film. I'm grateful for another film, and I hope it's successful, but it's incredibly sad they feel they have to change the timeline and destroy all that's gone before, and you'd think they could be as inventive in keeping things the same, while being able to tell new stories. So it was an exciting film, a film that stands alone, a good film, a fast, full, meaty film, that lives up to what's gone before. It's just such a shame that it tramples on that to do it. Less standing on the shoulders of giants, than kicking the giant's faces in, smirking evilly and spitting on their grave!
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