star trek movie ticket, originally uploaded by iamtheeric.
someone referred to me as a trekkie yesterday. i argued that it wasn’t true. why? i’m simply not THAT familiar with a lot of the star trek universe. it’s true i grew up in a house with a framed hologram of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), but i’ve only seen a handful of original series episodes, and only watched the next generation sporadically in syndication. i’ve never been to a convention, and even i thought some of the people in the theater the other night were nerds.
what makes me a fan is the fact that i’ve seen certain films over and over and over again, and they have affected my life in serious, tangible ways. i care about [installations of] star trek, but i don’t live for it.
anyway, i’m going to keep this simple. the new star trek movie was really great. i thoroughly enjoyed it. i had my doubts when i first saw the trailer: young hotties zippin’ around, fightin’ kill-bill-style and having hot sex! WOO! it’s star trek for the fast-and-the-furious set!
but it seems that was simply part of the marketing plan to get new people in the seats, because what i saw was a prequel/re-imagining that was respectful of the tone and spirit of Gene Roddenberry’s ongoing mission. J.J. Abrams and co. somehow found a perfect balance between delivering for the needs of the many (the ave. moviegoer), and the needs of the few (star trek nerds)…
or the one (me):
• humor–arguably one of the most important elements in the best trek films–was intact and plentiful
• the casting, overall, was terrific. i was especially delighted by Karl Urban (Bones), Simon Pegg (Scotty) and Anton Yelchin (Chekov)
• Michael Giacchino (composer) and the sound designers didn’t forget to reference familiar sonics from treks of the past
• screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman slipped plenty of subtle references in, which served as a wonderful reward for having been such a nerd throughout my entire life
strange as it may sound, the one element which didn’t quite work for me was the portrayal of Sarek (spock’s father) by anyone other than the late Mark Lenard (who played the character from 1966 through 1991).
that said, STAR TREK was one of the most enjoyable movies i’ve seen in a while, and i look forward to seeing how J.J. tries to avoid the sophomore slump. i could write so much more, but i won’t. i will simply beam home, and once again revisit my favorite films featuring the original cast at odds with klingons, crazed supermen and cranky space probes.
