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Movie Review: Star Trek 2.0, the alternate universe
05/08/09
Let me get the most troublesome aspects of Star Trek out of the way first:
1. If you remember the original series (TOS), Chekov is a young rookie out of the academy, and one gets the feeling that McCoy and Sulu are of different ages. Captain Pike is barely a little older than Captain Kirk.
In this Star Trek, everybody's about 24, except for Pike who's pushing 55. It's ridiculous.
2. Uhura's character creates massive illogic hurdles. Why is she a lieutenant in TOS and Kirk a captain, a full three grades and 15 years of career higher, if they went to school at the same time? Did Uhura get busted? Are there still remnants of racial prejudice in the future? And, she's from Africa. In the future, do all Africans speak English with a New Jersey accent? I know, but the original Uhura speaks with the careful diction of an English learner.
3. There's the complete impossibility of the whole situation: One ship comes to invade earth and they already have to call in the reserves, from the academy(!)? I don't think that's happened since Southerners left West Point to fight for the Confederacy. Note to Starfleet: increase recruiting budget.
When those cadets get on board the ship, they take over the most important jobs. Was the rest of the crew that awful?
4. I originally thought that what happens to Spock's mom in this Star Trek represents a huge continuity problem, as well as the fact that it's clearly stated in TOS episode "Balance of Terror," that the Federation had never encountered the Romulans; but then I realized that things in Star Trek happen in a different reality (Spock, in his dotage, failed to save the Romulan world from a super nova) so it's OK.
As to the movie itself, only hard-core Trekkies and sticklers for movies making lots of sense will find Star Trek offensive.
In fact, inoffensiveness is Star Trek's greatest attribute.
Gone are the original series' social commentary and psychological themes, a groundbreaking attribute of TOS which I realize becomes somewhat tiresome by its third season. Thus, this Star Trek has no evil corporations, exploitation of alien races, unenlightened war mongers, environmental destruction. There isn't any search for ultimate meaning or any human self-reflection at all. Nobody must "learn to live together." It's a clear good-evil fight. Everything seems right with Starfleet and the future world except for some bitter Romulans.
Plot: Aliens come to destroy the world. Out of control boy finds his true calling. Logical dude learns to let go. That's it. Pretty simple, huh? Nope. There's time travel. Time travel is a heavy sci-fi weapon to wield and one should do so with caution and only in an emergency. Does wanting to create a new series with the original characters, but sans Roddenberrian baggage, qualify? Perhaps.
I found the story boring, but some didn't, judging from the reviews.
The characters are uncomplicated and likable. They're not exactly funny- a lot of the jokes are just allusions to TOS, a common tactic when remaking beloved and quirky TV series; Scooby Doo does the same thing- but they're enthusiastic and easy to watch especially Uhura who rivals her predecessor in ebon hotness.
There it is, then. For better or worse: brisk, not quite MTV, unintellectual, and "fun."
Errata:
They couldn't have made William Shatner a bartender or something?
The Starfleet dress code hasn't changed. That means we still have completely impractical, but morale-boosting mini-skirts.
Politics/Message:
We haven't seen an unrepentant Flint/James Bond-style skirt-chasing bad-boy heterosexual male chauvinist (Starbuck from BSG doesn't count as she may be a girl) in such a long time that James T. Kirk is kind of refreshing.
George "Papa" Kirk is lauded for doing his duty. You can see good bit of dialog on it in the trailer above.
This is the least political Star Trek since "Trouble with Tribbles." They don't try to make any "inevitability arguments" by presenting current cultural issues as long-ago settled examples of past cultural silliness, as TOS does with racism and international conflict, for example. We don't see Sulu marry a guy, for example, even though we know he wants to.
Scooby-Doo (Widescreen Edition)
Star Trek: The Original Series (Remastered) - Three Season Pack
Cast and Crew below.
Follow up:
Directed by
J.J. Abrams
Writing credits
(WGA)
Roberto Orci (written by) &
Alex Kurtzman (written by)
Gene Roddenberry (television series "Star Trek")
Cast (in credits order)
Chris Pine ... James T. Kirk
Zachary Quinto ... Spock
Leonard Nimoy ... Spock Prime
Eric Bana ... Nero
Bruce Greenwood ... Capt. Christopher Pike
Karl Urban ... Dr. Leonard 'Bones' McCoy
Zoe Saldana ... Nyota Uhura
Simon Pegg ... Scotty
John Cho ... Hikaru Sulu
Anton Yelchin ... Pavel Chekov
Ben Cross ... Sarek
Winona Ryder ... Amanda Grayson
Chris Hemsworth ... George Kirk
Jennifer Morrison ... Winona Kirk
Rachel Nichols ... Gaila
Faran Tahir ... Captain Robau
Clifton Collins Jr. ... Ayel
Antonio Elias ... Officer Pitts
Sean Gerace ... Tactical Officer
Randy Pausch ... Kelvin Crew Member
Tim Griffin ... Kelvin Engineer
Freda Foh Shen ... Kelvin Helmsman
Kasia Kowalczyk ... Kelvin Alien (as Katarzyna Kowalczyk)
Jason Brooks ... Romulan Helmsman
Sonita Henry ... Kelvin Doctor
Kelvin Yu ... Medical Technician #1
Marta Martin ... Medical Technician #2
Tavarus Conley ... Kelvin Crew Member
Jeff Castle ... Kelvin Crew Member #2
Billy Brown ... Med Evac Pilot
Jimmy Bennett ... Young James T. Kirk
Greg Grunberg ... Stepdad (voice)
Spencer Daniels ... Johnny
Jeremy Fitzgerald ... Iowa Cop
Zoe Chernov ... Vulcan Student
Max Chernov ... Vulcan Student
Jacob Kogan ... Young Spock
Lorenzo James Henrie ... Vulcan Bully #1 (as James Henrie)
Colby Paul ... Vulcan Bully #2
Cody Klop ... Vulcan Bully #3
Akiva Goldsman ... Vulcan Council Member #1
Anna Katarina ... Vulcan Council Member #2
Douglas Tait ... Long Face Bar Alien
Tony Guma ... Lew the Bartender
Gerald W. Abrams ... Barfly #1
James McGrath ... Barfly #2 (as James McGrath, Jr.)
Jason Matthew Smith ... Burly Cadet #1
Marcus Young ... Burly Cadet #2
Bob Clendenin ... Shipyard Worker
Darlena Tejeiro ... Flight Officer
Reggie Lee ... Test Administrator #1
Jeffrey Byron ... Test Administrator #2
Jonathan Dixon ... Simulator Tactical Officer
Tyler Perry ... Admiral Richard Barnett
Ben Binswagner ... Admiral James Komack
Margot Farley ... College Council Stenographer
Paul McGillion ... Barracks Officer
Lisa Vidal ... Barracks Officer
Alex Nevil ... Shuttle Officer
Kimberly Arland ... Cadet Alien #1
Sufe Bradshaw ... Cadet Alien #2 (as Sufe M. Bradshaw)
Jeff Chase ... Cadet Alien #3
Charles Haugk ... Enterprise Crew Member #1 (as Charlie Haugk)
Nana Hill ... Enterprise Crew Member #2
Michael Saglimbeni ... Enterprise Crew Member #3
John Blackman ... Enterprise Crew Member
Jack Millard ... Enterprise Crew Member #5
Shaela Luter ... Enterprise Crew Member
Sabrina Morris ... Enterprise Crew Member #7
Michelle Parylak ... Enterprise Crew Member #8
Oz Perkins ... Enterprise Communiations Officer
Amanda Foreman ... Hannity
Michael Berry Jr. ... Romulan Tactical Officer
Lucia Rijker ... Romulan Communications Officer
Pavel Lychnikoff ... Romulan Commander (as Pasha Lychnikoff)
Matthew Beisner ... Romulan Crew Member #1
Neville Page ... Romulan Crew Member
Jesper Inglis ... Romulan Crew Member #3
Greg Ellis ... Chief Engineer Olson
Marlene Forte ... Transport Chief
Leonard O. Turner ... Vulcan Elder #1
Mark Bramhall ... Vulcan Elder #2
Ronald F. Hoiseck ... Vulcan Elder #3
Irene Roseen ... Vulcan Elder #4
Jeff O'Haco ... Vulcan Elder #5
Scottie Thompson ... Nero's Wife
Deep Roy ... Keenser
Majel Barrett ... Starfleet Computer (voice) (as Majel Barrett Roddenberry)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Leonard Baligaya ... Starfleet Cadet (uncredited)
Mark Casimir Dyniewicz ... Klingon Camp Prisoner (uncredited)
Massi Furlan ... Missle Launcher (uncredited)
Rahvaunia ... Academy Teacher (uncredited)
William Morgan Sheppard ... Vulcan Science Minister (uncredited)
Joseph Stephens Jr. ... Cadet officer (uncredited)
James D. Weston II ... Klingon Guard (uncredited)
Create a character page for: ?
Produced by
J.J. Abrams .... producer
Bryan Burk .... executive producer
Jeffrey Chernov .... executive producer
Alex Kurtzman .... executive producer
Damon Lindelof .... producer
Roberto Orci .... executive producer
David Witz .... co-producer
Original Music by
Michael Giacchino
Cinematography by
Daniel Mindel
Film Editing by
Maryann Brandon
Mary Jo Markey
), 09:46:06 pm, 1267 words PermalinkCategories: Now playing at a theater near you, Art :: 3 comments »
3 comments
this new Star Trek is probably the best movie I've seen in the theaters all year; the new cast did an awesome job emulating the originals as did the script writers -- tons of fun
Recently (05/08/09) Coffee Maker wrote Walmart Coffee -- French Roast at Nomad's web. Check it out!
Has anyone heard the new stargate is suppose to be like a cross of the old stargate with startrek. Check out the info. I hope it is like startrek...that would be awesome. http://www.koldcast.tv/video/2384 
this movie has more plot holes than Pirates 2 stagnettis revenge 
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