In the beginning, there was “Star Trek,” and it was good. The powers that be at NBC didn’t agree that it was good, and slowly but surely killed it. But the show’s fans would not let it die, and spent the 1970s watching those same 79 episodes over and over again. Recognizing a potential cash cow, Paramount caused there to be Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and it as it turns out, it was not good. But the fans went to see it anyway, in enough numbers that Paramount then caused there to be Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and it was good. More movies followed, and then, seeking further ways to exploit their cash cow, Paramount caused there to be “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” and it, too, was good. More television series followed, of varying quality…until finally, in the early 2000s, the whole thing kind of collapsed under its own weight.
What to do, what to do? When faced with a cash cow franchise like “Star Trek” that has, perhaps, run its course, what’s a movie studio to do? Perhaps take a page from the James Bond and Batman franchises: clear the decks and start over. Tabula rasa. They decided the thing to do – just as MGM had done with Casino Royale and Warner Bros. had done with Batman Begins – was to sweep away the dead weight and start fresh. To symbolize this reboot, the new movie would be called, simply, Star Trek. They found some hot writers and a hot director to figure out how to to get this reboot off the ground.
And thank god they did.
Put it this way: around the time that First Contact came out in 1996, “Trek” fans began to observe that the even-numbered entries in the film series were the good ones and the odd-numbered ones were bad. Curiously, though, there has been an inversion: Nemesis, the tenth film, stank on ice. It was arguably the worst Trek movie of them all. And now J.J. Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have given us Star Trek, the series’ 11th film, which ranks right up there with the franchise’s best. Maybe the Star Trek Movie Quality Algorithm underwent an inversion at the millennium. Who knows? The point is that Star Trek is a great flick, from top to bottom.
This is, surprisingly, a very difficult movie to review. How can I convey the fun, the excitement, the spirit of the thing, but not just bang out a rote list of comparisons between old and new? I mean, it’s well and good that Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto hold their own as Kirk and Spock in comparison to Shatner and Nimoy…but it doesn’t really tell you much about the movie. It’s great that the production designers created a new Enterprise that is both faithful to the original concept but also looks new and futuristic to a 21st-century audience…but that’s not really the point.
The point is that, purely on its own terms, Star Trek works. I think that it would work for someone with no familiarity whatsoever with the original series and all that came after. It certainly worked for me, a die-hard but not blindly devoted longtime Trek fan. The plot is fast-paced and exciting, the effects are great, the actors are engaging. And what more do you need from your summer blockbusters? For a franchise that has always kept its philosophising at the fortune-cookie level (“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one…in bed!”), this is just fine. There’s some brief talk about destiny, and a few throwaway lines that ought to (but will probably fail to) assuage the fears of a certain kind of fan that 40+ years of continuity have been wiped out, describing the movie’s universe as “an alternate timeline” to the classic Trek we know and love. Other than that, not a lot of depth here.
Even so, the introduction of some character backstory and development is nice, correcting something Star Trek has always been lacking. The movie conveys a nice sense of how Kirk came to be the character we know. The idea that service in Starfleet provides focus and direction for Kirk’s natural not-entirely-unjustified arrogance and bravado is interesting and appealing, as is the idea that Spock joins up as a way of thumbing his nose at his fellow Vulcans who see him as barely worthy of their presence thanks to his human mother. The writers and director really seem to get these characters. Early on, Kirk gets himself into a bar brawl. Right before it starts, his opponents observe, “There’s four of us and one of you.” Kirk replies, “Well, get some more guys on your side and then we’ll have a fair fight.” That’s a perfect response, perfectly in-character for Kirk, especially a young and especially brash Kirk who has no reason to believe he can ever lose.
I’ll admit that some things don’t make much sense. Nobody involved in the production seemed to have much of a sense of a chain of command. It may be a fun moment when Captain Pike tells Cadet Kirk, “I’m promoting you to First Officer,” much to the consternation of Spock. But, um, yeah…no military or even quasi-miliary organization really works that way. You mean to tell me that when Kirk – a cadet, mind you, who was on the verge of being suspended or expelled from the Academy at the beginning of the movie – simply sort of becomes Captain of the ship, nobody but nobody calls shenanigans? Every other officer who is potentially higher on the chain of command just shrugs and says, “Oh, okay, I guess that kid’s in charge now?” It’s kind of dumb, but I’m willing to forgive it, as it smacks of Executive Meddling. You just know that the Paramount suits sent down two essentially mutually exclusive directives to the creative team: 1. The movie has to be about Kirk and Spock at Starfleet Academy and, 2. By the end of the movie, Kirk has to be the Captain of the Enterprise, with all the familiar characters in place as his crew. I got the feeling that Abrams, Orci and Kurtzman did the best they could with that, engaging in some absurdist plot gymnastics to achieve it.
I was also a bit bothered by the product placement. I’ve never entirely bought into the idea that human society of the 23rd century has no use for money – but as product placement has never been a part of Star Trek before, it was definitely a bit jarring when young Kirk receives a call on a Nokia brand communications device, complete with signature Nokia tune, or when Uhura orders a Budweiser at the bar. Fortunately, these are just a couple of isolated instances…but they were a bit weird.
On the whole, I left the theater feeling happy and excited, more than ready to see as many more outings as these creators and actors care to make. It was exciting, it was funny, it was emotional. Star Trek, the movie, reminded me once again, and very strongly, of all the things that made me love “Star Trek,” the franchise, in the first place.
Yes, I’ll be happy to see more Trek from these folks, without a doubt…but there had goddamn well better be some Klingons in the next movie.
Filed under: star trek week, top five | Tagged: star trek week
