| Hardly a blockbuster Mildly amusing, strangely cast - the new Star Trek has nothing on the original
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| STAR TREK
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TV show-runner-turned-features-director J.J. Abrams tries to please old and new fans alike in this big-screen reinvention of Gene Roddenberry's classic sci-fi series.
The ultimate result will likely be mild amusement for some and 'why bother?' scratches of the head for many more.
The picture is pleasingly familiar in its intended aims and is full of comforting references, yet it is curiously inert in everything from its blurry, galaxy-traipsing action sequences to its juggling of the relatively complex character dynamics.
Cute touches such as having a prepubescent James T. Kirk drive around in a 'vintage' car listening to Beastie Boys are too-obvious attempts to lure today's generation.
Chris Pine plays the boyishly handsome Kirk, while Zachery Quinto is Spock, the famed half-Vulcan with a penchant for logic. We witness Kirk (and Bones McCoy, played by Karl Urban) enlist in Starfleet command while a propelling crisis sees them called into action. Along the way, there are frequent brushes with other familiar characters such as Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Sulu (John Cho) and Chekov (Anton Yelchin).
In this pic, the Romulan villain, Nero (Eric Bana), has seen his planet combust due to a supernova star. Believing that then-Ambassador Spock (the elderly Leonard Nimoy) has allowed it to happen, he concocts a time-travelling revenge dish served 25 years earlier, resulting in appropriate ages for everyone aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise.
Abrams (and writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman) have the answer for why we're dealing with younger incarnations: it's due to a black hole-causing time travel loophole.
It's convenient, but in a way, it works. As long as we're left to think that the future adventures of the old Kirk and Co. are going on in a parallel timeline, there's nothing for fans to pick apart.
What's absurd is how this film's been applauded for being well-cast. These are fictional creations and, therefore, authenticity can't even begin to play a part. While the previous actors and actresses are etched into the collective consciousness thanks to a few decades worth of reruns, the new takes are just as valid.
Winona Ryder appears as Spock's mother in one paltry scene, only to wither into a hooded matriarch with limited screen time. The obvious intent is to cast someone memorable enough to leave an impression (as it is forced to on Spock's consciousness), but the choice is a strange one.
The question remains: when there's so little at stake and there's no sense of ambition, why not stay home and watch the canonized episode The City on the Edge of Forever instead?
Now that's some groundbreaking and heartbreaking entertainment.
— Aaron Graham |
Uptown
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