'Star Trek' Movie Reviews (updated)
By Captain Pyke | May 7, 2009 - 4:11 pm
We scoured the internet looking for reviews of the new J.J. Abrams film 'Star Trek'. We wanted to find the good, the bad, and the ugly. Here's what we found so far.
New (updated May 7th)
There's a time-tripping plot that, frankly, could have been trippier (not to mention a bit more, you know, logical). Maybe that's because it's basically an excuse to shoehorn Leonard Nimoy into the picture. Excuse granted: He's as dry, and spry, as ever — a tribal-elder aristocrat. I do wish Karl Urban, as Bones, lit his short fuse with a bit more idiosyncrasy, but Zoë Saldana gives Uhura a sultry spark, and casting the puppyish Simon Pegg as the hyperkinetic Scotty is genius. As for Pine and Quinto, they really do feel, by the end, like Kirk and Spock. With a crew like this, you can welcome the future. A- Read the full article
After all the characters have been introduced — to each other as well as to us — there's a wonderful moment when they are assembled for the first time on the ship's deck: Kirk, Spock, Leonard "Bones" McCoy, Uhura, Scotty, Sulu and Chekov. They are the galaxy's new magnificent seven, ready for anything. Especially summer. Read the full article
After five years of no new Trek, we now have a seriously enjoyable film on our hands. Odd that I haven't said much about the two best things about the movie, Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto. Both are fantastic. They do exactly what you want: pay respect to Shatner and Nimoy, but make the characters their own. (More Spoilers: Pine's shirt doesn't rip, nor does he Kirk-chop and Quinto seems to take to humor a little sooner than "Spock Prime" ever did. But it works. Trust me.) Fans of K/S will have a lot to think about as these two handsome men get face to face quite a bit. Eric Bana is great as Nero, but I am afraid he is given a little bit of the short end of the stick. I urge everyone to read the 4-issue comic "Countdown," the official Orci/Kurtzman sanctioned prequel to Star Trek. It will give you much greater insight into why Nero behaves the way he does, the origin of "Original" Spock's crazy fish-lookin' ship and the curious substance "red matter." If you don't read it, though, I guess it's not so bad. For most people, this is a popcorn flick and, as such, everything just sings. Sings a new variation of a highly recognizable and pleasant melody. Read the full article
2 1/2 Stars
...I thought about these things during “Star Trek” because I could not help myself. I understand the Star Trek science has never been intended as plausible. I understand this is not science fiction but an Ark movie using a starship. I understand that the character types are as familiar as your favorite slippers. But the franchise has become much of a muchness. The new movie essentially intends to reboot the franchise with younger characters and carry on as before. The movie deals with narrative housekeeping. Perhaps the next one will engage these characters in a more challenging and devious story, one more about testing their personalities than re-establishing them. In the meantime, you want space opera, you got it. Read the full article
Original Post (May 3rd)
Look out for Star Trek to be the first of the summer blockbusters. It's wonderfully exciting sci-fi entertainment that will appeal to long-term fans of the legendary TV series and also those just looking for an entertaining night out.
The great thing about this new Star Trek is that it is reassuringly familiar while at the same time subtly and impressively different. This Star Trek is heading off on an alternate trajectory and I have to tell you it is going to be an action-packed journey. Read the full article.
Kirk's Enterprise has never looked better. These guys took the original ship, combined it with some designs of the Enterprise-B, then mashed it up with Picard's Enterprise-E and then added a dash of '60s non-Trek Sci Fi. The set design, however, is almost all touchscreen (like TNG), but with a tremendously updated UI. I'd hate to call it Apple-y, but there's lots of glass and slick white finishes. Retro this is not—you'll barely be able to equate the bridge to the original's, other than the fact that the players are all sitting in the right places. Why Bones canoodles in the bridge so much instead of where he's supposed to be is still beyond me. Read the full article.
History may be mutable in the new Star Trek, but some things don't change. Spock is logical, the female officers wear miniskirts and Scotty (Simon Pegg) complains about the ship's overworked engines. Chris Pine's baby Kirk doesn't yet have the eccentric charisma of William Shatner, but who knew Bones McCoy (Karl Urban) was so raffish, while Zachary Quinto's Spock is an uncanny emulation of the original without becoming a karaoke turn. Read the full article.
"Star Trek" went above and beyond my expectations of it, and may be the first big blockbuster of the year that really deserves its hype. This introduces the cast of the original series in a different way, starting from the day that James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) was born and how he got involved with Starfleet. It also introduces Spock (Zachary Quinto) and his struggle as a child to choose which race (human or vulcan) he belonged to. This is not the calm and cold Spock that we watched develop into an emotional being; instead he starts out having trouble containing his emotions and struggling with love and fury. Read the full article.
Paced at warp speed with spectacular action sequences rendered brilliantly and with a cast so expert that all the familiar characters are instantly identifiable, the film gives Paramount Pictures a new lease of life on its franchise. Read the full article.
Without sacrificing the majesty of Gene Roddenberry’s humanitarian ideals or the humour that is Star Trek’s salvation, Abrams’s film is a rollicking space adventure that makes you fall in love with the original series all over again. It shows how the Enterprise crew came together to avert the Romulan threat and, more importantly, how Captain Kirk, the incorrigible young rebel, and Spock, the conflicted half-human, half-Vulcan genius, forged their lifelong friendship. And with Spock and Uhura getting it on (the first truly interracial kiss!), there’s even the hint of a love triangle still to come. Read the full article.
