Added: 992 days ago by Mardod | Posted in: Nerdcore | 18 Comments

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<div align='center'><a href='http://www.kontraband.com/blog/17706/Star-Trek-XI-Were-all-Trekkies-now/'>Star Trek XI: We're all Trekkies now</a><br><div align='center'></div><br><a href='http://www.kontraband.com/blog'>See more like this on kontraband.com</a></div>

Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you know that one of the biggest summer movies, the re-imagined Star Trek, was released the other week. Trek, in its original incarnation, was the first of its kind in science fiction. When NBC tried to cancel the show in its second season, fans rallied the studio to save it (the first time fans rallied to save ANY show). It was also the first series to create a fan base that outlasted the show itself, growing increasingly popular as the intervening years between its cancellation in 1969 to the release or Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979 (another first, since no other failed show had been made into a movie). It was, in fact, the fans who demanded a new Star Trek. And thus a franchise was born.

The first movie spawned 5 sequels with the original cast. And from there a new TV show was created, returning the franchise to its original roots (also a first). From Star Trek: The Next Generation, to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, to Star Trek: Voyager, to, finally, Star Trek: Enterprise. It is the longest running franchise in American television history (the BBC's Dr. Who holds the record for fictional television). The characters of Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock are arguably second only in name recognition to Superman. The vision of the future laid out by its creator Gene Roddenberry has been emulated by philosophers, ethicists, and world leaders.

And now we're back with a TV show that became a movie that became a series of TV shows that are back to being a movie (and yes, you guessed it, a first). A new cast, a better budget than most of the prior outings and a new creative team for the first time in decades.

So, how was it? Very good. It's one of those movies that you need to see on the big screen. Probably more than once. So, for the sake of the argument (and I'm sure there is going to be one), I broke it down into three sections (SPOILERS AHEAD).

The good, the bad, and the odd.


The good:

Chris Pine: This was likely one of the hardest casting decisions to make for the Abrams crew. How do you find an actor who has the chops to take on one of the most iconic characters in film history? The role is so wrapped up in Shatner's portrayal of him that it is nearly impossible to separate the two, which was exactly the task Pine was given. It doesn't take long to see that Pine has taken all the inherent aspects of the character; the intelligence, the recklessness, the arrogance that make up James Kirk and make them his own. A damn fine job.

Rachel Nichols: You may not know her name, but you know her character. She plays Gaila, the green-skinned Orion cadet who is the roommate of Uhura. She is, in a word, hawt. She's also going to be even more of a geek goddess after her turn in the upcoming G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra coming out later this summer.

The first ten minutes: It reminded me of the opening sequence to Lethal Weapon 2. No credits, no intro, no subtlety. Just start the plot off with a big bang. Loved every second.

The new U.S.S. Enterprise: It took awhile to grow on me, but it really is an awesome design. Part starship, part hotrod, this design allows Abrams to pay tribute to the original while putting his own stamp on it. For the record though, the Galactica could still kick its ass in a fight.

The annihilation of Vulcan: Speaking of putting your own stamp on something, when Abrams and the writing crew (Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman) decided they were going to screw with the canon, they didn't mess around. This was the one that left my jaw on the ground.

The absence of Vulcan influence in the evolution of the Federation as well as turning this proud race into an "endangered species" as Spock notes is something the writers will be able to mine for material for several sequels to come.

The end of time travel plots: If you could point to a few things that ultimately caused people to turn away from the franchise a few years ago, I'll bet the overuse of the time travel plot device is going to rank up pretty high.

While a novelty at first, it quickly turned into a fan favorite when creative writers used it to develop scenarios of alternative timelines and compelling character developments, which were usually temporary and easily reversible. Although, at some point, they went to that well a few times too many. In fact, one series, Star Trek: Enterprise used it as the premise of the entire show, attempting to reset the Federation timeline in order to roll out an alternative history of both the Federation and the creation of Starfleet (yes, the Star Trek XI writers completely ripped off that idea, but they did it in a far more compelling way). By creating a new history for the franchise, they left little need to keep playing with the established canon. There no longer is one.

My two Spocks: The plot device Orci and company used to create the alternate timeline allowed for the casting of both Nimoy (billed as Spock Prime) and Qunito, the new Spock. A great way for the old to pass the baton to the new. Classy.


The bad:

Did Steve Jobs design the interior of the Enterprise? The rumors about the Enterprise bridge looking like an Apple store are true. Kinda took away from the futuristic aspect of it when I was half expecting Uhura's console to make the Mac "chime" when it powered up. Personally I would have found it hilarious if they had one of the crew members in the background with an Apple logo on their shirt just to screw with the fans a tad.

Oddly enough though, the engineering section looks like Microsoft built it (overly complex and in need of constant maintenance).

Not enough Simon Pegg: How could they put one of the funniest people in film today in a great role rife with comic potential and then hardly give him any screen time? Seriously? How was that not a no-brainer? It's like X-Men Origins: Wolverine putting Ryan Reynolds in it and hardly using him. Note to writing staff: please fix this for the sequel. kthankxbi.

Not enough Winona Ryder: Same thing as above. She is one of the most gifted and beautiful actresses (hardly) working in movies today and what did the writers do? Give her a very small role and then drop her off a cliff (literally). Bad form.

Please tell the cast to eat a damn sandwich: About halfway through this film, and I kept noticing how incredibly thin all the actors were. Is there a food shortage in the future that was cut from the script? Have fat people been summarily executed in some sort of Federation-sponsored pogrom? There has got to be a McDonald's somewhere in the galaxy they could pull a pit stop in.

Waiting for Godot: OK, say you've survived an impending supernova and the subsequent black hole. The problem is that you've lost your home world and have gone bat-sh#t crazy as a result. After blasting the cr#p out of a harmless starship you decide the best way to get your revenge is to do nothing. For 25 years. I get antsy when I have to wait in line for longer than 5 minutes. Either the idea is to turn Nero into the kind of all-purpose antagonist who has been messing around with the continuity in ways that the audience will be finding out about in future films, or it was the dumbest plot point in Star Trek history.

The Grand Canyon is not in Iowa: The scene with young Kirk in the sports car being chased by a cop which has been in virtually every trailer just doesn't fit with the rest of the film. Yes, I know it's supposed to show Kirk was a reckless badass, but there were other ways to prove it. For one, by the early 23rd century, the Beastie Boys are beyond classic rock, which doesn't make you cool. Secondly, the chasm he drives the car into doesn't exist in Iowa. And third, when pulled over by a cop and asked who they are, who in the hell yells their entire name? It's not name dropping if no one knows who you are yet. This little kid isn't a badass, he's just freakin' weird.

Nero's back story: While I understand there is only so much you can get into a screenplay that was already running a bit long, this was just sloppy storytelling. Having Nero and Spock Prime explain the rather complicated series of events (which are chronicled in a 4-part comic book series called Star Trek: Countdown) that led up to the start of the movie is just boring.


The odd:

Product placement: While I'm glad to see that Bud Light and Jack Daniels have survived in the future (probably due to a bailout of some sort), the Nokia placement in the vintage Mustang that was about to meet its doom early in the film was just jarring. If you're going to go through all the trouble of having a communications device installed in your ride, then why not one made by Apple? #productplacementfail

Spock Prime's knowledge of time travel: Nimoy's Spock claimed in the film that he was stranded on Delta Vega (a subtle nod to the original series; the planet was featured in Shatner's first episode as Kirk) by Nero so that he could watch helplessly as his home world was destroyed. But how can that be? Spock has detailed knowledge on how to make a starship travel to a more or less specific place and time. He also has knowledge of the Guardian of Forever (from the episode "City on the Edge of Forever"; listed as the most popular episode of the original series) which would allow him to travel to an exact point. Granted, I'm glad they didn't attempt to try and undo the destruction of the planet, but Spock Prime's omission of that fact to his younger self or to the surviving Vulcans make him somewhat complicit in their continued status as an endangered species.

Spock and Uhura? OK, it isn't exactly odd, but unexpected. I understand that it was a way to humanize the character a bit, but it just seems an odd pairing.

Note to Ben Cross: It's Vulcan, not Vampire: Was I the only one who thought Cross's character, Surak, looked a bit like Nosferatu? There were a couple of scenes where I actually thought his character was going to take a chunk out of someone.

So I would wholeheartedly urge you to go see this version of the sci-fi classic, now re-imagined as an action-adventure series. If you've never seen an episode of any of the previous series, it doesn't matter. This one was made for you. Go, grab some popcorn and enjoy (and then come back here and tell me why I'm wrong; it's fun, trust me).

Added: 992 days ago by Mardod | Posted in: Nerdcore | 18 Comments

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