Midweek Movie Review

My wife has asked me to contribute to the blog. I have quite a bit I could talk about, but I just can't talk about it yet. So, today, I shall do a Midweek Movie Review. Here we go:

This week's movie: Star Trek (2009)

Rating: PG-13 for sci-fi action and violence, and brief sexual content.

Brief Synopsis: Writer/Director J.J. Abrams (tv's Alias, among others) beams the Star Trek franchise back to the beginning and sets his phasers to stun. As in, he stuns the audience with brilliant storytelling, subtle and not-so-subtle tributes to the original series, and flat out cool action and adventure.

The opening sequence rocks the audience to it's emotional core and pushes it to the edge of it's seat with some high drama and intense action. Then, it just gets better from there.

It seems, that in the future, Ambassador Spock doesn't quite make it in time to save the planet Romulus from destruction. A band of Romulan survivors, led by the menacing Nero, follows Spock back in time through a black hole and ends up annihilating a Federation starship helmed by George Kirk, our beloved James T. Kirk's dad, on Jim's actual day of birth. This sequence of events effectively alters the Star Trek universe as we know it, and allows Abrams to tell a new story with the same characters without completely changing everything we know. The longstanding Star Trek universe still exists, but we are now following this new set of events and new stories. (You've got to really see the movie to understand it.)

We see some scenes from both Kirk's and Spock's childhood, as each deal with his own set of circumstances. We then flash forward roughly 10 to 15 years where the original crew of the USS Enterprise meet up at Starfleet Academy. The whole thing drums up nostalgic memories for Trekkies, as the cast of this movie does well, in my opinion, in capturing the essence of the characters played by the original actors.

The main tension comes when Starfleet receives a distress call from the planet Vulcan. The young cadets are assigned to the newly built Enterprise under the helm of Captain Christopher Pike to investigate and conduct a grand rescue mission. From there, the action gets even better with hand to hand combat, space monster chase scenes, and epic space ship battles. Through it all, the new series of events have to unfold in a way, with the help of Leonard Nemoy (the original Mr. Spock), that sets our original understanding of the Star Trek universe at ease with some form of familiarity.

Overall Thoughts: This movie is extremely fun. I got a kick out of watching these old friends meet for the first time. Abrams brought some serious creativity to the sequence of meetings that, for me, stayed true to each character, as I remembered them. I know this movie was received well, both critically and popularly (is that a word?), but I don't know how the true, hardcore Trekkies would deal with their universe being altered. I think if they could keep an open mind, they would actually enjoy the movie. Also, you don't have to be a fan of the original Star Trek to really like this movie. It is a good movie.

I took my 1o year old son to see this movie in the theater back in May. He handled it well, but be advised there is a brief scene with Kirk and a green girl in their underwear. Uhuru comes in and undresses to her underwear before Kirk pops out from under the bed and Uhuru rushes him out. My kids love the explosions and lasers and sci-fi fantasy violence. There is no major cringe factor due to language for me, but there are plenty of d***s and other variations scattered throughout. I don't remember the Lord's name being taken in vain, but it doesn't mean one couldn't have slipped passed me somewhere in there.

We have a ClearPlay DVD player, if ever they will send me my replacement unit, and that would be the only way I would be really comfortable allowing my children, even my now 11 year old, to see Star Trek. Clip out that 60 to 90 second scene, and mute some of the language, and I would gladly allow my children to watch it. Over and over again. Just like I plan to.

Overall, I really enjoyed the movie. I have now devised my own rating system for movies and other media that I may or may not ever review:

Pre-order - worthy of putting money down in advance to secure your ownership

Immediate Buy - worthy of buying the day it comes out

Eventual Buy - worthy of owning, but it can wait a few days/weeks/or months

Five Dollar Bin - worthy of owning if you can find it for $5 or less

Acceptable Gift - worthy of owning if somebody buys the movie for you

Don't Bother - not worthy of owning - EVER

My Rating: Immediate Buy - I actually had thoughts of pre-ordering this one, but I just couldn't do it. Honestly, it would have been the first time I ever pre-ordered something. Maybe that's why I had a hard time pre-ordering it. I did, however, buy this yesterday, the first day it came out. I loved Star Trek. It is my latest favorite movie.

Tune in next week, as I review something else. Or, maybe I'll have opportunity to talk about other stuff. Or, maybe I'll give my critique on my wife's decorating. Or, maybe I wish to continue living in my house.

Later,

R.C.