Fresh Rumors Corner

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Before this piece sounds also odd, let me say I believe the new Star Trek movie is a excellent flick.

Now for the dissing –

The latest tag line for the movie is, “Not your father’s Star Trek.”  The line ought to be, “Not your Grandfather’s Star Trek!”  It is been that extended – really!  My father would watch Star Trek with fascination back in 1966 generating comments like, “That’ll in no way take place,” and “Somebody really should be wearing a cape in this show!”

As I went via this movie, I noticed a few things that my father would have commented on.  Initial, the title music was diverse.  That is not a negative thing.  Every single new film deserves a new song, and this film has a theme that sounds very close to a Batman movie theme.  It is various composers and all, but it brought back memories of my father’s wishes for an individual in a cape.  For those technical buzzards out there, the original Star Trek theme was written in a main important and the new theme for the Star Trek film was written in a minor key.

Anyway – This latest production of Star Trek caters to all the standard American film stereotypes.

Initial – the sacrifice.

Kirk’s father, George (Chris Hemsworth), dies even though trying to conserve hundreds on board a starship referred to as the USS Kelvin.  This 1 selfless act tells you that it’s ok for the son, James T. Kirk (Jimmy Bennett), to be a throwback to James Dean (ala Rebel Without having a Result in). This concept is reinforced with a 12 year old James driving a vintage Corvette even though becoming chased by the police (ala Thelma and Louise).  In case you missed that ploy, an older James (Chris Pine) takes on three or four Starfleet Cadets in a bar battle (just like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom).  Just by chance you had your eyes closed up to this point, James drives his motorcycle at dusk (ala Leading Gun) close to the launching point for the shuttles taking new recruits to Starfleet Academy. And finally, the scene on Delta Vega exactly where Kirk is becoming chased by some Saber Toothed hairy issue that gets wiped out by a Squid-like non-hairy factor looks a great deal like the final scene in Jurassic Park.

Second – The introduction of new characters.

Kirk meets a boatload of brainiacs, and while some meetings seem convoluted, others are genuine in nature.  Lieutenant Uhura (Zoe Saldana) is met in a bar.  Medical doctor Leonard “Bones” McCoy (Karl Urban) is met on a shuttle.  It could transpire.  The only “person” that Kirk actually met at Starfleet Academy is Mr. Spock (Zachary Quinto).  That is mainly due to that entire Kobayashi Maru point that has been cropping up since 1982 when Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was a big hit.  In today’s reality, there are enormous debates above whether or not Spock was truly at Starfleet Academy while Kirk was a cadet.  That element is possible as properly considering that Kirk was born in 2228 or 2233 (based on the supply) and Spock was born in 2230.

Here’s wherever it begins to get squirrelly.  Kirk gets banished to a planet referred to as Delta Vega.  He meets Montgomery Scott (Simon Pegg) or “Scotty” even though on the planet.  Scotty is maintaining some engineering equipment at this outpost, and guess who Scotty’s helpers are?  Hairless Ewoks straight out of Star Wars!  On the evolutionary scale, Star Trek Ewoks are so much better than Star Wars Ewoks due to the fact, a) they’re hairless, and b) they function in engineering.  Those two elements alone spell intelligence.  Somebody in marketing and advertising should have thought that one up.

Third – Kirk is the only one particular acquiring beat up.

I keep in mind getting in playground fights as a kid.  Afterwards, we would become buddies simply because one particular of us displayed dominance more than the other.  In Star Trek, Kirk gets a main beating no much less than 3 times.  Even when Kirk is tag teamed in a fight with the bad guys, Kirk always comes out seeking battered, bruised, and bewildered.  Mr. Sulu doesn’t have bruises.  Mr. Spock doesn’t have bruises either.  Kirk just gets banged up, knocked down and tossed all around like a rag doll each and every time he gets in a fight.  Everybody else looks great.  Even at the end of the film, Kirk still looks like he has the leftover remains of a black eye.

Fourth – The mystery of the missing stuff.

Communicators:  If you even have a casual interest in Star Trek, you would bear in mind Kirk whipping out his trusty hand held communicator and giving a status report.  It even had that cool sound that went with the opening and closing of the gadget.

Sound Effects:  The total transporter sound impact is gone.  That wild maneuvering of the slide switches on the console that triggered that cool sound – it is missing.

Aliens:  The bar scenes have aliens all more than.  Nobody asks, “Hey, exactly where you from?” or “What’s your sign?”  There’s some weird hunting dude at 1 point and some green woman with red hair in a couple of scenes.  No one asks about these people.  I was waiting for them to start off playing weird musical instruments or something.

What are cadets doing in Iowa:  Seriously, provided the option of becoming at Starfleet Academy in San Francisco and getting in Riverside, Iowa makes no sense.  They say it is a recruiting venture, but it is strange for them to be out in Iowa undertaking business.  Nothing against Iowans, but it’s not wherever the Starfleet action is.

How did Spock get a girlfriend:  Here’s the element that really concerned me.  Spock is close to getting entirely emotionless throughout this film.  Uhura was one of Spock’s college students at Starfleet Academy.  When all hell breaks loose, we see Uhura question Spock about his selection to location her on another ship.  That’s standard.  Spock even explains that he didn’t want to give the impression of favoritism by placing her on the USS Enterprise with him.  That is the beginning of questionable.  What tilts the scales to the unbelievable assortment is half way through the film when Uhura corners Spock in an elevator and kisses him.  Somebody please inform me they weren’t carrying out the nasty between student and teacher way back at Starfleet Academy.  That would be illogical!

In which is Lt Uhura’s Bluetooth:  This is the lady who made wearing one thing hanging out of your ear a style statement.  The 1 she wore in the original series looked like it had a mini nuclear reactor attached – chrome plated, spirally, phallic – It was cool looking and it was usually in her ear it seemed.  I often identified it exciting that Uhura had to smash that point down her ear canal to hear greater.

Klingons:  Not a single a single in the bunch!  Romulans are fine as a substitute, but nothing at all scares the crap out of you than a guy with a huge assed sword dressed in samurai gear with lengthy hair, negative teeth, in severe need of some cosmetic surgical treatment yelling at you in a language you don’t understand.  The only thing that may possibly be worse is who this Klingon married!

Crew reactions:  This is the component that always got me in every Star Trek adventure – why is not everyone surprised when Spock provides his knock out “pinch.”  Seriously – in this film, Spock performs this feat only the moment, but it’s on the deck of the Enterprise.  Everyone is watching.  Nobody asks the obvious question – “Whoa – How’d you do that, man?”

Fifth – Trivia galore.

Each and every time a film like this comes out, people base some new trivia game on the particulars of the film.  For instance, What it Uhura’s first name?  How extended before we see Kirk carrying out an alien?  Is the character that plays Montgomery Scott in this film the identical guy who played Mel Gibson’s Irish sidekick in the movie Braveheart back in 1995?

The answer to these inquiries are, Who cares, Will not be the last time, and No!

Basically put, the outcome is predictable.  Kirk becomes captain, Kirk and Spock become pals, everything that desires clarification is explained by the old Spock himself (Leonard Nimoy) and nobody understands that Mr. Sulu (John Cho) is genuinely gay – yet.  (By the way, George Takei is gay, not John Cho.)

So – who gets the Oscar?

James T. Kirk’s mother, Winnona (Jennifer Morrison), does a pretty convincing task of delivering a infant on a shuttle.  The new Spock hasn’t totally figured out that complete raised eyebrow point yet.  The kid who plays Checkov (Anton Yelchin) above exaggerates the “w” sounding like “v” and vice versa issue (or is that “wice wersa?”).  Kirk is not entirely unbelievable, but nothing distinguishes him above anybody else.  William Shatner usually had two things going for him: 1) that haunting broken up speaking delivery, and 2) cracking some dumbass joke on McCoy or Spock at the finish of the show.

My bet is that the film score will get nominated for an Oscar.  Michael Giacchino wrote an extremely haunting score that I nevertheless cannot get out of my head.

It gets 4 out of five shuttle craft from me, but that is only due to the fact of the action.  I will give kudos to the technical advisor on the film.  Most science fiction motion pictures taking spot in area have some thing blowing up and the sound effect people creating an enormous “BOOM” sound.  That is ok on a ship, but a casual observer in area (i.e., the film viewer) wouldn’t hear anything if a ship blew up in space.  This time, stuff explodes, and no one hears it.  Bravo!

The bottom line is simple for this film.  It achieved the 1 instant goal: Continue the Star Trek legacy for yet another 20 years or so.  This flick has “sequel” written all above it.  It ties up many loose ends, but it also sets the stage for future Star Trek films that don’t need any of the original cast.  The tag line could be, “Not your Excellent-Grandfather’s Star Trek!”

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