Bobby and I weren't the first ones in the queue to buy tickets watch the much anticipated latest Star Trek movie. We're not Trekkies, so a lot of our interest to watch the movie stemmed from reading rave reviews from those who have. And, I must say, the brilliant casting of Zachary Quinto, who plays bad hero Sylar in the TV series Hero, as Spock.
The movie, directed by JJ Abrams (he of Alias, Lost and Cloverfield fame), is simply called Star Trek. Apt I thought, this movie did a lot to enlist new Trekkies because it re-introduced the show with a spanking fresh, yet immediately identifiable in their new skin, cast that bowled us over in a plot oft seen in the best Star Trek episodes: The crew of the USS Enterprise saving the universe from Romulans.
With due deference to ol' Leonard Nimoy (the original and quintessential Spock and who also cameo'd in the new movie), after last night I can't imagine a better new Spock than Zachary Quinto. From the eyebrows, to the hair, to the face, to the body, to the ears. I read that Adrien Brody was considered for the part and while I like my Adrien, no way not with Mr Quinto around. Quinto also made Spock hot. Seriously. Pointy ears and all.
I thought the rest of the cast deserves high praise as well.
Chris Pine as James T (T for Tiberius) Kirk was played brand new. I remember watching the early Star Trek TV series in the 70s and thought the young William Shatner was a mildly attractive cosmic older guy. And then he started making records. Pine's Kirk is young-dumb-and-full-of-c*me, HOT, a nice mixture of Kirk, Han Solo, even Tom Cruise's Maverick and became perfectly saleable to this age youth (and their mummies).
Uhura was played by Zoe Saldana and Zoe played her black, lush and in Uhura's customary short short skirt (a wide belt really). John Cho (of Harold from Harold and Kumar Goes To Whitecastle, fame) although Korean, was casted as Hikaru "Sulu". John Cho provided the movie a lot of its comic turns and did a great job. The original Sulu was Japanese and the fact that Cho is Korean didn't really matter much to the movie. Maybe it made die-hard Trekkies throw up in arms, but I thought casting John Cho as the asian was enough to satisfy the universal make-up of the USS Enterprise. Karl Urban, who was bad guy/assassin in The Bourne Supremacy, now plays Dr Leonard "Bones" McCoy, all bad mood yet noble. Anton Yelchin plays Pavel "Chekov", the 17 year old Russian communications officer on the USS Enterprise who has difficulty in vocally inputing passwords because he says "Wictor" instead of "Victor". Simon Pegg comes onboard as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, the scot who has skills in beaming people up.
And then there's Eric Bana as the movie's bad guy, a Vulcan called Nero. Another notable turn was Winona Ryder almost unrecognisable with new teeth and wrinkles, made a turn as Spock's mama.
With the help of kick-ass CGI, smart thrills and comic writing, Abrams acquitted himself well as Director, effectively repositioning the old Star Trek franchise to welcome the future. It made Star Trek and the crew of the USS Enterprise with Warp Factor 10, Shields and Photon Torpedoes ON, let's-save-the-universe vibe, well worth the price of admission.
Ps/ Also a must-watch, Leonard Nimoy delivering the Top Ten List Of Lines Never Before Said In A Star Trek Movie, on David Letterman!
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