Star Trekkin'

I’m not much of a movie reviewer, but I won’t let that stop me from trying. As I said yesterday, I had the privilege of seeing an early screening of Star Trek in IMAX last night at the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL. I won a pair of tickets from WHNT (a Huntsville TV station,) so I grabbed my son and we were off to “where no man has gone before,” as it were.

I found myself pleasantly surprised upon our arrival. We did not see a single person dressed in a Star Trek costume. As a matter of fact, I think the employees of the Space Center donned the only Star Trek shirts I saw. My joy gave way to disappointment after we bought popcorn and drinks and entered the theater dome. The top rows of the theater were already filled. I knew I could expect 2 hours of looking up. Luckily we found seats about halfway down (or up if you’re an optimist.) So my neck angle wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been.

I soon learned that despite the absence of weirdoes in costumes, there were in fact weirdoes in the audience. Apparently Huntsville’s IMAX Theater is a magnet for idiots and creepers. As we waited for the start of the film, a middle aged man walked in and announced in an official sounding manner, “All right, everybody.” Everyone immediately quieted to listen. Then he chuckled and said something like, “How’s it going?” Then he climbed up to a seat. Idiot.

Soon after that an elderly man came down the row in front of us to find a seat. As he moved, he spoke sort of over his shoulder to the others following him, but mostly he was staring at my 12 year-old son. “I’m going to sit next to the popcorn so I can have some.” Jacob clutched the popcorn a little tighter. I watched the man until he sat down so I would know where he was when the lights went out. Creeper.

Finally the movie started. Unfortunately the chairs didn’t tilt as I’d fantasized, so I inclined my neck to the 65° angle needed to see the screen.

Before I get to the movie, and I am getting there, I promise. Let me say this. I’ve seen IMAX movies before, but this was my first experience with a feature film in an IMAX Theater. It will likely be my last. The unbearable neck angle was not the only foible I found in the experience. I had to continuously look from left to right almost 180° to see what was going on. The picture is too big. At one point during a close up of the captain of the USS Kelvin I was pretty sure we were going to fall into one of his pores. His face was that huge. By the way, Leonard Nimoy’s nostrils (already large in normal scope) could easily have swallowed the entire dome.

The curvature of the dome also creates some distortion in the frame. Each scene was large in the middle, smaller toward the ends, and then larger again on the very ends of the frame. It was more noticeable in some scenes than in others. I’m not sure if it was the curve, the pace of the action, or the size of the picture, but I found it very hard to follow most of the hand-to-hand combat scenes. I found the IMAX experience a little too distracting.

As for the movie itself, I don’t think I can do it justice. From the opening sequence all the way through to the final frame, I was engrossed. Keep in mind; I am a Star Trek fan from way back. That being said, I think this movie is a hit. Not a Star Trek hit, but an across the demographic swath hit. Look for it to top Wolverine’s $87 million weekend. It will definitely be the highest grossing of all the Star Trek movies. (An honor currently held by the 4^th installment at $104 million.)

I can’t say much about the movie itself without giving away the plot, so I’ll stick to performances, technical aspects, and aesthetics. First of all, the cast is perfect. They embody these familiar characters to near perfection. They make the characters their own while holding on to the essences created by the original actors. They make the characters recognizable without doing impressions of the original actors. Well, except for Chekov. I don’t think you can play Chekov without doing an impression of Walter Koenig. A+ for casting.

There are a lot of technical things that really add to the movie. Visually, the film is amazing. Set design, costume design, lighting, etc., wonderful job. The Enterprise is not the NCC-1701 of the TV show, but that’s OK. It, like the actors, is familiar without being a caricature. I also really dug the cinematography. The use of camera movements, close ups, etc. go a long way toward adding to the suspense and tension that permeates the movie. The same can be said for the sound: great use of silence. This is, after all, space. The only issue I had, I mentioned before. Some fight scenes were hard to follow, but that could be blamed on the IMAX. Tech stuff: A

As for the story, well done. Are there holes? Probably, but they are easy to overlook. You do have a daunting villain with motivation to spare. The anger jumps off the screen. You have real drama between the characters. There are several well-placed lighter moments that we’ve come to expect from Star Trek. Don’t think this is a movie for Trek fans only. The story is told such that even the most “Trek naïve” viewer will be pulled right into the Utopian future we Trekkies know so well.

That being said, the writers cover a lot of familiar territory. An hour into the movie, we get our first “Dammit Jim!” and the familiar phrases and sights flow like water from there. But don’t expect everything to go as you expect. That’s all I’ll say about the story.

The only issue I had with the writing was the villain. We get him. We know why he is what he is and why he does what he does. But I wish we’d seen a little more of him. Eric Bana does a bang up job. He needed more screen time. Maybe quote a little Shakespeare or Melville? Story: A-

I plan to see it again soon. I want to watch it again without geeking out like I did last night and without having to bend my neck like a pelican. All in all, I give the movie a high A; bordering but not quite an A+.

I think the best testament to the movie was my son. He’s never watched a minute of Star Trek. He loved it. As we were leaving the theater he asked, “Are all of the Star Trek movies that good?”

I answered, “No, not all of them.” After I see it again I may answer, “No. None of them are as good as this one.”