The subject of this article started out going in a much different direction than it ended up taking, which is fitting since the modern reboot is designed to take a franchise that has been around for a while and push it in a different direction, usually one that isn’t very good, but we’ll get to that. We’re going to take a few weeks and look at some film reboots that, for better or worse, made lasting impacts on their respective franchises. Now a lot of people think that the reboot is a modern idea. Hollywood is running out of original ideas so they’re raping our collective childhood by rehashing all of the movies and TV shows that we used to love back in the day. However, the earliest examples I could find pertained to franchises like Tarzan, which got ‘rebooted’ in the 50s after four decades of using the same formula. Also, the Godzilla franchise cropped up. That series had been doing its thing for 30 years, and then got a reboot in 1984. So the idea of the reboot is not anything new, even if the term as it pertains to film and television is. I feel a need, as with most of my examinations, to establish some criteria to better define the term ‘reboot’ as the term has been used somewhat broadly in the past. First, I’m only going to look at movies as looking at a show could end up being a little more time consuming than I can afford. Two, for our purposes, the film needs to come from an established franchise, and make significant changes to the trajectory of the story that the franchise had been telling. So for example, under my criteria, Fant4stic Four would be a reboot, as there were already two films previously and it significantly altered the tone and story trajectory of the established canon, but The Incredible Hulk would not count as a reboot because 2003’s The Hulk is the only other existing big screen adaptation, and so there really wasn’t much there to alter in the first place. Now that we hopefully understand what we’re talking about, let’s look at our first reboot!
I’m not going to lie, I went into this movie with about as much enthusiasm as a 26 year old Trekkie who’d been a Trekkie practically since birth could muster. I saw this movie five times in the theaters. I jumped on the hype bandwagon almost immediately. That’s my round about way of saying that I was pretty excited for this movie to come out. That is, after I finally got over the disappointment of not getting the next chapter in The Next Generation film story. I had been totally underwhelmed with 2002’s Star Trek Nemesis, and in fact, thought it was just cinematic garbage. There were a couple of elements there that had they been the focus, might have made for a decent movie, but the whole thing just felt tired, and inauthentic. Characters didn’t feel right, the story was contrived and lack luster. Some of the themes could have been interesting if they’d been explored in an interesting way, but they weren’t. So I was really hoping that the old TNG cast would get one last shot at cinematic redemption, and also to go out with some finality, and fanfare. Alas, with the announcement of the reboot, all those hopes were dashed. There was a brief mourning period, then news started to leak, and then the excitement started to sink in. I was so excited, I dragged my wife to see Cloverfield just so we could see the teaser. I really didn’t like Cloverfield, but the teaser was great.
I will admit that I was just the tiniest bit concerned when I heard that a reboot was happening as my previous experience with reboots was limited to the 2001 Planet of the Apes. We may get back that later too, but for now, Star Trek! I had the usual concerns. Would they get the characters right? Would the story be any good? How would they handle the existing mythology? The usual concerns… So what did we get? Well, the movie starts with a mysterious vessel emerging from an opening in space. The vessel happens upon the USS Kelvin, and Federation deep space vessel on assignment near the Klingon neutral zone. The ship destroys Kelvin like it ain’t no thing, and in the process of saving hundreds of lives, George Kirk, Jimmy T’s pops, is killed. James is born just then, and it’s actually kind of a heartwarming scene. Then we jump a few years to Earth. Ol’ Jim is getting into trouble. He’s grown into a lost and directionless youth who commits acts of grand theft auto and listens to the Beastie Boys. He has his brush with the law, and then we jump to Vulcan. Young Spock is taking a test because that’s a Vulcan’s favorite pass time. Some Vulcan bullies start insulting him in order to illicit an emotional response, and they make the mistake of insulting his mom. Spock wails on the leader, and then there’s brief bit of wisdom from Spock’s dad. Next we see Spock turn down a position at the Vulcan Science Academy because the director insults mom again. Then we jump back to Kirk and he’s making trouble at a bar where Starfleet cadets go before they head to the academy, which for some reason is in Iowa? But he gets into a fight, and gets pulverized, but then Chris Pike gives him the recruiting speech, and he decides to join Starfleet. If you haven’t gotten it by now, we’re doing an origin story. I make light, but actually, it sort of works okay in this one instance. You hear that, Hollywood? Unless they’re completely unknown to the world, we don’t need anymore origin stories! Anyway, we get a chance to see all of these characters before they reach apex form, and it’s kind of fun. Kirk is reckless, but charming, Uhura is a bookworm, Spock is an arrogant ass, McCoy is a sarcastic ass, Chekov is the wunderkind boy genius, Sulu is unsure of himself, and Scotty is marooned for insubordination. The places where these characters start is actually really interesting, and the story as it pertains to them is also fun to watch.
Back to that mysterious vessel, that’s our actual plot. The vessel is a Romulan mining ship from the future that’s commanded by one Nero. Nero is super mad because the Spock that everyone already knows and loves failed to save his planet from a supernova, and Nero’s wife was killed as a result. As a result, Nero is on a vendetta to destroy everything that Spock holds dear, as well as the entire Federation just for good measure. So obviously, our heroes have to stop Nero. This is where this movie really breaks down for me. I get that time travel and alternate universes seemed like a necessity here because who wants to take on 40 years of the other stuff, but Nero is quite possibly one of the dullest, and most irritating villains in Star Trek history. Shinzon was more enjoyable. Nero scream whines his way through the entire film. His backstory is glossed over so badly that it’s nearly impossible to connect with him, and as a result, his motivation just feels forced, and half hearted, despite all of the irritating things that Eric Bana tried in order to sell it. See, the destruction of Romulus is a big deal, but I think that the event would have had more impact if the actual event had been shown. Instead, we get anecdotal stories from Nero and Spock Prime as he went on to be known. This lessens the impact for the viewer, and makes it hard for them to create an emotional connection. And it has been my experience that relatable villains make the best villains. Nero isn’t one. He’s a melodramatic, angsty bag of hot air. And it’s really too bad because we get some great characters from the main Starfleet cast. At this point, every character feels familiar, but just different enough to be their own thing. They’re all fleshed out really well. It almost feels like the production team figured out how they wanted to approach rewriting the main characters, and then tried to build a script around that concept.
There are some other flaws. Oh there are flaws. First, and JJ has paid dearly for this, there are soooo many lens flares. Not a great idea. I’m not a particularly huge fan of some of the design elements. They did try to take some familiar design cues and update them, but if you ask me, they focused on the wrong elements. The JJ-prise just looks awful. The proportions are so off that it just looks like a hot mess. I get a little confused about the time frames. Kirk spends three years in the academy and then gets the newest ship in the fleet? I’m confused. But it’s cool. It’s probably no easy feat showing that progression in a two hour film. On the pro side of the the column, the uniforms are a little on the bland side, but I appreciate that they stay pretty close to the original designs. I liked the Jellyfish ship. It’s got some cool lines, and it manages to take a simple concept and make it look pretty elegant. I liked the design of most of the shuttles. They looked rugged, and capable, which are characteristics that you would want from a utility vehicle. I also liked the sets that I got to see on Vulcan. They were sufficiently Vulcan looking enough to really sell that environment. I actually really enjoyed the scene where young Kirk destroys the Corvette. I was shocked, and a little sad, but it was kind of cool. In fact, pretty much everything about the origin story is cool. I really appreciate that this movie feels somewhat familiar, but different. It’s taken me years to get to that point, and I may be giving this movie some good will because of Beyond, but it actually does kind of feel like a Star Trek movie. I recently likened it to Undiscovered Country, only if that movie was made to be understood by third graders. Star Trek 2009 isn’t your typical cerebral, thought provoking Trek. It’s been packaged to attract the widest possible audience. It relies really heavily on action, but it does the action well, and the action makes it exciting. It does take some time to show the gallant crew coming together and learning to work as a team, and also to show them puzzling out exactly what’s going on. These are things that are a part of Star Trek. They’re maybe not the things that I would have focused on had I been in charge, but they are the things that are probably going to expose new audiences in the most effective and positive way. They’re going to make Star Trek accessible. And these things do come across as familiar to the hardened fan.
Don’t go into this film expecting a Wrath of Khan, or an Undiscovered Country experience. This movie couldn’t be bogged down by that much insight, and philosophy. And don’t go into Into Darkness at all. Go into this movie expecting a really fun romp through the stars with characters that will entertain and remind you of their counterparts in all the right ways. Go in expecting to be entertained, and wowed by great action sequences, phenomenal special effects, and awesome explosions. Expect a fun score from Michael Giacchino, and expect some great character moments. This is a good reboot. I’m not sure what else I can say except this is definitely one to to keep around the house. It’s got good rewatch value. Stay tuned next week as we continue reboot rampage! I’ve got some doozies in store for you!
No comments:
Post a Comment