Movie Review: Star Trek

Starring:

Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Eric Bana, Leonard Nimoy

The Plot:

A look at the origin of the famous crew of the USS Enterprise in a new take on the classic series.

My Two Cents:

If Star Trek, Beverly Hills 90210, and Michael Bay had a drunken night of debauchery, and JJ Abrams were to take their mutant offspring and craft it into a upstanding and well-spoken piece of work, then that's pretty much what this latest iteration of the Trek is.

Abrams' Star Trek isn't just a sequel, prequel or even a remake. He stripped this junker of its old rusty dull parts and fitted it with shiny new parts that make men drool and ladies swoon. He took this once plodding series loved by some and made it available to all.

This is the breath of fresh air Star Trek needed to keep its legacy relevant. Abrams was brave enough to broaden the demographic allowing the most brutish and manly of men to openly come out of the Trekkie closet, and what's even better is that he didn't have to spit in the faces of fanboys to do it.

What's different with this installment is obviously the action and visuals. Gone are the aspirations of peace and exploration and in their stead are phasers, lasers and explosion...asers. The special effects are eye-popping and on par with the likes of Star Wars. (Yes I just went there!) But amidst this fresh coat of ass-kicking paint, Abrams still hands out so much for fanboys to salivate over and most of this comes in the casting.

The Enterprise crew is brilliantly casted, giving fans of the original series peace of mind that the heart of their beloved series still exists. Chris Pine (honestly the best thing in Smokin' Aces) makes for a great Kirk mixing bravado and slapstick seamlessly. Zoe Saldana brings a new level of hotness to Uhura and also a personality. Zachary Quinto is pretty much born to play a modern-day Spock and the rest of the supporting crew fits perfectly dropping their respective quotes when their time comes to make fans wet themselves with glee.

In addition, the inclusion of Leonard Nimoy as an integral part of the story also exists as great fan treatment and I admire Abrams commitment to story by not overdoing it with cheesy cameos from every other former cast member. It's good to see that a filmmaker cares about the story and not senseless pandering.

Though the plot itself breaks one of my rules of sci-fi, which is involving time travel, it's exciting and most importantly accessible.(Say it with me Trekkies...accessible) You don't have to be a nerd to love this film and fanboys don't have to feel that the series has sold out. So come together nerds and normals, and bask in the greatness of Abrams energized version of a classic.

Grade: B+

Movie Review: X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Ryan Reynolds

The Plot: The origin (hence the title) of the popular X-Man, Wolverine as he becomes the indestructible menace fighting alongside other mutants to stop a mad military scientist and his own brother Sabretooth.

My two cents: In the first two films of the X-Men franchise, Brian Singer made story and character the highlight of the film. Sure, when it comes to a film about the X-Men, setting aside time for each hero to use their power seems mandatory, but Singer never overdid it. He made films about the X-Men, not about their powers.

Brett Ratner on the other hand did the exact opposite and crammed as many different characters on film as he could to have a spectacle take place, leaving limited time for a plot and characters, even the important ones. What resulted was what I assumed to be the death of the X-Men franchise.

But lo and behold I was wrong when someone decided that biopics needed to be made about specific characters. With X-Men Origins being apart of the title, its safe to assume that after the probable success of Wolverine, there will be more films focusing on other characters. (Can't wait for a film about the kid that changes TV channels with his mind!)

Unfortunately Gavin Hood didn't quite learn from Ratners mistakes and took a film about one character and introduced a bunch of others leaving our clawed hero on the sidelines for portions of the film. Once again time is set aside for every different character to have their little moment to show off and then, for the most part, they are done. It's really a shame because there are some great characters that deserve their own story arcs but probably won't get such treatment, such as fan favorites, Gambit and Deadpool.

Wolverine, as a film, plays out like a video game. About every 15 minutes or so, you have a boss fight with a unique character for very vague reasons, culminating in the final boss fight with the mega mutant. The fights aren't really that spectacular and they are over fairly quick, due to the fact that more powers need to be crammed into the movie.

There is a facsimile of a story that exists underneath all the noise but it's fairly anticlimactic. The ending is about as ho-hum as it gets and leaves me thinking that none of these Origins stories will have satisfying conclusions. What really hurts the story the most is that they are trying to tie it into the universe that Singer has created, rather than starting from scratch and making something that holds itself on its own two legs. I already know what's going to happen, so give me something I don't expect.

Wolverine is a good popcorn flick. There are plenty of explosions and bright lights to stimulate the senses, but for the most part it's claws were a little dull. (And the award for cheesy pun goes to...)

Grade: C-