The Blog of JR Tschopp

In 1999, I saw a movie that left me completely and utterly blown away; my senses were tingling and I had no idea what I had just witnessed. That movie was The Matrix, a movie that by all accounts could have been a mediocre or sub par sci-fi romp but which, beyond any discernible reason had all of the right pieces in place to gel into something more, something unexpected, something original and something whole-heartedly entertaining. Say what you want about its sequels, but that first movie was good: its blend of sci-fi/kung fu/philosophy/action was done in such a way to make it a rewarding viewing experience that lingered long after one had left the theater, causing the viewer to wish to reexperience the entire journey.

I’ve seen a lot of good movies since The Matrix - Lord of the Rings, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Bourne trilogy, Batman Begins and its sequel The Dark Knight, Casino Royale, Serenity, and Iron Man. Yet, not a one of them has left me with the same all-encompassing feeling of satisfaction that I experienced after I first watched the Wachowski Brother’s masterpiece.

Until now.

Star Trek is by far the most fun that I’ve had at the movie theaters since The Matrix and possibly before. By all accounts, it shouldn’t have worked: an old franchise that had been neglected and beaten into the ground over the years being “reimagined” by a brilliant television producer (who openly admitted that he wasn’t a fan of said franchise) into a new adventure film filled with younger, hipper, and prettier faces who attempt to step into the shoes of classic characters portrayed by iconic actors. Yet, it does work. Star Trek is fast, smart, funny, beautiful, and fun. And don’t underestimate that last part. Yes, despite five television series and ten previous movies, Star Trek is indeed fun again.

The story is pretty basic: bad guy is pissed about something, seeks revenge, and the good guys have to stop him. But the manner in which they tell that story is fantastic. The pacing of the film is fast, but never too fast as not to tell the story (unlike many of the video game/music video inspired drivel that qualifies as “blockbusters” these days). When it slows down, it does so in a way in which there is still tension within the scenes and in which the characters are able to push the narrative forward, keeping the movie moving at all costs. For the life of me, I can’t remember a single moment in the film where I just felt like screaming “C’mon! Get on with it!” (even last year’s magnificent The Dark Knight had spots where I’d wished they’d hurried up and gotten to the point. That’s right, I’m looking at you, Mr. Bale and Ms. Gyllenhaal).

I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about the new cast replacing the classic Kirk, Spock, Bones and crew, but oddly enough, I didn’t even notice that I wasn’t watching the originals. The actors were the characters and all of them played their parts in a very satisfying manner. Even when one of the original actors did turn up, it didn’t serve as a distraction, but seemed to give a sense of validation to the new actors and the story, as well as acting as a warm blanket for old time Trekkers (which, I’m not. My familiarity of Star Trek consisted mainly of The Next Generation and the movies, with handfuls of episodes from the other series seen).

Now, at this point, it might seem like I’m gushing, and perhaps I am. If there were any criticisms I have for the movie they would be that at times, I was too aware of Michael Giacchino’s score, which seemed to echo his Lost television score a lot in the first part of the movie. Eventually, as the film progressed, I became less and less aware of the score and by the end it felt right for the flick (in fact, their choice of end credits music was superb). Also, as I said, the story was pretty basic with not a lot in the way of complexity and its villain wasn’t quite up to the caliber of the heroes, but luckily his advanced technology made him a formidable match, even if a Kahn-esque villain would have been preferred (there will undoubtedly be sequels to look forward to for those kinds of villains, though). But really, these are more of nitpicks and minor annoyances than true detractors in a film that was otherwise very, very fun.

I cannot stress that enough. It was fun. The Los Angeles Times called it “this year’s ‘Iron Man’” and I get where they got that, as that movie from last year was fun too. But whereas Iron Man had a few moments where it kind of tripped on itself, Star Trek didn’t seem to. In fact, my buddy Brad leaned over to me at one point and said, “I keep waiting for it to suck,” but it never did.

Star Trek is a fun adventure with some of the best special effects work in years, a great cast, a decent storyline, that is well-paced and well shot by a very capable filmmaker. When all was said and done, not only could I not wait to see the next adventure of the crew of the starship Enterprise, but I cannot wait to go see this one again in theaters. Chances are, I will do just that, multiple times over the summer. I highly recommend that you do too.