Black Holes and Revelations...

Hi everyone!
So, I went out to see this movie last night, and I thought, "Meh, it'll be alright, good material for the blog, I'll give it maybe one or two paragraphs' coverage in this week's round-up." Alas, like Cuddeford of Irina (Oh dear.), I have been forced to reconsider this view, because I am not ashamed to admit that I was well and truly bowled over by what is undoubtedly one of, if not THE film of the year. So, in its own post, in as many paragraphs as it takes, this is why you should see Star Trek.

Oh, and be careful. For those who haven't seen it, I would strongly discourage reading on. The review will almost certainly contain spoilers of a wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey nature. You have been warned...

OK, so...Cripes, where to start? Well, let's consider the plot first. Basically.... I was alright with the whole wormhole-alternate-reality-time-travel stuff. Your average cinema-goer might have a little difficulty understanding it all, but anyone well-versed in the ways of the sci-fi should find it a walk in the park...that is, until the end. How is it possible for Spock to meet himself?? Years of well established science-fiction law were broken in that scene. Even now, I can't get my head round how it could occur. I mean, there's nothing wrong with it, I guess, but at the same time, it seems completely impossible... I dunno, some things may never be explained. Apart from that, the plot was pretty easy to follow, and quite clever too. So, does this mean all that happened before, all the original movies and TV, is null and void? Now that an alternative reality has been created, will there be subtle but pivotal differences in the adventures to come? I quote from Wikipedia: "the film introduces an alternate reality separate from the continuity of the original series and the previous movies". So there you go.
Right, casting wise... I thought there were some extremely good actors in there. Pretty much all the crew members were fantastic. When I first heard about all these different characters, I thought "Cripes, will I be able to keep up?" But fortunately, each of the crew had a very distinct personality. Chekov was quite funny, and Sulu's "fencing", which ended up more like a fist-fight, wasn't bad either. I feel sorry for the red guy who got incinerated though, he would have been cool. To be honest, I didn't see what Uthura's role was in the plot. I mean, OK, a love interest is fine, but only if it's relevant. Here, I found the plot would function just as well without her. Simon Pegg as Scottie (with random critter in tow) was brilliant as usual, even pulling some classic quotes out of the bag at times. Karl Urban was quite funky, but I still think he was better in Lord of the Rings. But by far the best for me was Zach Quinto. And not just because I'm a Heroes fan, either. He just fitted the role so well, even if he did have to have that rubbish haircut which looks like a wig. Casting anyone else would have been highly illogical. I hope he comes back to do the others, although whether this'll mean killing him off in Heroes is hard to say. As another Heroes tribute, I hear Greg Grunberg was in there too, but i didn't notice him myself.
Oh yeah, there was that Kirk guy as well. I felt he was better than I expected him to be, and Mum says he was quite faithful to the original Kirk, although I can't really remember. I'm glad he didn't cool it up too much, but I don't think he was that incredible compared to the others. Nero was a typical villain, not that much originality, it has to be said. He had an interesting plot around him, but in terms of character he was just your stereotypical Romulan. This is fair enough, I guess, considering he was originally just captain of a bogstandard mining ship. And one of the baddies from Iron Man was there at the start as well, which was quite funky.
So, moving on. I thought the effects for the movie were in-credible. Whether the mahussive ships, or the immersive locales, or the seriously creepy black holes, I felt this was a film which, whilst not really pushing the boundaries of technology, definitely made the most of everything at their disposal to create things that looked real enough to touch. Like, when the Romulan ship first came out of the black hole, it genuinely looked quite scary. I know this sounds a bit naf and American, but I came out of that cinema feeling like I myself had been on that adventure, and not many movies can create that effect. Indiana Jones? Not even close. Iron Man? Looked like a tame house-cat compared to this behemoth. Even The Dark Knight seemed to be cast into shadow. I suppose that's more of a character piece than an all-out adventure, but still. Only movies of the calibre of Lord of the Rings, Pirates and Star Wars could ever hope to surpass this creation. It's almost TOO good. Almost.
Now. Michael Giacchino. Some may remember him as the genius who composed the music for the Incredibles. With this in his repertoire, I knew the Star Trek theme was safe in his hands, and I was right to trust him. As well as an entirely new score, which reminded me strangely of the Narnia soundtrack, only more epic, he also brought back the original original original theme, which was.... An interesting choice. As much as he has revamped it and given it the Doctor-Who-theme-esque "Cool" treatment, that theme still doesn't do it for me as much as the more recognisable later one. I guess we should assume he'll go back to that one later. Other than that, Giacchino remains one of my favourite soundtrack composers, and when I next have money, I will almost certainly download it.
Some movie endings have been hopeless anticlimaxes. Batman was one. Nemesis was another. But this was in no way a disappointment. Everyone in the cinema was on the edge of their seats when Spock was beamed up, just in the nick of time, and then the most incredible thing happened. You know how usually in the crowd you can hear someone rustling their bag of popcorn, or coughing really loudly, or talking to their mates, or whatever? Not this time. That bit just before the Red Matter explodes, when it all goes quiet - Not a sound from the audience. Literally, we were all sat there with our breath held and our jaws half way to the floor. And when the credits rolled, another curious thing happened. The audience applauded. I don't think I've ever been around when that's happened before. Not even at the end of Return of the King.
And of course, no remake could be complete without a re-hash of that pivotal line from the original, with a quite conspicuous swop from "no man" to "no-one" to bring Trek into the politically-correct world of today. Not that I'm complaining; now no-one can make that rubbish joke about the ladies' toilets. But it did kind of stick out like a sore thumb when everyone was expecting the original. On the whole, however, this is definitely a must see. If you only ever see one movie all year, it has to be Star Trek. Even if you're not a fan, it is, hands down, an incredible movie. It has boldly gone where no remake has gone before. (Or baldly, in the Romulans' case).

Phew. Well, I guess I'm out of space today. Tomorrow I'll catch up on everything else I was going to talk about today, including the Fray's new album, a mega room clean-up, and the impending end of Heroes........

See ya 'round!

Jack