Cinefantastique Online

J. J. Abrams recently screened footage from his upcoming STAR TREK movie for the genre press. The “reviews” of these excerpts (from four scenes) are now online, and the reactions are fairly predictable: those granted access are reluctant to bad-mouth the high-powered Hollywood hothots that granted them access; plus, the genre press are eager to distinguish themselves from the “Trekkies,” who (we are led to believe) will mindlessly hate the film no matter how good it is.

My personal favorite comes from Thomas Leupp at Reelz Channel, who compares the new TREK to (gasp) SERENITY:

Watching the footage, I couldn’t help but be reminded of another sci-fi flick that came and went with little fanfare three years ago: Serenity, Joss Whedon’s ill-fated big-screen adaptation of his ill-fated TV series. Like Serenity, Abrams’ Star Trek involves a crew of attractive young people making their way around a dangerous galaxy. Both feature lots of snappy dialogue and heavy doses of humor.

There may be a less auspicious comparison, but I cannot think of it. Fortunately, Leupp seems aware of SERENITY’s shortcomings:

But whereas Whedon’s film had this oddly inert, vaguely asexual vibe to it (Nathan Fillion’s character struck me as sort of a neutered Han Solo), the new Star Trekfeels like a muscular, edgy action movie — thanks largely to what looks like a star-making performance by Chris Pine. Pine doesn’t attempt to mimic William Shatner at all; in fact, long-time Trek fans will be hard-pressed to find any traces of the old Kirk in his version. Which, in my opinion, is a good thing.

I hope that Leupp is merely being sloppy with his words. It would certainly be a good think for Pine to craft a performance with no trace of the previous actor, but do we really want no trace of the “old Kirk”? If so, then why even retain the name; why not create a new character?

Overall, the impression I take away from these reviews is not very encouraging. BATMAN BEGINS and CASINO ROYALE proved that you can successfully reboot a series that has grown long in the tooth, but TREK isn’t just about the characters. TREK in its various forms is a science-fiction franchise that, at its best, deals in interesting concepts, presented with a Sense of Wonder. Seeing a movie about a young Kirk coming of age may sound like a hot commodity in Hollywood, but it misses the real point of TREK, which is to boldly go where no one has gone before.

Related posts:

1. Cybersurfing: Abrams on Trek The Onion’s AudioVisual Club has posted an interview with J....
2. The Score: George Takei goes on musical Trek The Star Tribute alerts us that actor George Takei (Sulu...
3. No Star Trek for Christmas Variety reports that Paramount has pushed back the release date...
4. Hollywood Reporter reviews I AM LEGEND Kirk Honeycutt provides his take on the new film. version...
5. Pained by a Guilty Conscience: A Lament on Missing “Trek - The Concert” Folks, I sense the need to write a big public...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.