The Hoard Potato Boldly Goes

[athelind]

It occurs to me that Your Obedient Serpent has been remiss in his duties; despite having seen Mr. Abrams' Star Trek twice, I have yet to give my loyal readers any semblance of a review.

The short review:

Hooray! I'm 10 years old again!

I'm ten years old, and Star Trek is once again new and fresh and exciting. It's full of action and adventure. It's optimistic and bright without being smug and self-satisfied. It's dangerous and exciting without being a dark, dismal, Crapsack World.

When Mr. Abrams said, over the last year or two, that he "wasn't really a Star Trek fan", he was, evidently, lying through his teeth. And I applaud him for it.

The movie is wonderous. It hits every note perfectly. The funny parts don't slow down or cheapen the genuine urgency; the shout-outs and continuity nods are quick and casual. quelonzia missed some that I caught, and I missed some the first time that I caught the second time around.

I got choked up at the very beginning; Quel got choked up at the end.

The cast is splendid, simultaneously hearkening to the original portrayals of the characters, yet making the roles entirely their own. Zachary Quinto manages to do this with Leonard Nimoy standing right there.

For those poor, benighted souls who have not yet seen this spectacle on the big screen, I shall politely put the remainder of this behind a spoiler cut.

Everything is changed. Nothing is contradicted.

Mr. Abrams has accomplished what DC Comics has tried and failed to do as many as four times in the last quarter-century: the In-Continuity Reboot. He didn't just start a new version of the franchise cold; he used the old franchise as a starting point, and branched off into a scenario allowing a whole new direction.

Even more elegantly, that "old timeline" is still "there". That world didn't end -- and this is stated in the dialogue more than once.

So I can still run that Quicksilver campaign, if I can ever get it put together...


If you haven't seen it yet, go now. Boldly.

---

Comments

[ebony14.livejournal.com]

You forgot to mention that Karl Urban is clearly DeForest Kelly's secret Love Child. Either that, or Kelly decided to come back from the dead and possess Urban, just so that they would get Bones right, dammit.

[cpxbrex.livejournal.com]

LOL. Yeah, props out to Urban, huh? I felt the same way, "Clearly he's channeling DeForest Kelly."

[athelind.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think Urban's Bones was my favorite character.

[stalbon.livejournal.com]

Cho's Sulu was my personal favorite, but Karl Urban was fantastic as McCoy.

[silmaril.livejournal.com]

So...yeah. Pretty much.

Here's the funny thing: I've never been a Star Trek fan. I've respected the original series and the concept and the characters, but I've never been a fan.

Now... I'm considering actually watching the full run of the original series, because of this.

[cpxbrex.livejournal.com]

Dood! No kidding, huh? Me and Adrienne are in the process of watching all TOS - we're in the second half of the third season, and while I was basically raised by Spock and Hawkeye Pierce, it's the first time for Adrienne has seen most of TOS - and we were thrilled. I totally geeked out for days after seeing it.

And I agree about Quinto, yeah. Obviously with Nimoy right there, his role in particular begged comparison to the original Spock and . . . he did it. Hells, yeah. The portrayal of Spock was pretty much a make-or-break thing for me, more than any other character, but Quinto nailed it hard.

About the "reboot" - what most amused me is that it was a very Star Trek reboot. Time traveling multiple timelines! Hell, Star Trek nearly invented that shit! Even when it was different, it was still Star Trek. Man, I geeked on that.

[athelind.livejournal.com]

I know! It was so perfectly -- does it make sense to say something is "in character" for a SETTING? Cuz this was. It was right up there with "Parallax is a Giant Yellow Fear Monster From Space" when it comes to Over The Top Explanations That Fit The Setting Perfectly.

[cpxbrex.livejournal.com]

When that setting is something as culturally relevant as Star Trek - yes, you can have a setting be in character! ;)

[kinkyturtle.livejournal.com]

Zachary Quinto is, to quote some article I read somewhere, "Spock-tacular".

[araquan.livejournal.com]

Yes, what you said. Wasn't Quinto great? And yeah, that was artfully done- the reboot that leaves the original entirely intact. Thus everyone's happy- whichever timeline they choose to embrace or reject, if indeed they reject either.

I saw it twice myself.

[tombfyre.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I too choked up at the beginning. Hell, I was tearing quite a bit. The ending was damned memorable too.

Couldn't agree more with your review there chief. ^^ It was a great movie all around.

[athelind.livejournal.com]

"Holding the Bridge" has always been one of my buttons, and Abrams hit it square on.

[tombfyre.livejournal.com]

Yep, he most certainly did.

[terminotaur.livejournal.com]

I believe he's not a fan. I'm not a fan despite having seen much of the series and many of the movies.

I always had a few problems. Aside from writing that many times got predictable in the series, there was always a feeling that things were "measured". The Federation was always rather a cool, analytical, enlightened, and collected body. I think to break out of this you needed someone that wasn't really a fan. That's just my opinion mind you.

I do think a reboot was in order for another reason. So much canon had been built up over the years, I think it can quickly become stifling as to what you do and where you take things.

I really thought I'd not be able to get around Quinto's Sylar role. I was very wrong. Also kudos for other picks such as Urban and Pegg. I had a blast. Already seen it twice. This is the first movie I've gone back to in quite some time.