Star Trek Movie Review

I have a long history with Star Trek, dating back to the original series. Being something of a geeky young lad, I eagerly followed the adventures of Kirk, Spock and McCoy. I got older and my interest shifted to other things (uh… girls), but I would still visit the 23^rd century from time-to-time. I watched The Next Generation periodically and enjoyed that, but I never really got into the other series. I have to say that I enjoyed most of the movies, even the ones that were not so well-regarded.

It was probably a couple years ago that a new big-screen Star Trek was announced as sort of a Batman Begins style reboot. There were many who felt that the Star Trek franchise had run its course and re-starting the series was exactly what the doctor ordered. The last TV series floundered and the last couple movies had died a quick death at the box-office.

Many hard-core Trek fans (Trekkies? Trekkers? Whatever) were unhappy with the choice of J.J. Abrams, an avowed non Star Trek fan, as director. I thought it was a brilliant move. There’s always a sense of fun and drama in whatever he has his hand in and I was confident the same would be true with his new Star Trek movie.

I was right.

The new Star Trek movie is everything a big summer Hollywood blockbuster should be… by turns funny, thrilling and at times even moving. Abrams had me from the very first scene in fact, a surprisingly emotional set-piece that puts the rest of the story into motion. It should really be seen in a theatre… the audience when I saw it was clapping, cheering and laughing at all the right parts, a communal experience that made it even more fun. You don’t need to be a Star Trek fan, or even a science-fiction fan to have a great time at this movie.

The leads are all well-cast. Chris Pine captures that James T. Kirk swagger and bravado (and lustiness) without resorting to a William Shatner impression. Zachary Quinto also impressed me. His portrayal of Spock manages to show that undercurrent of passion and humanity beneath that Vulcan logic. Karl Urban is an actor who I’ve always liked and he did justice to his role as well, as Dr. Leonard McCoy. I was especially impressed by the gorgeous Zoe Saldana as Uhura… she was strong, confident and all-business, but she had a sensitive side too.

The story is exciting, involving, fast-paced and effectively “resets” the Star Trek universe while paying homage to what has come before. The biggest surprise to me was, as I alluded to above, how emotional this movie was, an element that was sorely lacking from some of the last few incarnations of Star Trek.

Technically, Star Trek is top-notch in every way. The special effects and production design are first-rate. The musical score is especially well-done… sentimental at times and heroic when it needs to be.

I urge you to go see this new Star Trek film. You won’t be disappointed.

In the Heat of the Dark Knight

Okay, I admit it…I love Batman. No, not in a, “I’m going to send him a dozen roses and slow dance with him under a silvery moon” kind of a way. Batman is simply my favorite superhero, in that he’s more or less a regular person...he’s not an alien, he doesn’t have any gamma ray induced powers…he’s a hero because he’s used personal tragedy as well as his vast reservoirs of courage and discipline to transform himself into the self-styled savior of Gotham City.
I would rank “Batman Begins” as one of my very favorite movies. It’s one of those rare films that works on every level…as an action-packed, visceral entertainment, as an epic human drama, as a tale of one man’s redemption and transformation. Consequently, I have been anticipating the sequel since the original came out in 2005.
I’ve done some reading on the internet about “The Dark Knight” the past few weeks. Much has been made about the blistering, hysterical, full-on performance of the late, lamented Heath Ledger as the Joker. There has been, in fact, a great deal of posthumous Oscar talk for him…I would daresay deservedly so. What’s interested me the most about all of the pre-release buzz are some of the early reviews that have trickled in. They are uniformly raves, of course, but a surprisingly high percentage of them reference Michael Mann’s 1995 crime thriller, “Heat”. Many reviewers are seeing “The Dark Knight” as less a superhero movie than an epic crime drama. Interesting.
I happen to have a copy of “Heat” on DVD so I pulled it out and watched it last night. For the uninitiated, “Heat” is the story of a professional thief, played by Robert DeNiro, at odds with a win-at-all-costs police detective, played by Al Pacino. There are surface similarities between the two films. DeNiro and Pacino’s characters are very much two sides of the same coin. Both are intelligent, driven, professional and passionate about what they do…so much so that each has sacrificed their personal life in order to be at the top of their respective games. For both men, their identities are wrapped up in their professions…sound like a billionaire playboy anyone knows? Also, both films are epic in scope and length (both clock in at well over two and a half hours).
Everything about “Heat” is first-rate, and I mean everything. The acting, the script and even the cinematography and music score are likely about as good as they could possibly be. “Heat” also has one of the best action scenes in recent cinema, a mid-day shootout in downtown Los Angeles that will (pun intended) blow you away.

Now, as for “The Dark Knight” itself…
I thought it was good. In fact, very good. I didn’t however, think it was a masterpiece, and I still favor “Batman Begins”. Don’t get me wrong, I thought it was head and shoulders over most movies I’ve seen of late. There’s much to recommend it…
Yes, Heath Ledger is amazing as the Joker. He somehow manages to be both frightening and hilarious, sometimes all at once. He truly disappears into the role. When you watch “The Dark Knight”, there is no Heath Ledger. There is simply the Joker.
Christian Bale is still the best incarnation of Batman. He has the acting ability to deal with some of the weighty themes the movie deals with, plus he absolutely nails the whole Bruce Wayne/ Batman duality.
The cast as a whole was excellent…Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman are some of the better actors out there, and they proved it once again.
There were some amazing action sequences (which I won’t detail, as I’m trying to keep this review spoiler-free) and even a few moments that had the audience clapping and cheering.

Now for the not-so-good…
I felt the movie as a whole was a bit overblown and loses its momentum not long after the two-hour mark. As much as the audience I saw it with enjoyed the film as a whole, I could detect some restlessness near the end. There was one sequence (the one in the harbor, for those that have seen it) that I thought was extraneous and brought the movie to screeching halt for awhile.
So all in all, I felt “The Dark Knight” was an excellent film…just not a great one.

A CAUTIONARY NOTE
Think long and hard about taking kids to see this film. It’s not unlikely “The Dark Knight”’s length and breadth would tax the attention spans of many youngsters. More to the point, some of the content might be kind of rough for kids. The appearance of the Two-Face character is pretty disturbing and really pushes the upper limits of the PG-13 rating.

Movie Reviews- Old School Edition

No, not the Vince Vaughn/ Will Ferrell movie of a few years ago.
I recently had a fit of nostalgia and added a bunch of 80's movies to my Netflix Queue. Some were as good as I remembered, some were not.
Murder By Decree- Sherlock Holmes versus Jack the Ripper. 1880's London. Foggy streets. Very atmospheric. Christopher Plummer was an excellent Sherlock Holmes, and James Mason was well-cast as Watson. Unfortunately, I felt the movie as a whole was somewhat overlong and I found the plot to be just a bit more confusing and convoluted than it needed to be.
Scanners- Yes, this is that movie with the "exploding head". The premise is simple...there are people in the world with strong telepathic powers (the titular "Scanners"). Some are good. Some are bad. Stephen Lack, who played the "good guy" scanner turns in a fairly wooden performance. Michael Ironside, as the bad scanner, was excellent (this is the role that really established his career). The film does drag a bit in the middle. The scanner versus scanner telepathic battle at the end is still cool, though.
Time After Time- Another Jack the Ripper movie. This time he goes up against the legendary writer H.G. Wells. it seems that "Jack" steals the time machine that Wells had actually built and flees from 1880's London to present-day San Francisco. Wells follows him, and then the fun begins. The acting is excellent and the movie itself is very entertaining...funny, suspenseful and romantic. Watch this if you get a chance.
Rumble Fish- Very stylish, very arty. In black and white except for the "rumble fish" of the title. Sometimes a bit too stylish and too arty, but damn if it doesn't still work. Matt Dillon and Diane Lane are very young in this. You can also see Mickey Rourke before the onset of bloated self-parody, as well as pre-stardom Nicholas Cage and Laurence Fishburne. The score, by Stewart Copeland of The Police, is still edgy and cool.

Movie Reviews 2/20/08

Gone, Baby, Gone- Dark, gritty, compelling and rough. Well-acted, written, directed and shot. By no means is this the happiest, most life-affirming movie out there (in fact, far from it), but worth every second I spent watching it. Curse you Ben Affleck, with your chiseled good looks and prodigious talent. This movie was his directorial debut, and I would guess he has quite a future ahead of him as a filmmaker.

Martian Child- A widowed science-fiction writer adopts a really weird kid who thinks he's from Mars. This sounds like it has all the makings of a quirky comedy, but I found it had much to say about the importance of having a loving parent in a child's life. John Cusack was excellent as always.

Waitress- I found that this was a bit too "southern-fried" at times for my tastes, but overall very enjoyable. Adrienne Shelly, who wrote, directed and acted in this, died before the film's release...very sad. Kerri Russell is adorable as always.

The Jane Austen Book Club- Surprisingly entertaining, especially considering how I don't believe I've ever read one word Jane Austen has written. A group of women (and one man) get together once a month to discuss Austen's novels and their romantic lives play out in a fashion similar to her books (I guess). Also, I may just fall in love with Emily Blount.

Ira and Abby- A couple of New Yorkers with emotional problems decide to get married after having known each other for only a few hours. I know it sounds like sort of a "Woody Allen Lite" type scenario, but it wasn't too bad. The leads, Chris Messina and Jennifer Westfeldt (who also wrote the screenplay) have great chemistry.

Netflix=Awesome!

I just opened up a Netflix account. What fun I'm having.

I just got the following in the mail...
"Superbad"- Pretty funny comedy. Quite a number of laugh out loud moments as well as a few sentimental moments.
"Ira and Abby"- Quirky indie romance. I haven't watched this yet, but it should work well for me, since I'm quirky. And romantic.
"Best of Power Rangers: The Ultimate Rangers"- For me and my boys to watch when they come over. It's actually pretty cool when all 10 red rangers morph.

Also, I'm accumulating an impressive "queue". Here are some selections...
"The Alarm: The Greatest Hits Live"- My favorite band of all time. 'Nuff said.
"Waitress"- I've only heard great things about this movie. Keri Russell is in this also. I have to confess I have a wee bit of a crush on her.
"Equilibrium"- It's like "The Matrix" but starring Christian Bale instead of Keanu Reeves. And Christian Bale is waaaay cooler than Keanu Reeves.
"Rescue Dawn"- Christian Bale is just my hero.
"Time After Time"- I haven't seen this movie in YEARS. H.G. Wells time travels to the future (our present day) to stop Jack the Ripper.
"Magnolia"- I've always wanted to see this and never quite got around to it.

I'm sure I'll be adding much more to my queue in short order.