First things first, I’m not a Trekkie. Yes, I’ve seen most of the films but I’m by no means a hardcore fan. In saying that, I was and still am excited about the JJ Abram’s take on the whole thing. I’ve long since abandoned Lost but I liked what he did with Mission Impossible 3 and his involvement with Cloverfield. I was lucky enough to get access to an advanced screening last week in Dublin thanks to a good friend. This review won’t contain any spoilers btw. So, is it any good?
7 different kinds of tremendous is the answer. From minute one your glued to your seat. It’s obvious that this is a complete reboot of Star Trek. Yes, there are knowing glances to the original series but they form part of an additional layer for the fans. The casting is spot on too. Pine does really well in filling Shatner’s boots and I now understand why he wasn’t involved, it would have been a distraction. Zachary Quinto’s Spock is bang on the money. If you’ve seen any of Leonard Nemoy’s original Spock, you’ll appreciate how Quinto’s performance can stand beside it. Whilst the two Star Fleet leads stand out in their performances, Abram’s has given himself an immense amount of room to develop the franchise further by picking such a strong ensemble cast.
The humour inserted throughout the film is also worth a mention. I was genuinely chuckling at stages and I never thought I would have been beforehand. Now, for a serious point. One thing I had feared was that they’d get the mix wrong and the story would be completely incomprehensible. It’s not. This film is accessible to anyone whether they’re a diehard fan or someone who’s never heard of Star Trek. It was vital they got that right and this film will flourish from worth of mouth recommendations.
The four of us who attended the screening all came out beaming. It’s great to see a movie made this well when there’s so much previous “stuff” to deal with. Abrams has another winner on his hands.
So it’s here. Watchmen. Probably the most anticipated film of the year and we get it in March. This film has gone through development hell and is eventually delivered to us by the unlikely hand of Zach Snyder. The guy behind 300, a film I haven’t yet seen, walked the path troden by Paul Greengrass, Darren Aronofsky, Terry Gilliam et al but ended up completing the project. The “unfilmable” graphic novel will be in cinemas from Friday but luckily I’ve seen it twice at this stage. Once last night at the Irish premiere and again tonight courtesy of the good people at