Access Blogs
'Star Trek' Fan Scores Peek At J.J. Abrams' New Chapter
By Jim Kiernan, Access staffer
Last night in New York, Paramount screened the new trailer and four nearly completed scenes (totaling about 20 minutes of footage) from the J.J. Abrams-directed reboot of the "Star Trek" franchise.
A humble, and somewhat nervous J.J. was on hand to introduce and talk up each scene and share his thoughts. Ironically, he opened his initial speech by admitting he was never a "Star Trek" fan growing up. You'd never know it from what was to come.
I, on the other hand, am a big fan of the franchise. Even separating myself from that group, I can say that this movie is huge. And I mean HUGE.
The footage presented has all of Abrams' "MI:3" action, volume, intensity, unsteady handheld camerawork, jarring lens flare, overall grit & some welcome wit thrown in so it never takes itself too seriously.
I refrain from saying it is a true blend of "MI:3" and "Star Trek" if this at all resembled the "Star Trek" we all know and love. The names, characters, history and villains are all there, but it's incredibly fun and fresh while catering to the fanbase with clever dialogue references from all incarnations of the property. But this is the long overdue big budget balls out reboot that Trek needed to be viable again.
Frankly, the two obstacles that this reboot will have to overcome to gain new fans are the words "Star Trek" and the preconceived notions the previous incarnations bring to mind.
The four previewed scenes were wisely picked to introduce all the core characters from the Enterprise crew and set up the overall tone of the film.
We were introduced to a young scrapper named James T. Kirk, played by Chris Pine, in Iowa and shortly destiny calls as he comes face to face with the Enterprise still under construction.
Another scene that bridges the generations features Leonard Nimoy reprising his role as an older Spock from the original series and sharing screen time with his younger counterparts. And then there were two intense action effects-laden scenes never-before-seen to this degree in any version of "Star Trek."
Abrams' camera knows no bounds, at certain points sweeping and swooping through the corridors and the Apple Store-esque bridge of the Enterprise.
The virtually unknown Chris Pine as Kirk will be a star. The cast featuring Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg and John Cho are all solid and reverent to their characters, without resorting to doing pale imitations of Shatner, Nimoy, Takei etc etc.
This will be a huge summer blockbuster. Abrams has done good. Real good. To geek it out, he really Wrath of Khan'd this one out of the ballpark.
And quite possibly, next May this movie could finally make it cooler to be a "Star Trek" fan rather than a "Star Wars" fan... Or do I need to say 'Trekker'?....
Give me STTNG anyday.
TNG was a 7 year snoozefest. NOmore yawn inducingmilk runs. Adventure is back! Sex is back! TOS IS back! THIS is Star Trek.