Energize!

I’m a very, very bad girl.

I played hooky today to meet up with my boyfriend for a mid-day rendezvous to see this movie.  He even snuck out of work for a “therapy session” to join me.

You see, my boyfriend (who, incidentally, I’m happily married to) is a HUGE Trekkie and has been waiting a year to see this movie.  Since we’ve been married, I’ve seen every Star Trek movie (except Nemesis) with him either on opening day or opening weekend.  I may not be a true Trekkie but I am an enabler.  And proud of it.

With a movie like this, the director and producers took a lot of risks.  The characters are established and iconic…made famous 40 years ago not by a cartoon artist but by REAL PEOPLE, with quirks and idiosyncrasies that are unique to them.  The storyline is established, even the backstories to the original series are well-known to anyone who has followed any of the four Star Trek series.  Worse than that, Trekkies know their stuff…they’re experts on the details, they’re adamant about coherency, and they’re unforgiving about errors.  I was curious to see how the writers, directors, and casting agents would make it work.

Apparently, very cleverly.

First of all, casting was great.  I mean, GREAT.  The actors nailed it.  Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty…all perfectly cast, complete with all the mannerisms and persona of the originals.  Uhura, being the most marginal and least iconic of the original series’ main characters, was a bit flat in the movie – but I’ll give her that since she had the least material to work with.  She did, however, manage to look good in the ultra-short skirt and go-go boots and long ponytail just as the original Uhura did.

Secondly, the storyline was masterfully created.  There was enough overlap between past and present to connect true fans to the new direction Star Trek franchise.  There were nods to the people who created this cult classic while drawing in a new generation of devotees.  And though I suspect that many “true” Trekkies will be crying foul – that technically the writers “cheated” by creating an alternate timeline that allowed them to generate an alternate storyline…and a love connection for Spock and Uhura! – the transition worked.  And it allows for future adventures for the new Enterprise crew.

Finally, I have to applaud the special effects and set crew.  Beginning with the U.S.S. Kelvin and continuing to the original Enterprise, the communicators, the ship’s computer, the uniforms…yeah, it was all there.  Updated, yes, but true to the original.  And, as any Trek fan would know, it was the red-shirt – the red-clad engineering skydiver – with a token screen part who was killed off quickly on the drilling platform.  Ah, yes, the fate of the red-shirt extra.

“To boldly go…” where no Star Trek has gone before.  And make it all believable and woven together as tightly as those 100% polyester shirts…well, in the words of Spock, “fascinating.”