Star Trek (2009)

Hold on to your tribbles, Trekkies! Wunderkind sci-fi/fantasy director JJ Abrams injects new life into what long ago became a tired franchise by staying true to the show’s spirit. Abrams boldly goes where no Star Trek director has gone before, inviting hard-core and casual fans alike to take a leap of faith and buy in to a rebooted Star Trek universe.

In a fit of rage, the revenge-hungry Romulan Captain Nero (Eric Bana) inadvertently follows Spock (Leonard Nimoy) through a rift in space-time and into a parallel universe. One outcome of this journey is the killing of James Tiberius Kirk’s father, creating a timeline unlike the one Nero and Spock originate from. Kirk (Chris Pine) grows up a rebel but enlists in Starfleet Academy, where he meets a younger Spock (Zachary Quinto), Uhura (Zoe Saladana), Sulu (John Cho), and McCoy (Karl Urban). Far from a cohesive team, the young cadets are thrust into action when Nero re-emerges, threatening the existence of the planet Vulcan and, potentially, any Federation planet he chooses.

This film is unlike any other Star Trek film in that it places hefty emphasis on special effects and action sequences, which were either poorly done or in short supply in the 10 predecessors. Some long-time Trek fans may cry foul over pushing the contemplative side of the series to the back burner but even they should recognize just how bold a move Abrams and company make. They should also be glad that this reboot breathes precious life into a series that is approaching its 50th anniversary.

The characters of the Original Series are, naturally, the most beloved (though Next Generation boasts an almost equal amount of loyalty). Recasting the original crew for further exploits between the end of the Original Series and Star Trek: The Motion Picture or between Star Trek 6 and Generations wouldn’t work save for satisfying the curiosities of a minority of Trekkies. There’s nothing new about inserting a story in front of a known outcome. By creating an alternate timeline, old characters can develop in new ways and everyone becomes vulnerable to the dangers taking place around them. Maybe we don’t fear for the safety of Kirk or Spock that much but everyone else is fair game. As an added bonus, this film in no way retcons anything Trek fans hold sacred. The Star Trek they grew up with still exists.

The reboot makes Kirk a more interesting character, now a hot-headed recruit that can grow into Shatner’s more even-keeled captain. The change is fun to watch because it leads to freshness in character interactions. Gone is the camaraderie of our main characters. Instead of mutual respect, some behave adversarially to each other. Thankfully, every member of the cast is up to the task of re-making these iconic characters. The chemistry is phenomenal, though I do think Karl Urban overdoes it as McCoy.

One thing the previous Star Trek films were shaky on was their antagonists. While sci-fi is full of larger-than-life villains, Star Trek films are notoriously lacking in compelling bad guys. In this film, Nero is full of fire and menace but he rarely shows other emotions. He is certainly powerful and formidable but he is narrow-mindedness makes him a fairly flat character. It would have been interesting to see him outside of his quest to destroy things.

The reboot itself may make this film something of a one-trick pony but Star Trek does pretty well as an origin story. For the uninitiated, this film is a tense, action-packed sci-fi flick. For those familiar with the source material, it is a bold move that enables future endeavors as favorite characters discover their galaxy all over again. The filmmakers put plenty of references to Original Series elements in this film for long-time fans to snicker at. This is fine for this first outing but Star Trek is worthy of a sequel, which means future installments will need to tell their own stories rather than piggyback on parallels to what came before. If they can pull that off, the reboot will have been worth it.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5

Misson: Impossible III (2006)

After the qualitative dud that was John Woo’s Mission: Impossible II, it’s a wonder that Paramount was even willing to entertain the notion of a third installment. Then again, the sequel put up good numbers at the box office and Tom Cruise was still a force to be reckoned with on the big screen. With director J.J. Abrams bringing his knack for savvy intrigue to the table, the end result is a whirlwind of a film that grips you more than either of its predecessors.

No longer an active field agent, IMF member Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) spends his time training new agents while hiding his job and past from his fiancé. When one of his former pupils is captured, IMF calls on hunt to rescue her. When the mission fails, Hunt is dragged deeper down the rabbit hole and goes full-on active duty again. Hunt and his new team must find a way to prevent a ruthless arms dealer named Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman) from acquiring a mysterious super weapon, sniff out a mole inside IMF, and keep Hunt’s wife out of danger.

Fans of the TV show Mission: Impossible have long complained about the film series and I am sure that any of those fans who saw M:I 3 did plenty of bellyaching. Perhaps Abrams drew from his work on Alias to form the foundation of the spy antics of this film. Gone is most of the long-winded exposition of how the plan is supposed to go down. In its place is a frantic pace and high-octane set pieces that grip you tight. Some fans of the series will find this approach refreshing while others may feel Abrams sold M:I out and emulates the secret agent mechanics of James Bond, Jason Bourne, and Jack Bauer. While the format does make this film harder to remember, I still found myself refreshed.

Abrams has been unafraid to take an unorthodox approach to his work on television and he is similarly unafraid to be unorthodox here. During what would normally be the key set piece of the film, in which Ethan Hunt breaks into a highly secure Chinese research center at the top of a dizzying skyscraper, the audience sees nothing. Rather than watch the frenzied smash-and-grab sequence, we wait outside with Hunt’s partners wondering what on earth is going on in there. Even the item he is grabbing, the Rabbit’s Foot, is never explained; it is simply something both our protagonist and antagonist want to get their hands on. It’s a total MacGuffin but the spy/thriller genre has always utilized that sort of plot device.

Because Hunt’s team members have been interchangeable over three films, the success or failure of M:I 2 and M:I 3 really lies with the villain. The first film introduced us to the determined and heroic Ethan Hunt, so emphasis on villain was minimal (and we didn’t know who the real villain was for much of the film). The villain in M:I 2 was a clichéd rouge agent. Mission: Impossible III features the most intense villain yet and Philip Seymour Hoffman deserves every word of praise he received for his performance. His character is so intelligent, resourceful, and vicious enough to make audiences feel that no one is safe. The level of ferocity that Hoffman injects into the film raises the stakes and helps make the break-neck pace feel warranted.

The plot itself may be forgettable but I walked away from this film marveling at how exciting it was. It boasts an excellent villain, slick directing, and a flurry of intense action sequences. In short, this is the kind of stuff we should expect from a spy flick. It’s not as convoluted as the original and not bogged down with the silly and intricate choreographed violence of M:I 2. It’s a fine cat-and-mouse game and stands, in my mind, as the best of the three M:I films thus far. It is also easily the most underrated film in the series. If M:I 2 turned you off to the series, do yourself a favor and check this one out. Chances are you won’t be disappointed.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5

Super 8 (2011)

What do you get when Steven Spielberg produces a sci-fi fantasy flick directed by J.J. Abrams? The answer: About as much as you’d expect- a unique fusion of all the best elements of E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Cloverfield, and Lost. Yes, despite tall odds, Super 8 is both a tender coming of age story and a riveting mystery adventure. As an added bonus, it’s all wrapped up in a delightfully nostalgic 70s setting.

A few months after his mother’s death, 14-year-old Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) is just trying to enjoy being a kid. It’s 1979 and all Joe and his friends want to do is make a zombie movie with a super 8 camera. While trying to film a night scene at an old train station, Joe and the gang witness (and record) a monstrous train wreck caused by one of their high school teachers. When strange things begin happening around town and the US Air Force starts taking over, Joe, his friends, and the adults in town all try to figure out what is going on.

Enough cannot be said about the talented group of child actors chosen for this film. Most of the boys had little professional experience on their resumes, which makes all of their performances flow with a realism that is lacking from more polished Hollywood child actors. The adult side of the story is pretty much the Kyle Chandler show, which is just fine by me. As a fan of the TV show Friday Night Lights, I think I would enjoy hearing Chandler read from a phone book.

Another triumph of this film is all the little details. I myself did not grow up in the late 70s, so I can only trust J.J. Abrams to recall correctly the sights and sounds of the era of his youth. The details I’m talking about are the nuances of childhood that transcend generations. The boys all swear around each other as if they’re showing off a shiny new toy they’ve discovered. The body language is also spot on with all the teen angst, romance, and the kind of foolhardy attitude that would lead a teen boy to rush headlong into danger.

Only a few things don’t work well for this film. First, the train crash the kids witness is utterly absurd in both its physics and duration. It looks cool but there’s no way that happens in real life. Second, Abrams cannot get away from using special effects and CGI to bring parts of his story to life. Despite all the technological advancements over the years, there’s still no way to make an overabundance of CGI look realistic. Whether it’s Abram’s choice or done to meet the demands of the movie-going public, there’s not enough Spielbergian restraint on showing us more than what subtle special effects can pull off. Anytime the illusion of reality is broken, it hurts a film in ways that can rarely be made up for, especially for a film with a real world setting.

Will Super 8 go down in history as an iconic sci-fi film? No. Did it set out to accomplish such a lofty goal? No. All Super 8 wants to do is make us feel nostalgic for more innocent times when kids were kids (and actually played outside), people were less cynical, and our minds could still be captured and held in awe by heartwarming tales of the supernatural. To that end, this film is a success.

RATING: 3.75 out of 5