Movie Review: Star Trek (2009)

Directed By: J.J. Abrams

Starring:
Chris Pine as James T. Kirk
Zachary Quinto as Spock
Eric Bana as Nero

After X-Men Origins: Wolverine failed to live up to my expectations, I feared the worst from this year’s summer movie season. Right out of the gate, we had already stumbled and the threat of completely falling out was imminent…until now. Star Trek, a prequel that is everything a good prequel should be, is a near perfect mix of the traditional Trek charm and modern filmmaking techniques. Sporting brilliant special effects that never overshadow its characters or its plot, Star Trek does something that is very difficult to do: it has given us everything that we crave from a summer blockbuster, but it also has a knack for telling a truly compelling story. In addition, it manages a second miracle that was highly unexpected: it makes the Star Trek franchise cool again, without isolating the core fan base. For the first time in years (or perhaps ever), Trekkies dressed as Klingons and general audiences can sit together and enjoy the same film that goes where no man has gone before.

The film begins with the birth of James T. Kirk (to be played as an adult by Pine); his father (Chris Hemsworth) is killed while saving eight-hundred people, including Kirk’s mother (Jennifer Morrison) and Kirk himself. That is a rather large legacy to live up too…and, when we meet him as an adult, he isn’t even trying. He scoffs at the memory of his father, spends his time trying to pick up women at bars, and gets in brawls with people that are bigger (and stronger) than him. A chance encounter with Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood), however, convinces Kirk to follow in his father’s footsteps and join Starfleet. Early on, he forms a volatile relationship with Spock (Quinto), who believes that Kirk is reckless and irresponsible. However, the two must transcend their differences and unite if they hope to take command of the U.S.S. Enterprise and protect planet Earth from the ruthless Captain Nero (Bana) and his army of Romulan warriors.

With the war against Nero as the driving force, Star Trek is free to explore the unlikely friendship that we know is to be formed between Kirk and Spock. As two men touched by incredible tragedy, they have a compelling bond that neither of them can deny. If there was a recurring complaint that I had with the original films, it would be that they often felt emotionless and robotic. Not only has J.J. Abrams injected the film with a more eclectic visual style, screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have established characters and relationships that are realistic and vibrant. This, I believe, is the key to making Star Trek appeal to the masses. If there are any audiences members that do not enjoy watching grand-scale spaceship battles or swordfights on a giant laser drill, they will surely enjoy the unexpected romance between Spock and Uhura (Zoe Saldana), the beginning of the long-lasting feud between Spock and Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy (Karl Urban), and many more character-driven subplots.

It is easy to lavish praise on a film like Star Trek, especially when it is released only one week after a film like X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Whereas Wolverine tried to skate by with the smallest amount of effort possible, Star Trek constantly seeks to push the boundaries of action, special effects, and storytelling. Though both films are prequels, Star Trek tells its own intriguing and distinctive story, rather than merely riding on the coattails of its predecessors. With numerous nods to the original films, it pays homage to many of the beloved Star Trek adventures, namely the cinematic Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn. Additionally, it remains firmly rooted in the Trek timeline so Trekkies will have no reason to reach for their pitchforks…ahem, phasers set to stun. Star Trek is what the summer movie season should be all about. Exhilarating action and beautiful special effects abound, but the story is so good that we are more absorbed in it than we are in any of the strictly visual stimulation.

Movie Review: Next Day Air (2009)

Directed By: Benny Boom

Starring:
Donald Faison as Leo
Mike Epps as Brody
Cisco Reyes as Jesus

Next Day Air is a reprehensible film, but it’s a funny one. All of its characters are one of the following: a moron, a drug dealer, or a drug dealer that is a moron. Seriously, look at this lot of people. We have the delivery man, Leo (Faison), who delivers a package to the wrong address because he was high at the time. Then, there is Jesus (Reyes) who was waiting on the package at the right address, because it contained ten bricks of cocaine belonging to his brutal boss (Emilio Rivera). Finally, we have a trio of screwball bank robbers who receive the package that they were not expecting and open it without checking the address first. These three are Brody, Guch, and Shavoo (Epps, Wood Harris, and Omari Hardwick, respectively). When they realize what is in the package, they decide to sell it for some easy money. Even crack addicts know that selling that much stolen cocaine is not that simple.

The film, running at a slim yet appropriate runtime, is all about how these people collide in a tiny apartment complex at the end of the movie. Bullets fly, people die, and everything gets bloody very quickly. It makes you wonder how the MPAA felt that pervasive language was somehow more offensive than the violence. Apparently, it is okay for a person to get riddled with bullets, as long as they don’t say the long-feared f-word in the process. And, certainly, there are more forbidden four-letter words than there are gunshots. The dialog, though lacking a sense of smoothness, is, dare I say, charming in a weird way. It is quick-witted, snappy, and almost always funny. First-time screenwriter Blair Cobbs really doesn’t have an interesting story to tell and all of his characters are pretty bad people, so it is a testament to his ability to craft engaging dialog, and probably even more so to the talented cast delivering it, that I gave an f-word about any of it.

It’s too bad really that the overall film isn’t better than it is, because there is a lot of talent coming from every aspect of the filmmaking process. The cast, especially relative newcomers Cisco Reyes and Yasmin Deliz as the bickering yet loving Latino couple, are surprisingly impressive in the deplorable roles provided to them. I only really cared about what happened to the characters played by the aforementioned Reyes and Deliz, but I certainly did not mind watching the rest of them fumble around, proving if nothing else that drugs really do kill brain cells. Director Benny Boom and cinematographer David A. Armstrong also bring an undeniably unique visual style to the film that I must admit pleasantly surprised me. Unfortunately, the overall end product is less than the sum of its parts because the story is really quite dull and uneventful. Propelled by the stupidity of its principle characters, it fails to engage us and we cannot help but feel like we are just being dragged along for the ride.

Ultimately, Next Day Air features the establishment of a plot and then the progression of that plot until nearly everyone is dead. Because there is no hero or villain and the plot is merely a predicament rather than a story, that is how we know the film must end. After all, which of these characters deserves to walk off into the sunset in one of those obligatory cheesy happy ending? How the conclusion arrives is based on what I imagine was a game of chance, no doubt, with all of the characters on a dartboard and a desperate screenwriter tossing ten or so darts to decide which ones would live and which ones would die. It is the presence of such randomness that hurts Next Day Air so profoundly, despite its impressive technical approach. Because any ending is possible and we have no reason to side with anyone, does any of it really matter?