A Trekkie Reviews The New Star Trek Movie

If there is one thing that I am more than anybody else, it is a Trekkie. Being a Trek fan hasn't offered much as of late, but back in the day I knew more than and spent at least as much time enjoying Star Trek as any Trekkie. (And no, I didn't wear uniforms or collect memorabilia... but I did win the Trek Trivia Challenge at the 1995 Houston Star Trek Convention.)

So hence is an official Trekkie review of the new Star Trek movie. The fact is that I could go on for hours talking about Trek and this movie, but I won't. In fact, it's not necessary. I'll cover the movie in one paragraph: The movie plot is the standard bad-guy-in-an-evil-looking-ship-is-going-to-destroy-earth fare, and The Enterprise is the only thing standing in his way. It's a fine story in the Star Trek tradition, and worth the price of admission if you're a Trek fan -- and maybe even if you're not... exactly like the previous 10 Star Trek movies. (I will note that this particular Star Trek movie is the highest-rated episode so far among movie reviewers.)

What I'm going to focus on is the new "original" Enterprise crew. It's really what people want to know: What do hard core Trekkies think of the new actors playing some of the most well-known, worshipped television characters in history?

Well, here is one Trekkie's take, working through the characters from lowest to highest in rank:

The old Pavel Chekov versus the new Pavel Chekov: The new one wins. The old Chekov was a second-season addition to Star Trek to draw in younger fans with a Davey Jones lookalike, while adding in a bit of a glasnost theme as well. There really was little other point to the original character, and little other thought put into him. The new Chekov is what the old Chekov character could have been: An over-exuberant, over-excited, kid who by dint of youth and inexperience combined with unparalleled genius, can come up with solutions that nobody else is capable of envisioning, all without losing his "boyish charm"... A nontrifling Wesley Crusher on amphetamines.

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The old Scotty versus the new Scotty: A tie. The old Scotty came across as a seasoned veteran... if not confident, at least always competent. The new Scotty is more... well... new. He's a younger character, also excitable, and is guessing and groping for answers, and coming across more as a guy who is able to think quickly and move quickly than his old(er) version. The old Scotty: You got the impression that he was born in that engine room, and you always knew that in the end, if all else failed, Scotty and his baby would save the day. The new Scotty: He's more like Han Solo with the Milinneum Falcon: He won't hesitate to pick up a sledgehammer and smack things until they work if necessary, which is cool in its own way.

The old Uhura versus the new Uhura: The old one is a clear winner. Out of all the characters in the new movie that Trekkies will talk the most about, Uhura is the clear standout and I'm sure will cause a 50-50 split among Trekkies. In the original series of the 1960's, putting a black woman on the cast during the height of the racial strife in America was a bold move... but Roddenberry and company weren't going to get too bold with the character. Therefore, Uhura was always slightly in the background; she was always calm and collected. The new Uhura is just simply emotional, and it's very unbecoming. Her love interest in the movie is a logical choice, but also very inappropriate to the original character. It's obvious that people are trying to take Uhura in a new direction, but I don't like it.

The old Sulu versus the new Sulu: The old one is a slight winner. The funny thing is, that the old Sulu character (played by a gay man) doesn't come across as gay as the new one. Maybe that's a nod to George Takei... but I hope not. The new character overall comes across as an MIT geek. He reminds me of that Mythbuster guy, Grant Imahara. He's not a bad character, but he's not the Sulu... yet. I do give the writers of the movie credit for recognizing Sulu's nerdiness though and playing it up: On the verge of a deadly covert operation, Sulu volunteers his martial arts training. The look on Kirk's face, moments before a deadly showdown with only Sulu at his back, as Sulu admits he has only studied "fencing" reflects my "MIT feeling" well (notwithstanding the fact that this new Sulu does, in fact, kick ass).

The old Dr. McCoy versus the new Dr. McCoy: The new one wins. The McCoy character has always been a curmudgeon, but the old McCoy was never the physical presence necessary to stand toe to toe with Kirk or Spock, let alone believably get involved in the action aspects of Star Trek. The new McCoy keeps all of the best aspects developed by Deforrest Kelley, and puts it into a man who fits better in the mix. I daresay there is soupçon of Commander Riker in this new McCoy... just a dash, but enough to give him some leadership qualities.

The old Spock versus the new Spock: Believe it or not, the new one wins. The old Spock is iconic, but the new Spock captures the idea of Spock perfectly. Where the old Spock would stand calm and implacable, the new Spock has a face that gives subtle hints of... not emotion... but of a mind that is certainly keeping emotion at bay. The new Spock is dynamic while still managing to be affectively flat. His debating skills are brought to the fore much more often, and he is a much more deliberate person in his approach. The old Spock was much more restrained and deferent, while the new Spock behaves like he knows he is the most knowledgeable person in the room, but at the same time manages to cope significantly well when he is confronted with better ideas. I simply adore this new Spock.

The old Captain Kirk versus the new Captain Kirk: I have to say that it is the old one this time around. But there is a reason for that: You can't duplicate William Shattner, and the original Kirk is so original and quirky that there isn't a single feature (other than his cavalier behavior) that can be captured. The new Kirk still tries to get laid, still likes a good punchup, still comes up with last-second crazy ideas, but overall you just get the sense that he is a kid who gets by on luck more than cunning, whereas with the original Kirk it was the opposite. That isn't referring to the movie's story line either: You could see in the original Kirk's eyes a knowledge that the odds didn't matter... he had somehow cheated the odds in advance. With the new Kirk, you see behind the eyes somebody who is praying that he guessed right.

There is a great example of this difference in the Captains Kirk that can be found in how the two Kirks approach the Kobayashi Maru test (a test to determine how future commanders face a no-win certain-death situation), which plays prominently in this new movie. In the movie, the new Starfleet Cadet Kirk hacks the test program so that the enemy ships are weak enough to be defeated. In the paperback book version of the tale, the original Starfleet Cadet Kirk hacks the test program so that when the captains of the enemy ships find that they are facing THE James T. Kirk, most feared Starship Captain in the galaxy, they all get scared and run away. That sums up the difference between these two Kirks perfectly: Style counts.

Anyway, I think that the new Star Trek cast overall is excellent. They are giving the original series, which ignited so many imaginations when it first aired, the opportunity to revisit the original intentions of the show, and build upon the original successes while smoothing over some of the rough parts. I, for one, am really looking forward to seeing this new original crew doing more movies.