Let’s not beat around the bush: we’ve seen exclusive footage from the long awaited Star Trek reboot, and this isn’t the Enterprise of old. Star Trek is back, but maybe not the way you expected. See the trailer here.
The new Trek is a ballsy, in-your-face modern action movie that supplants old school intellectualisms for bigger explosions, cerebral chatter for juicy special effects and the aging original cast for a younger and much sexier set of new recruits.
Star Trek (Trailer C) - Funny videos are here
Paramount have bet the house (and a huge budget) on the hopes of attracting an entire new audience to what has been essentially been a geeks-only clubhouse. From the footage we saw, it’s possible that your sister may even like this film. Scary, but true.
The new recruits; thin on experience and low on age, virtually melt the screen down with their modern sexiness – though it’s not quite the feared 90210 soap opera in space we had heard. There’s definately that ‘teens/young adults save the world’ vibe though – take from that what you will.
The new film starts from scratch; a fresh cast of new faces playing familiar Trek roles in an era, roughly set around the beginning of the Star Fleet command when Kirk and Spock were buddies, or for much of the film as the director informed us - bickering enemies. It’s a complete reboot of the aging series and that will either trouble or excite older fans from the get-go.
The Reboot and what it means to Star Trek
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| Remember these old guys? |
Love it or hate it, but the modern reboot – that controversial process by which movie studios churn weather beaten celluloid memories (older, fading franchises) into shiny, freshly cast revisionist remakes - is likely here to stay. The success of Christopher Nolan's Batman and the new James Bond movies serve to highlight this growing trend.
Casino Royale for example (and its sequel Quantum of Solace), took an aging franchise on life support - injected a little artistic flair and stripped the character and tired plotting devices back to their core.
In other words, the reboot is as much about franchise resuscitation, as it is about verging away from a film’s broken, troubled past.
The new Trek revealed
The new Star Trek film, directed by JJ Abrams (Mission Impossible 3, Alias) is a perfect case in point for the support of a reboot. The franchise, which had already notched up 10 films in almost twenty years, was in dire need of a rescue plan.
The last film, Star Trek: Nemesis failed to meet success, bombed with $US67 million worldwide at the box office (a virtual pittance by earlier Trek successes) and remains a critical low point in the series. It was the final nail in the coffin for an aging Enterprise crew, and a reboot – no matter how potentially sacrilegious to the Trekkie code it may be, feels like the safest bet to relaunching the Star Trek brand to an audience of Facebooking Myspacers.
Some will sulk at the inclusion of hot young things zooming around space like the set of a High School Muscial production. Still, the scope of this reboot is huge. And you can see every dollar on screen; the CGI is particularly good - and the use of shooting more on location is to be commended.
This baby starts fresh off the bat. It's a little darker, more populous and very entertaining from what we've seen - so fanboy haters be dammed.
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