MY MOVIE SHELF: Star Trek

The Task: Watch and write about every movie on my shelf, in order (Blu-rays are sorted after DVDs), by June 10, 2015.  Remaining movies: 18 Days to go: 14

Movie #422:  Star Trek

This was the very first blu-ray I bought, for our very first blu-ray player back in Christmas 2009, a gift for my husband (when he was still just my live-in boyfriend). It was billed (the format, not the film) as the best way to watch movies at home ever, and boy, was it. The fact that this J.J. Abrams reboot of the classic series/films is utterly fantastic certainly doesn’t hurt.

I never really liked watching Star Trek on TV as a kid. My mom was a big fan, so it found its way on pretty often, but I just couldn’t tune it out fast enough. Even the siren song of Wil Wheaton (who makes a voice cameo in this film as a Romulan) in Next Generation couldn’t hold my attention for long. I did get dragged to several of the films over the course of my childhood and adolescence (my favorite was The Voyage Home), but an affinity for it never really took. However, I absorbed enough of it to understand, to appreciate, and to be completely blown away by this version.

The challenge of any reboot is how to make the material new and fresh while maintaining the spirit of the original. Often there’s the risk / worry of rehashing old stories over and over (as in the case with Spider-Man’s origin story), or deviating so far from beloved canon (or that are just bad films) that the fan base decries and abandons the new work (as is the case with countless reboot attempts). Abrams avoided all of these pitfalls in his Star Trek reboot by employing a simple yet brilliant structural tactic: an alternate reality.

We open on the USS Kelvin, a Star Fleet ship about to be destroyed by time-displaced Romulans led by Nero (Eric Bana, bald and badass) looking to exact revenge on Spock from the future (Leonard Nimoy) and settling for any member of the Federation. Aboard this ship is one George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth), a first officer who gets made captain when his captain is killed and who evacuates the ship before it falls to the Romulans. Among the evacuees are his wife and newborn son, one James Tiberius Kirk. This one inciting event erases everything that came before — every episode, every film, every relationship, every everything — and starts the world anew.

In this world, Kirk (Chris Pine) has never known his father, who died on the Kelvin. He’s grown up willful and rebellious. He has no direction. He comes to Star Fleet as a recruit on a dare from Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood), but he’s far too cocky and disobedient to be considered admirable or a leader. He’s not given command of the Enterprise. Instead, he’s grounded pending academic suspension. It’s grizzled friend Bones (Karl Urban) who gets him on the ship, where he’s rivals with the Spock of this reality (Zachary Quinto) — and in which Uhura (Zoe Saldana) and Spock are romantically involved. Suddenly, everything is possible all over again, and all new stories are set to be told. What’s past is still past (as Spock Prime can attest), but what’s ahead can be anything. It’s so obvious, and so clever, and so great as a structural, foundational move that it’s even given me hope for the upcoming Star Wars sequels.

The casting in this film is essential, naturally, because that’s the one aspect that really does need to emulate the earlier version, and it’s superb. In addition to the main cast, there is the adorable Anton Yelchin as Chekov, the fantastic Simon Pegg as Scotty, and the beautiful, perfect John Cho as Sulu. There are even crazy weird cameos, like Tyler Perry hanging out as some Federation big wig and Winona Ryder, six years Quinto’s senior, noticeably aged to be Spock’s mom.

Of course, the film itself — its story — also has to hold up to scrutiny, and it does. It clocks in just over two hours long, and yet the narrative is rich, layered and detailed, with lots of different locations, conflicts, and obstacles to tackle. It’s tightly plotted and well-paced, and it’s undeniably my favorite foray into the Star Trek universe. May it live long and prosper.

MY MOVIE SHELF: The Avengers

The Task: Watch and write about every movie on my shelf, in order (Blu-rays are sorted after DVDs), by June 10, 2015.  Remaining movies: 127 Days to go: 88

Movie #313:  The Avengers

There are some people who think The Avengers is one of the greatest superhero films of all time, and others who think it gets off to a slow start with all its stage setting and then kind of throws together a battle scene at the end at least as disturbing as it is triumphant. I think both these positions are fair. I think there are criticisms to make of the film, and I think there are a lot of things to praise about it. Overall, my opinion is an overwhelmingly positive one, though, almost entirely for the way it manipulates so many moving pieces into creating one coherent story.

The scope of The Avengers — at least logistically — is huge. You’ve got three established movie universes in their own right — that of Iron Man Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) who had two movies of his own at this point plus a third on deck, Captain America Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) with one movie of his own and another in the works at the time, and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) who also had a movie of his own and a second set for imminent release — plus secondary (and tertiary) characters like Black Widow Natasha Romanoff (Scarlet Johansson), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg), Dr. Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard), Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), and Jarvis (Paul Bettany), who have all appeared in at least one of those aforementioned films and need to be woven into this one, as well as the addition of pop culture icon The Hulk, aka Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), who hasn’t technically had his own movie yet, if you forget the multiple Hulk flops that have been made over the years, comic book staple Hawkeye, aka Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), and Cobie Smulders as Agent Maria Hill. I mean, first and foremost, that just a ton of actors, and some seriously big name actors at that. The mere wrangling of that many people is a monstrous feat unto itself, but not only did the story have to support all the characters, it had to be substantive and/or rewarding enough that each of these actors feel like they’re making good use of their time. I’m sure a lot of people chalk up motivation to money, but there have been many times when money is not enough to keep an actor in a role he or she thinks is beneath them. The Avengers, in that respect, had a lot on its shoulders, and as far as I’m concerned it delivers beautifully.

Some may be inclined to lay credit for this accomplishment at the feet of Joss Whedon, and I support that. He’s a strong and effective storyteller and he doesn’t leave any of the main figures out of the mix. Each and every one of the Avengers has a backstory, character motivation, individual style, and contributes to the ultimate victory, such as it is (and the movie as a whole is still playful and cheeky in a way reminiscent of classic comic book humor). Iron Man is cocky and flouts the rules, Cap is an idealistic leader, Thor is an arrogant warrior, Banner is a wary academic, Natasha is an enigmatic and manipulative assassin, and Barton is detached and calculating. In addition, beyond their own individual personalities, the interrelationships of the Avengers are fascinating. I love the conflicts between Stark and Rogers, especially, how Steve has no use for Tony’s flippancy and how Tony is clearly resentful of this man his father had such high regard for. But Thor and Steve both having an inability to catch all the references is a lovely touch, and Loki’s constant disdain for Thor (paired with Thor’s conflicting loyalty to and frustration with Loki) is a great rivalry. Natasha, too, who is always confident (unless she’s rope-a-doping you to get some information) and who loves to throw a little wiseass toying Steve’s way, is honest-to-god terrified of Hulk.

Natasha is honestly probably my favorite Avenger after Cap, and I can’t believe people who think she’s a meaningless prop in this film or that she doesn’t have any agency. Natasha is truly one of the most interesting women on film, in my eyes. She’s loyal to Barton to an incredible degree, fighting to save him from Loki’s trance rather than to simply destroy him, despite her somewhat bloodthirsty approach to battles. Though she wouldn’t call her feelings for him love, she clearly cares for him. But she might not be attracted to him, per se, at least not the way she would never admit she is to Steve (I totally ship Natasha and Steve, especially after The Winter Soldier). She’s incredibly intelligent — witty and clever and calculating and savvy in all kinds of ways — and a great spy, using her mark’s weaknesses and presumptions against them. Moreover, despite her detached persona she so obviously has deep feelings for those who are important to her. I think Natasha is a deep well of personality, and every time I think of all the Marvel universe films on the docket that don’t include one devoted entirely to Black Widow, I get pretty angry.

And this is me talking — a person who, you may remember, never read comics as a kid and has atrociously limited knowledge of these characters and their histories. Yet I’m about as invested as I can possibly be. I’d call that a successful franchise, and The Avengers is the integral  linchpin, keeping it all in place. That’s definitely a success.