Movie Review: Boldy Go to the Theater and see Star Trek

Let me just preface this post by saying that I am not a Trekkie, a Trekker or a Trekvestite in any way shape or form. I was a Star Wars kid, so Star Trek never really appealed to me. I'm sure you can love both equally, but that was never the case with me.

That doesn't mean that I haven't dabbled with the franchise before. I've seen a great deal of the movies and have enjoyed the good ones. Star Trek: First Contact was one of my first exposures to the canon and is a stellar sci-fi movie.

Having only a little bit of experience with Trek lore, I was ready to take the complete plunge this weekend to see director J.J. Abrams' take. From all the previews and commercials it looked like it would finally inject a bit more action into a franchise that's always seemed a little tame compared to the flash and dazzle of Star Wars. I caught the late show on Sunday night and I was completely blown away.

Star Trek provided a much needed mouthwash to get rid of the dirty taste that X-Men Origins: Wolverine left behind last week. Both movies have a lot in common. They both are based off of existing properties and both serve as origin prequel stories. Both films strive to be special effects showcases, but only Star Trek manages to pull it all off. If this were a battle on Iron Chef where the secret ingredient was "origin," then X-Men Origins: Wolverine would be the paltry "good effort" dish served up by the challenger while Star Trek is the masterpiece crafted by the Iron Chef (probably Hiroyuki Saki cause that dude always won.)


What makes Star Trek work is just a great formula of rebooting the franchise that I welcome in any and all future reboots. Instead of trying to tie the movie in with years and years of Star Trek continuity, the film boldly picks what works and leaves the rest behind. This is all thanks to big baddie Nero (played by Eric Bana) who comes back in time to change the course of history. Unlike most other film franchises, he succeeds at doing this and now everything we know and love about Star Trek happened in another universe.

It's no surprise to anyone that Leonard Nemoy shows up as an older Spock to bridge the gap between the new school and the old school. I'll admit, it's a little hokey, but the placement of this important revelation in the middle of the movie is really interesting. I'm already involved in this world, these characters, so throwing old Spock at me isn't going to ruin the good time I've already had and it certainly only adds to the powerful ending.

Excitement is the name of the game here, and Abrams delivers in abundance. I've always felt Star Trek movies lacked this particular element and to see it brought to the level it should be at was a treat. Case in point, the phasers. I've always thought this particular weapon was completely lame, especially compared to a lightsaber. It always looked like a bunch of pauncy actors pointing remote controls all over the place. However, in this film, when Spock and Kirk storm the villain's ship, they're jumping around firing shots all over the place like they were transported directly into the middle of Die Hard in Space. And as I watched it, all I could think of was "Finally!"

The director can't take all the credit, however. The cast is as much to blame for this movie's success as anything. Each of these actors delivers their own take on the characters in such a great way that you completely forget about their predecessors. Chris Pine makes a unbelievable Kirk, taking what worked about William Shatner's portrayal and upping the cockiness tenfold. I went into the theater with little expectation for his portrayal, tricked by his Matt Damon-esque looks into thinking they had just casted yet another hollywood hunk to walk through the movie. I couldn't have been more wrong. The humor, the charm, even the boldness in his speech, it was all there.

Main character aside, Star Trek has always been about the ensemble and this cast could not have done a better job. Zachary Quinto was most likely born and bred in a laboratory to be able to one day play the perfect Spock. Consider your experiment a success, Paramount scientists! Zoe Saldana knocked me off of my feet as a powerful, confident and sexy Uhura. Here's hoping we see more of this actress in the future. The best part is, just when you're so far into the movie that you've forgetten about Scotty, here comes everybody's favorite actor Simon Pegg who then manages to steal every scene he's in.

There are a few downsides to the film. Often times it tries a little too hard to amp up the action and it comes off a little hokey. When Sulu pulls out a switchblade katana it's a little too much. The badguys are also a bit generic. They brood around in their big sinister pointy ship being dark and sinister looking. Eric Bana could have very well been some extra from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I don't think there would have been much of a difference. And while cameos by Star Trek alums such as Leonard Nimoy are fun, unexpected celebritry cameos like Tyler Perry and Winona Ryder ellicted more chuckles than necessary.

All in all, by the time the credits are running that that classic theme music is playing, you're left craving more. The movie gives you enough time with all of the characters to get attached, but desperately waiting for the sequel. There's no way this won't be the next big sci-fi franchise.

As I said before, I grew up on Star Wars, but the recent slew of movies has left me lukewarm (get it?) to that particular franchise. It's great to have a new sci-fi movie series to get behind, even it it is technically over 40 years old. I thought I could get through the whole post without saying it, but it needs to be said. Here's hoping this new universe that J.J. Abrams has created lives long and prospers.

Gay Kids Love X-Men or Why I'll Read Nearly Any Book That Has a Certain Letter in the Title

As I discussed in my last post, one of the earliest comics that got me into the medium was the first issued of little gem called "X-Men Adventures." While I had been familiarized with comics before that point, it wasn't until I met Marvel's merry mutants did I get fully hooked. They had the coolest characters, the brightest colors and had the biggest adventures. But the x-factor that kept my interest and sparked an obsession inside of me was the ideas of persecution and otherness that a young confused gay kid like me could relate with.

To this day, I still can't imagine how some gay men and women can go nearly half their lives before realizing who they really are. I feel lucky to have been wise enough to not only realize it at an early age, but to have the X-Men around to show me that, hey, being different isn't only okay, it's kind of cool too.

And during those days, I lived and breathed X-Men. I collected all the toys, including the characters I didn't even know anything about. I saved up money over the course of a summer so I could buy a Sega Genesis, solely because of the X-Men game that was released for the system. My playground days were spent with the "X-Men Club," pretending to fight Magneto and getting in trouble with authority when our play battles got too realistic. It's amazing to find out later on in life how a few of my fellow recess teammates ended up being gay themselves.

In recent years Marvel has only played up the whole gay analogy when it comes to the X-Men. When the first movie was being made, they tapped openly gay director Bryan Singer, who then brought in openly gay actor Ian McKellen. Gay characters have now been integrated into the cast in the forms of Northstar, Anole, Greymalkin and the Ultimate Universe version of Colossus. And let's not forget the AIDS anaology with the Legacy Virus from the 90s comics.

If you open up an X-Men comic today, you'll find the group has relocated to San Francisco, which has a history of being a gay friendly place. The pages are filled with the mutant characters being "out and proud," going shopping or clubbing and doling out the smackdown on anybody who tries to mess with their good time.

And it's that rebelness, that strength and conviction that has helped me to cope with growing up gay. I knew I'd face hard times, just like the X-Men had to face the intolerance and bigotry of the people they tried to protect. These were some real heroes to look up to and so to this day, I'll have to admit, I'm kind of still obsessed with them.

My First Time

I'm sure that a number of comic book fans are able to recall their first foray into the medium. Many could tell you when they gave comic books a shot, or which book they first cut their teeth on. I'm sure not a lot of people can remember the reason why they got into comics; the motivation they had to explore a new medium of storytelling.

Despite all of the usual stigmas that come along with collecting comic books, I initially got into the medium in order to impress some older kids and to become socially accepted by them for doing so. That's a terrible reason to get into any hobby or interest, but luckily once inside the world of comic books, I found myself at home.

I remember the entire incident very clearly. I had been waiting for the bus with some older boys in my neighborhood who were having the typical comic book conversations that young boys will have. I wanted to throw in my own two cents but I had no clue as to what they were talking about. I knew some of the characters, but only in passing. I knew Batman and Superman by their logos, but not as Bruce Wayne or Clark Kent. However, like all young kids, being accepted by my peers, and not only that but by older, supposidly cooler boys, was a big deal.

So I lied. Since I didn't know anything about the characters or stories, I figured I'd try and impress them by saying that my dad owned a copy of "Hulk #1." It worked, but only for so long. I knew at some point I'd either have to give up on trying to look cool or actually get into comic books.

I think my choice was pretty obvious.

So during the next shopping trip to the grocery store, I convince my mother to let me go pick up a comic book at the bookstore which was in the same shopping center. I was a big reader as a kid and I'm sure my mother didn't mind giving me a measly dollar and some change to get a comic book over buying me a book that I would have just devoured in a night anyways.

My first experience as a comic book fan began at the spinner rack, not at the comic book store, and as such I had a limited amount of titles to work from. I decide to start simple and look for a hero that I had not only heard the older boys talk about, but someone I had heard of before. A cover caught my eye that featured Spider-Man sporting six-arms and carrying two burglars in his arms.

Little did I know, what I had in my hands was a "What If" title and not an actual Spider-Man book. I went through the first couple of months as a comic book fan thinking that Spider-Man actually did have six arms and that he just did a really good job of hiding them (and forgetting to use them ever.) Despite its place just outside of Marvel continuity, the book still proved to be a great crash course to the universe. Not only was Spider-Man featured, but as was the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and pretty much the entirety of Spider-Man's rogues gallery. It gave me a lot of material to work with at the bus stop.

I couldn't wait to take the book to school, to show it off to those who would be interested. I remember treating it like it was a big deal, keeping the comic not only in the plastic baggy it came in, but in the actual paper bag from the bookstore to preserve its glory. Of course, later on I'm sure it ended up on the floor of my room, its cover torn asunder and its pages bent to all hell.

From then on, that was it. I was a comic book geek. My second book would be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic based off of the animated series. I had been a fan of the cartoon, so it proved to be an easy way to get into the habit of buying comics. The third book I picked up was the first issue of "X-Men Adventure," which was the comic adaptation of the 90's animated series. At the time I had no clue, all I knew was that the X-Men were considered to be cool by anyone who liked comics and that first issues were a big deal. This led to my lifelong devotion to Charles Xavier's little school of muties, but that's a whole 'nother article onto itself.


Later on in my life, when I had finally donned the mantle of "serious comic geek," I went ahead and bought a new copy of What If #42 just to read it again. Every time I see the montage of villains at the end, or Spider-Man fighting the original X-Men, I forget the reason I initially got into comics and I remember the reason why I stayed with the medium after my first dip in the pool.