Blogging where no one has blogged before...

Ok, I can't help myself with the cheap puns. So lonely here with only cats and dog for company. And husband, too (but he doesn't talk much). Still, so much to catch up on (although I don't think that anyone even reads this but I think it is more therapeutic for me to blather on and on about totally random useless stuff that no one cares about, not even me).

First, on May 1 the boys from Vicious Ambitious came up to Edmonton for Free Comic Book Day (May 2) and since A was working at Happy Harbor and thus unable to entertain said boys I volunteered. After a quick supper at Boston Pizza (I uncooly vetoed Hooters) we headed to the theatres to stand in line for an hour for Wolverine. As far as comic book movies went, it was entertaining and light. Not erudite or groundbreaking, just a rolicking romp that managed to make tie into the other X-movies. Since this one was successful there are sure to be a slew of other X-related origin movies, including one about Storm. This movie pales in comparison to the one I saw the next morning.

One of the perks of Andrew's job is that he receives advance passes for all sorts of movies. He got a last minute one for a preview of Star Trek (it was such short notice that even the theatre was caught off guard). As such I couldn't find anyone to go with (A and the boys would be busy at Free Comic Book Day and so could not accompany me) but I didn't mind going stag. This was Star Trek after all.

The movie was at 10 am so I thought if I arrived at 9 I would get a good seat but when I did the line-up was already down the stairs into the mall. This was gonna be interesting.

The crowd had your usual geeks and gawkers but there was also an older element not usually seen at pop-culture movie openings. Ladies in their 50's wearing expensive leather jackets with NCC-1701 emblazoned on the sleeves and professorial looking men with fedoras and trenches mixed with young kids not even conceived of when the first Trek flickered across movie screens.

First a caveat: I like the newer Treks: Next Generation (my dog is named Data) and Voyager and even Enterprise (when I could find it on TV). I really disliked DS9 but enjoyed some of the characters that populated the space station. I also liked most of the movies, esp. Star Trek The Voyage Home (I have a soft spot for fish outta water themes). But the original series...I enjoyed its kitsch value and understood why it was so popular but I was not a rabid fan. I rank Shatner's Kirk up there with Connery's Bond: an overacted misogynist dinosaur (although I like what Shatner has done lately to reinvent himself). Definitely a period piece. As such, I was not expecting to enjoy this new outing as much as I did.

From start to breathless finish this was an adventure movie. Infinitely clever in its execution as to allow as many variations on a theme as needed in the future and to explain some oddities within the film itself while still feeling familiar. The sounds and visuals while "modern" still had a kicky sixties vibe. The casting and story was note perfect-even the cliches were nicely handled.

And Kirk?

Hell, I would sleep with this version.

Chris Pine is not a dead ringer for Shatner (like Quinto was for Nimoy) but he had the swagger and brashness. And he didn't try to ape Shatner's mannerisms, which can easily slip into parody. But dammit Jim, it was Kirk.

The other actors were well cast, even though "Bones" (hunky Karl Urban) was taller and bulkier than both Spock and Kirk (in the TV show DeForrest Kelley's "Bones" was older and skinnier than the captain and science officer). Uhura's role was expanded greatly from her mostly secretarial role in the original series.

And the humour? Remember Trouble with Tribbles? Trek can be funny (even when it is not parody) and this one does not disappoint. I think that was the most unexpected part for me--humour was woven deftly throughout and did not detract from the drama and suspense.

I can hardly wait to see it again--in Imax.