Either I've forgotten how to enjoy movies or movies have forgotten how to entertain me. Maybe it's just a cynical phase brought on by overwatching too many movies. I ventured out into the world nearly two years ago and was almost completely removed from films during that time. The less I saw of them, the more I enjoyed of the ones I did see. Maybe moderation is the key, as with anything. However, I'm not selfless enough to believe its my fault.
The latest Star Trek iteration is entertaining enough, but it fails to deliver on a promised darker premise and instead of being more cerebral it settles for showing us tons of explosions. Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), Uhura (Zoe Saldana) and the rest of the Enterprise crew are back to face their greatest threat, a former Starfleet member who's gone rogue and is blowing up buildings. His name is John Harrison, he's played by Benedict Cumberbatch (who has quite the presence), and he may or may not be the eponymous Khan who has stood as Star Trek's greatest villain.
This one definitely zips along and keeps you entertained, but like most summer blockbusters, it leaves you nothing to savor after you've left. I have no complaints about the movie as it is overall, which is loud and provides viewers with plenty of entertainment. The characters are all familiar and established, which is always handy for movies like this. But the character arcs are ill defined and, as Mr. Spock would put it, quite illogical. Kirk has to learn how to take responsibility for his reckless behavior, Mr. Spock has to learn how to express his emotions, and Uhura needs to learn to stop being a nag. Probably the movie's biggest crime is it wastes Uhura with little more then fierce glances at Spock.
Abrams has become a master at making these films, but I've yet to see him put real emotional depth into any of his features. He knows he needs to put the character arcs in there, but I still feel like he doesn't know how to develop them in a natural way. These characters are defined by the action scenes instead of defining the action scenes, which makes Mr. Abrams a wizard action technician and nothing more. I fear for the forthcoming Star Wars more then I dread rewatching any of the prequel films.
It's also becoming a commonplace cliche these days for the villain to be captured and held, only to manipulate an escape. So goes The Dark Knight, The Avengers, and Skyfall, each in turn holding the villain captive in the middle. It's a fairly new cliche that has yet to wear out its welcome, and it admittedly works when the villain is terrifying enough (which is definitely the case here). Cumberbatch, though imposing, is somehow under utilized; his motivation is explained in one monologue and I honestly still couldn't tell you what was going on with those capsules.
The real problem is there is no room to build momentum. The movie starts at a frenetic pace, slows down, and then reignites that pace and never stops. Each action subsequent action scene should be larger then the last, but honestly the movie has a hard time topping Spock in a middle of a volcano while Kirk and Bones and chased down by indigenous peoples, which opens the film. I don't mind endless action, but after seeing the same action scene over and over throughout the film, I just give up caring at the end.
I have no real beef with this movie except for an explosion on my Facebook feed of friends calling this film amazing. I disagree, and while the love for this movie doesn't bother me, it does confuse me. Maybe I am getting too cynical. Maybe I've seen too many movies recently. Maybe I should take a break until The Lone Ranger comes out in a month and a half, see if I enjoy that a lot more.
On second thought, I think I can live with being a cynic.
