Nickyitis – An Epidemic of Humorous Proportions

Just saw the new Star Trek and felt compelled to comment. First off, in a way, Ebert is correct. The points he raises in his negative review are valid. But unimportant.

Star Trek isn’t just a movie/TV show – it’s part of our mythology. It struck so deep a chord in its audience that cancellation couldn’t kill it. The fans WILLED it back into existence and, once the studios caught the scent of money, they were on board. Spinoffs, cartoon series, movies – all springing from that hokey pilot episode created half a century ago.

Yes, that’s right – half a century. That’s why I suggest that Trek has become part of our mythos – it’s been around for a good long time. And yet not so long that we don’t have a series of generations all aware of it. It’s permeated out culture (Beam me up Scotty) and I don’t see that it shows any signs of fading away.

J.J. Abrams has done a marvelous job of restarting the Star Trek universe in a way that brings it up to date and yet retains what made the original so enduring. The characters of Kirk, Spck and McCoy are so well done in this movie that it’s worth a cheer and then another. I’ll admit that I personally am most taken with Karl Urban’s interpretation of Leonard McCoy. He captures the good crustiness but avoids (thank you writers) the goofy, semi-hysterical hand wringing that so annoyed me in the original McCoy.

Quinto channels the original Spock so well it’s eerie and then adds a layer of repressed emotionality that works beautifully well. And Kirk is just as one would imagine him – young, aggressive, smart and cocky.

Simon Pegg’s Scotty is amazingly fun – nothing like the original because it’s a new original. I like it a lot. And it’s nice to see Uhura actually get some relevance written into her part.

The key is that these people like each other. Kirk, Spock and McCoy are The 3 Musketeers in space – one for all and all for one. The larger cast are X-Men in jumpsuits. They work together for the common good and they’re uncommonly good at it.

So I’ll keep silent on the gaping plot holes and simply say – Go see it and fall in love all over again.