Movie #122 - Star Trek: The Motion Picture

"The human adventure is just beginning."

After many years of syndication, 1979 marked the return of the crew from the Enterprise. This time, on the big screen. The much anticipated return of Star Trek and its original crew was definitely exciting for all Trekkies. Unfortunately, I am too young to remember this film on the big screen for I was not born yet, however, I have watched this movie many times and believe its a good one. It definitely does not rank that high in terms of the entire lot of Star Trek films, inclusive of the TNG group and the most recent prequel completed by J.J. Abrams, however, its a good start.

Nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Visual Effects and Original Score, this film brings back the familiar crew to their leap to the big screen. The storyline of this film is a little weak, but what was to be expected for a long hiatus from television and a big budget. The story behind this movie is that a planetary force is making its way to Earth and the Enterprise is sent to investigate and see if they can stop it from destroying the planet.

Although compelling and beautifully shot despite the limited special effects of the late 70's, the story is extremely slow and the drama that we were accustomed show with the television cult classic was lost in this drawn out, 2.5 hour version of a poorly edited television episode. The graphics are top notch for the era, however, most of the budget went to making this film a cinematic piece as opposed to creating a solid plot or developing the characters further beyond what we knew of them in the show.

Unfortunately, this is exactly what was done in other Star Trek films as well. I am a big fan of Gene Roddenberry, but he always assumed that movie-goers watching his movies knew about the characters involved. However, character development is the biggest aspect lacking in many science fiction blockbusters - we spend too much time worrying about the special effects and the action sequences, we forget that some fans just want a good story to be told.

Despite this flaw, the first installment of the movie franchise is a hit overall. Its much better than Star Trek III, and probably better than IV and V as well. I liked VI and obviously, everyone enjoys the movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which is one of my personal favourites as well.

This movie does have some new cast members in the likes of Stephen Collins (known for his role as the father on 7th Heaven) and Persis Khambatta (a former Miss India from the early 60's). Both characters are developed as the main side storyline of the movie and you gravitate towards the romantic background offered by these two side characters from the main cast. However, even with these strong performances of these side cast members, the main cast is very limited in their reprised roles.

The Spock / Kirk play between characters is not focused upon in this film as opposed to the contrast in the television show and further sequels. The poor ranking of this film in the Star Trek franchise can probably be attributed to the lack of interaction between Kirk and Spock, as the focus is on attempting to develop Collins' character of Commander William Decker.

In the end, this is a good movie to start a Star Trek marathon off from (which by the way is taking place on Labour Day weekend 2009 in Canada on Space Network), however, it could easily put you to sleep as well - which for some isn't necessarily a bad thing... but only if you are narcoleptic.

Movie #23 - Mission Impossible 3

Mission Impossible 3 is a strong action film that invigorates the theater audience. As compared to the poorly done sequel by Hong Kong director, John Woo (MI-2), Mission Impossible 3 actually delves into attempting to create characters and consists of a better cast and plot lines.
MI-3's plot follows a semi-retired Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) who is serving as a Impossible Mission Force (IMF) agent trainer. But to his fiancee and friends and his "new" life outside of the IMF, Hunt is attempting to live life as a mild mannered Traffic Analyst, somewhat of a Superman / Clark Kent persona. This works well and follows the concept of the spy lifestyle portrayed in other films such as True Lies and Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

The plot gets kicked into high gear when Hunt is recruited by his previous boss, Musgrave (Billy Crudup) to rescue Hunt's prized pupil, Lindsey Farris (Keri Russell). It was a breath of fresh air seeing Crudup and Russell cast into these roles, as both are not known for their action star resumes and both fit in quite nicely.

Director J.J. Abrams of Lost, Felicity, and Alias fame took a number of casting risks with his team of actors for this film. Phillip Seymour Hoffman portrays the maniacal arms dealer Owen Davian, while Abrams elects to reprise Luther's character played by Ving Rhames. I disliked the casting of Laurence Fishburne, as he seemed somewhat out of place and became the predictable internal villain halfway through the movie - maybe that was the point. However, I did enjoy the casting of Maggie Q (Zhen), Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Declan) and Simon Pegg (Benji) for comic relief.

Abrams masterfully attempts to create characters and develop Ethan Hunt's life outside of IMF quite well. This is somewhat overlooked in most action films as explosions, body counts, and weapons are the first priority. Abrams brings life back to the Hunt character and to the villainous secret plots found in the classic spy movies. He enlists a little bit of the "trust no one" attitude in this film as it moves along.

The only thing missing from this film is the reprisal of Henry Czerny, a great Canadian actor, who captured the menacing lead character of Eugene Kittridge in the first Mission Impossible (1996). Czerny was on a role with his evil Washington slash CIA roles in other films such as Clear and Present Danger. As an avid movie fan of the villain, I would have liked to see Czerny in this sequel.

Overall, this movie is not the best action movie ever made, but it sure jump starts the MI genre again, opening the door for future sequels. Abrams should be retained as Director if another film is to be made, but he is quite busy with Lost and the upcoming Star Trek prequel. However, the Hunt character now has some roots and some background, something that the audience craved in the first two films and now knows in this one.

Thank you to J.J. Abrams for doing a solid job in this film and we all look forward to the many projects that you have on the go in the future.

Reference: I originally published this article on Helium.com