FILM REVIEW: Star Trek Beyond

I had heard that Star Trek Beyond was not getting great reviews, but since I have been a longtime fan of the franchise (beginning with watching the original series reruns in the early 1970s as a kid and continuing with the Star Trek: The Next Generation series in college). I think I have seen every Star Trek movie there is (except perhaps one of the last movies with the ST:TNG cast). I've also seen and enjoyed) the first two Star Trek movies 2013's Star Trek Into Darkness and 2009's Star Trek with the rebooted cast starring Chris Pine as  Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock and Karl Urban as Bones. Anyway, with me, it was not whether I would see this movie, but when. And after hearing that John Cho's version of George Takei's Hikaru Sulu would be depicted as openly gay (having a male partner he's raising a daughter with) I got tickets to see it opening weekend!

My worries about reviews were unfounded since Star Trek Beyond is certified fresh at Rotten Tomatoes with an 85% rating. This is (slightly) lower than the first two movies, which had 95% and 86% ratings, respectively.

One interesting difference of the latest entry into the Star Trek movie franchise is that it was co-written by Simon Pegg (who plays Scotty, primarily as the comic relief) and  JJ Abrams has relinquished the director's role to Justin Lin but still is listed as a producer.

The most compelling aspect of the film is the killer casting and the nuanced performances as updates of the original characters. The three leads are (mostly) excellent, but in the smaller roles, Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Cho as Sulu and and Pegg as Scotty all standout. As with most summer blockbusters, the effectiveness of Star Trek Beyond is dependent on how good (or bad) the villain is. The villain in Star Trek Beyond is Krall, played quite well by a mostly unrecognizable Idris Elba. There's also a new female character named Jayla played by Sofia Boutella (last seen as the woman with the crazy blade legs in Kingsman: The Secret Service).

The story this time is built around central themes of loss as we see Spock learning about the death of Ambassador Spock (played by Leonard Nimoy of course) who actually represented Quinto's Spock from a different timeline that intersected in the 2009 Star Trek. We also learn that Spock is thinking of leaving Starfleet and has broken up with Uhura again because in light of the destruction of his homeplanet he is feeling compelled to try and go to New Vulcan to find a Vulcan mate and contribute to rebuilding Vulcan society and culture. Unbeknownst to Spock, Kirk is also thinking of leaving the crew of the Enterprise, and has applied to become a Vice-Admiral at a huge space station near a mysterious nebula.

Of course, the Enterprise ends up exploring the nebula where it gets attacked by a huge swarm of powerful alien spacecraft that forces the crew to abandon ship as the saucer section is forced to separate and crashes on a planet. Krall captures most of the crew (with Uhura and Sulu) but Bones and Spock, Chekhov and Kirk and Scotty land on the planet in separate groups. It was good to see that Chekhov had a larger role than in previous films due to a freak accident that killed the 27-year-old actor Anton Yelchin last month which means he will not be appearing in any more sequels.

In the end, the crew is reunited and we learn that even Starfleet officers can become corrupted and that people will come up with all sort of rationales to justify horrific actions. The visuals are exciting and the action is frenetic but overall this was a better than average entry into the Star Trek movie franchise.

Title: Star Trek Beyond.
Director: Justin Lin.
Running Time: 120 minutes.
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi action and violence.
Release Date: July 22, 2016.
Viewing Date: July 23, 2016.

Writing: A-.
Acting: B+.
Visuals: A-.
Impact: B-.

Overall Grade: B+ (3.33/4.0)

MOVIE REVIEW: Guardians of the Galaxy

The latest movie from Marvel Studios is Guardians of the Galaxy. This movie has been heavily marketed and I really had not intended to see it but after it was released the film earned excellent reviews and stellar ratings at rottentomatoes.com (92% critics, 96% audience). The film stars Chris Pratt as Peter Quill a.k.a. Star Lord, the sole human member of a rag tag group of misfits and criminals from across the Galaxy that includes Groot (a talking and walking tree-like alien, voiced by Vin Diesel), Rocket (a small furry alien who resembles a raccoon, voiced by Bradley Cooper), Gamora (a green-skinned humanoid played by Zoe Saldana who is also a deadly assassin and daughter of the villainous Thanos) and Drax (a muscular, powerful humanoid who takes all statements a little too literally, played by Dave Bautista).

Guardians of the Galaxy is bolstered by a breakout performance by Pratt as Star Lord. He is funny, sexy, geeky and charismatic--sometimes in the same scene! Pratt is definitely the best thing about the movie, but after him the next best thing is the overall "vibe" of the film, which irreverent and fun. It is also, quite often, a bit ridiculous.

Some examples of the ridiculous aspects of the film include: 1) Glenn Close's hair and make-up (playing the leader of the planet Xandar whose people Thanos is trying to exterminate) is comically bad, resembling a cartoon. 2) Peter Quill has a mixtape of 70's and 80's hit songs from his dead mother which we are to believe that even though these civilizations have spaceships and advanced technology they don't have digital copies of music? 3) There's a scene which takes place in a prison which our characters will of course break out of (is this a spoiler?). The ridiculous part of the scene is basically how easily our heroes escape because of how incompetent the guards are as well as the venality of the other prisoners.

The irreverent vibe is exemplified by the film's great soundtrack and Pratt's goofy but effective dancing, to songs like "Oooh Child," "I'm Not In Love," and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." Another example is the Star Trek like make-up to indicate alien physiognomy.

Overall, Guardians of the Galaxy is a classic sci-fi romp, reminiscent of the original Star Wars  (in tone) but with flaws reminiscent of other fun films like The Fifth Element and Serenity. What I'm trying to say is that Guardians of the Galaxy is definitely worth seeing and an enjoyable entertainment.

Title: Guardians of the Galaxy.
Director: James Gunn.
Running Time: 2 hours, 1 minute.
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for some language.
Release Date: August 1, 2014.
Viewing Date: August 10, 2014.

Writing: B.
Acting: A-.
Visuals: B+.
Impact: A.

Overall Grade: B+/A- (3.50/4.0).

FILM REVIEW: Star Trek Into Darkness

I finally saw the latest Star Trek movie when I got back from my Caribbean vacation at my favorite theater in Washington (the AMC Courthouse Plaza 8) and then saw it again with the Other Half back home in Los Angeles at the movie theater closest to our house (Edwards Alhambra Renaissance 14).

Star Trek Into Darkness is a sequel to 2009's Star Trek directed by J.J. Abrams which attempted to re-boot the Star Trek movie franchise, mostly successfully. However, a key weak point in that movie was the villain, played by Eric Bana, and the script. The strongest aspect of the reboot was the casting of all the legendary characters such as Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), Bones (Karl Urban), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Sulu (John Cho) and Chekhov (Anton Yelchin).

So, this second film in the new Star Trek movie franchise has a good base on which to start from and uses it to excellent effect. One of the brilliant aspects of the film is the casting of the villain, played by Benedict Cumberbatch. He is introduced to us as John Harrison but he will be much better known by true Star Trek fans by another name (which I won't mention here because it is the key spoiler to the film's plot). In fact, the story is one of the best parts of this film, even if it was apparently constructed by the team of Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman (the creative team behind Fringe) & Damon Lindelof (the longtime showrunner behind Lost and one of the writers of last year's Prometheus).

Without talking about the plot, I can review other aspects of the film which highlight why it is so enjoyable. As a result of events that happened in the 2009 film, this version of Star Trek is in a very different time line from the Star Trek universe that we have been accustomed to from the multiple television series and subsequent films. In this parallel universe, there are several important differences, such as 1) Planet Vulcan (Spock's home world) has been destroyed and 2) Spock and Uhura are in an actual relationship between Kirk and Spock, and 3) There is still a cold war between humans and Klingons.

Essentially the film is a sci-fi action film built around a buddy flick between Spock and Kirk. Quinto and Pine have a good chemistry between them and there is non-stop action which will sate any summer blockbuster junkie. Combined with a clever plot and what you have is a very enjoyable time at the movies!

Title: Star Trek Into Darkness.
Director: J.J. Abrams.
Running Time: 2 hours, 9 minutes.
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence.
Release Date: May 17, 2013.
Viewing Date: June 5, 2013 and June 15, 2013.

Writing: A.
Acting: A-.
Visuals: A.
Impact: A.

Overall Grade: A/A- (3.917/4.0).

WATCH: Trailer for Next Star Trek Movie

The third trailer for the new Star Trek movie directed by JJ Abrams indicates that Star Trek Into Darkness will be one of the most anticipated movies of the year. Abrams did a good reboot of the Star Trek franchise with his 2009 film (see my A- review) but the plot was a mess and Eric Bana was somewhat disappointing as the villain. Chris Pine (Kirk), openly gay Zachary Quinto (Spock) and Zoe Saldana (Uhuru) were well-cast and quite good, asare John Cho as Sulu and Simon Pegg as Scotty.

Hopefully in his second at bat, Abrams will be able to use his cast in the service of a good story and exciting entertainment. Hot British actor Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) joins the cast as the villain.

Check out the trailer!

Avatar Breaks Worldwide Box-Office Record

James Cameron's Avatar has now exceeded James Cameron's Titanic as the highest grossing film of all-time, with $1.842 billion worldwide after its 39th day of release. Just two weeks ago, Avatar had earned $1.35 billion worldwide and more than $400 million dollars, domestically. It earned nearly $500 million dollars worldwide and more than $150 million domestically in the interim to exceed 2008's The Dark Knight's $533 million. Box-office prognosticators fully expect that Avatar will exceed Titanic's domestic box-office record of $600.8 million in the next two weeks.

On Saturday, its 37th day, Avatar surpassed The Dark Knight's $533.3 million total to become the second highest-grossing movie of all time, though, in terms of attendance, it likely hasn't yet cracked the Top 50. At its current trajectory, Avatar will exceed Titanic's $600.8 million total within two weeks. In 38 days, Avatar's tally stands at $551.7 million, 80 percent of which from 3D presentations (including 16 percent from IMAX venues alone)

Oscar nominations come out on Tuesday February 2nd. Avatar is also widely expected to lead all films with the most Academy Award nominations. Titanic won Best Picture and 10 other Oscars. It's certain that Avatar will not reach that total but it's doubtful that it will win Best Picture, although MadProfessah called it the #1 Movie of 2009 and the #2 Movie of the Decade 2000-2009.

MOVIE REVIEW: AVATAR (3D)

I saw James Cameron's Avatar in 3-D twice in the first three days of its release. I saw it opening day at the Arclight Cinemas Cineramadome using the XpanD 3D system and at the Regal Cinemas Alhambra Renaissance 14 in RealD 3D. I'll probably see it one more time, in 2-D to compare.

I should note that I can probably count on one hand the number of films I have seen multiple times in the theaters (Star Wars, Aliens, Tell No One, Finding Nemo). Avatar belongs on this list. It is an incredible cinematic experience, not just because of the immersive aspects of the 3-D film experience but due to the complexity and intensity of the storytelling.

The star of Avatar is the "It" boy of the moment, Sam Worthington, who plays Jake Sully, a paralyzed Marine who fills in for his recently murdered brother on a mercenary interplanetary mission to assist in the exploration and exploitation of an eden-like moon called Pandora which is rich with vast natural resources which humanity has only begun to understand. Sigourney Weaver a favorite of Cameron's from the Aliens franchise plays the head of the ecological team interacting with the 10-foot-tall, bright blue, cat-eyed alien natives called the Na'vi via the use of genetically engineered avatars. Zoe Saldana, who plays the lead alien native Neyitri captures Worthington while in avatar form and the story deepens from there. I really don't want to say any more about the explicit details of the story.

The central messages of the film are surprisingly pro-environmental and anti-militaristic and contain explicit depiction of native/tribal religio-cultural expression.

The visual impact of the film can not be overstated.

Running Time: 2 hours, 41 minutes.
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 [See Full Rating] for intense epic battle sequences and warfare, sensuality, language and some smoking.
Director: James Cameron.

OVERALL GRADE: A+.

ACTING: A+.
IMAGERY: A+.
PLOT: A+.
IMPACT: A+.