Blog Long, and Prosper

When Lost first came out I was as excited as everyone else was. Whilst my mum only watched it for the plane crash at the beginning, I was genuinely intrigued about how the show would turn out, after the rave-age that took place in SFX magazine (Amy George trivia for you; upon being given my first copy of SFX my parents took it away, believing the front to read ‘SEX’ because the ‘F’ was blocked in a funny way). After the first series I lost interest. This was mostly down to the move to SKY, which, let’s face it, SUCKED. But then when I got the chance to catch up I made it halfway through before I started thinking “Ok...this is kinda lame”, and then denounced the man behind it – JJ Abrams- as some kind of lunatic, who wouldn’t know what entertainment was if it smacked him in the face.

Now I am a person who will readily admit when they are wrong. Seriously, I hate all that “trying to be right all the time” machismo, it’s never appealed to me never will. And so that is why in 2008 I was happy to admit my scruples against him were completely unlegitamised, when he provided me with what would become number 2 in the top 5 cinematic experiences of my life- the undeniably incredible ‘Cloverfield’. The build up to the film had led me to uncover some glistening results on Mr Abrams Career card- he wrote the screenplay to Armageddon (one of my favourite films of all time), and was deemed by Spielberg – THE director amongst mere mortal men- as possibly one of the brightest and most promising triple threat combos (Writer, Producer, Director) since, well, himself. And then, in late 2007, early 2008 there were whisperings of a Star Trek Reboot. And that this man, J J Abrams, would bring it to the fore.

And that, my friends, is most certainly what he has done. And he has made his way into the sacred world of ‘Amy George’s top 5 directors’. And he did it with TWO FILMS. WATCH AND LEARN PEOPLE- WATCH AND LEARN.

Star Trek is stunning. Visually, it’s some of the most incredible and revolutionary use of CGI I have ever seen. Remember how breathtaking and ground-breaking the CGI was back in 1993 with ‘Jurassic Park’? Think of that, but for this day and age (haha I sound so old, ‘day and age’). It’s incredible. The story itself is fantastic and so incredibly clever, with the right balance between serious and jovial; whilst the film was a lot funnier than I thought it would be (do not think I’m suggesting it’s a comedy here- it just has the wit, banter and light heartedness of the original Star Trek series), it still has some incredible evocative moments, during which I almost cried. One of the things that make this film just so powerful and fantastic is the writing- it is incredible. God, as if a girl ever needed more persuading to take up a career in writing, but this film...it’s just constant- there’s no lines where you think “unnecessary” or “after school special”. Nothing that makes you somewhat patronisingly coo at the screen, or laugh openly at something you’re not meant to laugh at. It’s just the pinnacle of screenplays. And if they have the same writers for the, officially confirmed 2011 sequel then I am there

The Actors also do a mind-blowingly good job at bringing these characters to life, in a way which semi resurrects the charm of the original series, but puts their own stamp on it- you know that what you’re looking at isn’t from the time of Star Trek’s arrival, but at the same time you don’t mind; these people are equally as capable and interesting as any of the original cast. Chris Pine is utterly brilliant- Kirk was, as typical I think it will emerge with most people, the most charismatic and entertaining personality, and Pine wore Kirk’s original and effortless bravado like a badge, as it should be; Zachary Quinto is simply stunning as Spock, so SO perfect, so eerie but at the same time captivating; Karl Urban inadvertently stole the show in a way for me, with his impeccable take on Dr Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy- even though Simon Pegg’s Scotty is seemingly the comic relief, Bones had me laughing out loud with his witty banter; The Fresh Pegg is on fine form THANK GOD- it would’ve killed me, I think to have had to admit that he had single handled tainted Star Trek for me- but he didn’t. His accent is perfect, his timing is perfect and the delivery is perfect. He is perfect. (sigh) and so very, VERY Scottish. Zoe Saldana is very good as Uhura- her emotive acting was breathtaking, and obviously something the writers picked up on as some of her most emotional scenes bare hardly any dialogue. Eric Bana’s Nero is quite scary, but I sometimes found his voice annoying...Kinda like how Christian Bale’s Batman voice would sound if he had a tongue that was too big for his mouth.

All in all the film was amazing. If you don’t believe me, go see it- I heartily recommend it. And now I’m going to stop gushing like an overtly tipsy luvvie at some god-awful awards ceremony

xXx