Welcome to another thrilling installment of Weekend Movie Alert, where we tell you about new movies opening up this weekend. Pretty self-explanatory, really. Normally, we like to feature two films for your perusal, but this time we’re doing just one, ’cause it’s huge. Whether you love the franchise or hate it, chances are this one will interest you enough to go see it.
J.J. Abrams is probably best known for his television work, with “Alias” and “Lost” under his belt, leading into his movie work, which includes the debatable “Mission Impossible 3″, and the mindlessly fun “Cloverfield”. This time around, he’s facing his greatest challenge with his reboot of the “Star Trek” franchise.
This movie has a lot riding on it, and a lot going against it. Its success will depend on two factors: reception by Trek fans, and reception by the rest of the world. There are probably an equal amount of both, and it’s hard to know who will like this movie more.
Hardcore fans might hate it because it’s so radically different from what has gone before. Then again, they might love it because there’s just enough familiarity for them to pretend it’s another alternate universe episode, and everybody digs those.
The rest of the world might hate it because — and this has happened before — it’s confusing science fiction. Personally, I’d hardly call this movie sophisticated, but I do know there’s some time travel in it, and those who don’t go for that sort of thing have a history of walking away disgruntled. On the other hand, the movie is brimming with friendly, familiar faces: Zachary Quinto (Sylar from “Heroes“), Simon Pegg (”Shaun of the Dead“), Eric Bana (”The Incredible Hulk”), John Cho (”Harold and Kumar” series), Karl Urban (”Lord of the Rings”) — it’s even got Leonard Nimoy. Audiences love looking at pretty people, and this might succeed on that front alone.
More than any of that, it’s one of the early Summer blockbusters, and it’s got lots of shiny special effects, monsters, spaceships, space battles, the whole shebang. Until the next Transformers film comes out, this is everyone’s next best chance for some out of control screen action, and it’s likely that many will take it. If you still haven’t seen the trailer somehow, check it out below.
Comments
Daniel
May 11th, 2009 - 9:47:13 AM
very excited about this movie. haven't seen it yet (broke! lol), but soooon, very sooon!