Star Trek Into Darkness

 First Hit:  Kept the thrill, charm, and excitement of the first prequel – I liked it.

What I really liked about the first 2009 “Star Trek” prequel was the embodiment of the original Star Trek television series characters as younger people.

For this film, the thing I was concerned about was if this film would be able to carry through the joy and feel of the characters. The answer is yes. Although there were things that needed some work and scene trimming, the feel of the film worked and it was fun to watch.

I’m not sure what others think, but Chris Pine (playing Kirk) has a great feel of the original Captain Kirk. A brash intelligence mixed in with independence. He knows he doesn’t know everything but he cares about the crew more than himself.

The film begins with him losing the star ship Enterprise do to this brash behavior. Then he is pressed into being captain again because of an attack at Federation HQ by Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch) and he's the one who figures it out. The story hangs together really well and the main criticisms where that some scenes, like Spoke in a fist fight with Khan on the cargo containers, was overly long and served no real purpose.

The special effects were well done and did not take over the film but enhanced it.

Pine makes a great Kirk and there is room for him to grow the character in the next film. Zachary Quinto as Spock is very good. Zoe Saldana as Uhura is strong and brings an exotic presence to the bridge. Karl Urban as Bones is slightly overplayed but good enough. Simon Pegg is wonderful as Scotty. John Cho as Sulu holds his character with strength. Anton Yelchin does a wonderful job of embodying Chekov. Cumberbatch did a very good job of being the guy who was going to rule the universe. Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman did a good job putting together a fun and interesting script while J.J. Abrams kept the Star Trek theme and feeling alive – kudos.

Overall:  Very entertaining and a good effort for the second prequel.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

First Hit: Whatever one might say about Tom Cruise or this franchise of films, this film was entertaining.

Improbable would be a word that would fit but so would entertaining.

Despite all the odd dialogue and character development, this film is entertaining. OK, enough already about how entertaining it was.

This highly improbable story comes together because the actors make it work. Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is one of the government’s leading IMS agents. He commands the storyline and the sequences as a lead agent needs to.

William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) is the “Analyst” who has a story to tell. Benji Dunn (played by Simon Pegg) is the techno-nerd of the group. The last member of this team is Jane Carter (played by Paula Patton) is the other hands-on physically skilled team member.

The story is simple, someone wants to start a nuclear war between the Russians and Americans. The protagonist Kurt Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist) is a brilliant but slightly insane man who wants to be seen and counted on the world stage. Therefore he obtains the launch codes to Russian missiles and proceeds to make it the launching of a missile a retaliatory event.

This film is filled with great chase scenes and my favorite was the multi-story parking garage. This story also features the tallest building in the world and some of the shots brought up my, once thought gone, fear of heights feelings.

Cruise, despite what one thinks of him, has the ability to charm with good looks and be part of a chase scene and make it work well. Renner gives a strong performance as the Analyst with a story to hide. He's great in this role and provides added intelligence. Pegg is perfect as the odd-ball side kick with blather and brains. Patton is very good as a skilled fighter and her looks, as her character is required to be, fit the part well. Nyqvist is good as the steely man who wants to be seen. I liked Lea Seydoux as Sabine the assassin. Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec did a great job of coming up with a story line that works and is entertaining. Brad Bird did an excellent job of keeping the film, light, active, engaging, and without waste.

Overall: I enjoyed this 4th film in this franchise and would watch a fifth.

Star Trek

First Hit: A wonderfully satisfying film which fires on all cylinders and gives depth to the original television characters.

I’ll start by saying I was never a real trekkie or a Star Trek fan. I did like it enough to watch it from time to time. I did enjoy Star Trek Next Generation a lot more as the special effects and story lines were a bit more advanced. However, how did this story begin?

The previous Star Trek films tried to take off from the original TV series. This film, however, puts context to all of it. In the opening sequences, there was a lot of noise, visual effects, and destruction and I was caught a little off balance, but this was a set up from the past to give context to the time slice in which most of the film takes place.

Kirk (Played by Chris Pine) was born out of this destruction and it shapes his young childhood. The story then shifts to the story of Spock (Played by Zachary Quinto and Leonard Nimoy) and his struggles as a half human and half Vulcan.

This film is about how the original crew, their skills and peculiarities come together to make up the “crew of the starship Enterprise” which could fulfill the mission of boldly going where no man has gone before. The enemy used to bring the past, the film’s present, and the future is Nero (Played by Eric Bana) who is a renegade Romulan who uses red matter to induce black holes to shift space and time for his benefit.

I won’t go any further into the plot but it is enough to say that the way Dr. “Bones” McCoy (Played by Karl Urban), Uhura (Played by Zoe Saldana), Scotty (Played by Simon Pegg), Sulu (Played by John Cho), and Chekov (Played by Anton Yelchin) are introduced and brought together was nothing less than wonderfully fantastic.

Each distinctly gets to demonstrate why they were the best person to be an integral piece to the Starship Enterprise.

The main writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman nailed the dialogue and scenes. Director J. J. Abrams eloquently put them together in a story that brings out each of the characters. Pine, Quinto, Urban, Saldana, Pegg, Cho, and Yelchin are perfect to their roles and as the dialog flowed from their mouths I laughed and cried with them. They made Star Trek come alive. Bana is great as the enemy and, although not as dynamic as a previous film’s Khan, he sets the right tone, mood, and power to let the Star Trek team come alive. Then there is Nemoy, I don’t know how they did it, but he fits within this film really well, and when the ending comes, his voice stating the mission of the Starship Enterprise will make me see the next installment.

Overall: This film was great fun. This film put context to the entire Star Trek TV series. This was one of the most satisfying prequels I’ve ever seen. It was a “sit back, let go and enjoy it” kind of film.

Run Fatboy Run

First Hit: This is a very lighthearted romp with little substance and not much of a story to tell.

Simon Pegg plays Dennis a somewhat hapless security guard for a upscale clothing store.

The film begins as he bolts from his wedding to Libby (played by Thandie Newton) who is very pregnant with their child.

The remainder of the film takes place 5 years later when he realizes he made a mistake by running out on Libby. However, Libby is dating a wealthy super jock who intends to marry her, take care of Dennis’ and Libby’s boy, and run a marathon.

Dennis who has run away from most of his responsibilities and has rarely finished anything in his life but decides that if he can run the marathon, Libby might take him back because he will have proven he’s changed and is committed to making things work.

David Schwimmer directs this film as a lackluster comedy with a very middle of the road evenhandedness. There isn’t much to spark any real seriousness nor is it truly funny. There are some funny and sweet bits including scenes with his landlord, best friend, and his son yet they are few and far between. There isn’t anything to sink your teeth into so, in the end, the film passes by and is basically forgotten within a few days of its viewing.

Overall: This is a mediocre film although there are some entertaining scenes during the actual running of the marathon.