A Great Big Toast To Star Trek Into The Darkness! It was the best entertainment I have seen in a long time. Sure, it is a little cheesy at times - some of the dramatic dialogue in the middle of bloody battle scenes -but, Director JJ Abrams must have, certainly, planted this seed and, intentionally, many others in this super, fast-paced, whirlwind dynamo of a roller coaster ride on reel.
My movie experience, as I went alone, began with two young Trekkies - Taylor and Alli kicking it about fifth in line, waiting. As a dork, I was sixth in line and very happy to get a good seat. They were both from the local high school across town and were a wealth of information on this topic. They fed me tons of information on past episodes that made it so much more fulfilling - thanks, ladies! I found great enjoyment listening to how pumped they were getting in the row behind me.....even a few tears were exuded, if I'm not mistaken....and they should be - this blockbuster will take any Trekkie, there!
The tone is set, right away. You have your punk-ass, bar room brawler, Captain James T. Kirk(Chris Pine) locking horns with authority right out of the gate. You are placed on the planet Nibiru which, to anyone who knows anything about Ancient Alien History, knows that the earliest writings found the archaeological record on earth, tell of the people from the sky that came down and made us - humans. It is Sumerian Text on the Sumerian Tablets. Read about it - the oldest writings in the world -it's real and it's much older than 5000 years. I'm deep on my 15th book on the subject and JJ Abrams could not be any more hip to make sure he started his masterpiece with this bit of history.
This is the new generation of Star Trek - the offspring of the first earth children to climb into the stars in our imaginations. They are pitted against the forces of a very powerful evil and just where it ramps up and blood is pumping, it takes you, higher, into several more rocket stages and vaults you to a knockout ending that renders you not ready quite for bed when you arrive home. Hence, here I sit at my desktop.
I have to say that I would have grabbed my kids had I the opportunity and even asked my daughter how early her day began tomorrow morning because I was going to take her with me. One part of the movie bothered me - not for me but for children ....I'm on the fence on this one....I cannot say I haven't enjoyed some Burlesque in my time but, Captain Kirk wakes up after a big night of partying in the beginning of the film and as he folds himself out of the covers of his bed in his penthouse suite, up pop super-hot Asian twins on each side of him. Hilarious? Yes. Dirty? Yes- and so fitting to his character with big chuckles throughout the theater. Do I want to have this conversation with my children, yet? No.
Regardless, this quality picture stampedes onward in every direction you want and every direction you don't expect and kicks so much space ass across multiple worlds that it ranks up there with Star Wars - I'm sorry - I'm gonna say it.
In this film, the entire crew is the new version - derivatives of a time past and they are hip and the politics and the drama from Scotty to Spock is so engaging....if I was drinking my wine in the theater(which should be mandatory for any parent who works all week), I would have spilled it all over the place. It is a nail-biter and nothing short. It's funny, It's sad, It's harsh, It's hilarious, and it has the pace of an earth-colliding asteroid.
I pair this movie (which i did in a bota-bag that i snuck in) with a dark(Into The Darkness) but juicy(because this ride rocks!) wine from the Sonoma Coast Appellation, specifically, Petaluma, California because it is a sultry, cool-climate area that produces some of the best wines in the world. My choice? Clary ranch 2004 Syrah -Shazzam! Cool climate because that is what our hero is at the end of every outcome in the so many numerous trials and tribulations that the Captain of Cool, James T. Kirk winds up -COOL. The movie is worth a second glass or more. A+!
