Star Trek
(Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy, Winona Ryder, Kurt Urban)
Captain James T. Kirk, Spock, Dr. McCoy and the rest of the characters of Star Trek are now a part of our cultural roadmap, even for those (like me) who are not Trekkies. Yet, forty years after Gene Roddenberry created them for prime time TV, director J.J. Abrams (Lost) has found a way to completely reinvent and reintroduce the familiar gang. It makes for an extraordinarily entertaining, inventive summer movie full of energy and adventure.
In 2343 A.D., a horrible accident forms a black hole, and a Romulan ship and our favorite Vulcan (Nimoy) are thrown back 150 years in time to the birth of the Starship Enterprise. Of course, Romulans are not the most reasonable of enemies; with technology that is years ahead of our Federation heroes, they are a terrifying formidable foe. The havoc they bring provides one awe-inspiring moment after another throughout the movie.
Part of what’s so fun about Star Trek is that it shows Iowa boy Kirk (Pine) and the young alien Spock (Quinto) as children, and later as cadets in San Francisco. These early events shape the Kirk and Spock we know so well today. Even though they are irrevocably changed by the violent Romulan ship from the future (helmed by crazy captain Bana), their characters maintain the rock-solid qualities we’ve admired for four decades. Also, we get to see a cast of talented young actors play the legendary friends before they even like each other.
Early in Star Trek, the famous characters question each other about what makes a hero. A hero, they surmise, feels fear and yet stays calm while acting with courage and foresight amidst remarkable circumstances. Of course, both Kirk and Spock have always shown these admirable traits, and this may be the key to their eventual strong bond. In one of the truly great moments in Star Trek, when the swaggering Kirk and frigid Spock should both be overwhelmed we witness them work together for the first time—and without fear. They answer their own question not with words, but with inspired action.
Angels and Demons
(Starring Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgård)
Both Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code (the other movie based on a Dan Brown novel) conveniently introduce new facts only at the very point they will further their far-fetched plots. In both films, the Catholic Church is really a vicious mob organization, planning and executing impossibly elaborate conspiracies that take centuries of careful coordination. Other than this dubious paranoia, there is really no theme here. Though beautifully filmed, the characters are only there to run around and cite trivia about arcane church history.
In Angels and Demons, a modern-day group called the Illuminati decides to exact revenge against the Catholic Church for killing four scientists in 1668; it’s a 440 year old grudge! The Illuminati plan to detonate some stolen antimatter to destroy the Vatican. So the church calls in symbology professor Hanks to save them. (That’s who I’d call!) Hanks launches an academic goose chase to find the murderous gang via clues left by Galileo and Bernini. Along for the ride is sexy antimatter scientist Zurer, Swiss Guard Skarsgård and Vatican priest McGregor.
So much of this is just silly. Apparently, we are to believe the film’s terrorists set forth on their task with an encyclopedic knowledge of Renaissance history. Also, we must accept that every random “a-ha” moment Hanks stumbles across—each left by an Italian genius centuries ago—is actually a useable clue. Thankfully, though, these plot holes aren’t nearly as moronic as the ones in The Da Vinci Code. Nor does Angels and Demons skip willy-nilly around the globe with stupid abandon like the other flick.
Furthermore, director Ron Howard keeps things pretty and brisk. Hanks and McGregor perform admirably, even though they have little real acting to do except say their lines with gravitas.
Demons accurately describes how the church picks a pope, but if you’re looking for fact you might want to stop right there. Everything else stretches credulity, even for the secretive and power-hungry church.
Really, both Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code are chock full of hokum and hooey, but at least the former is a smidge more tidy and maybe more fun.
