Star Trek Re-Boot

It's not often that I'll venture out to see a blockbuster movie the same week it opens. Most of the time I'm perfectly content to wait a week or two and see it once the dust has settled and the next big movie has come along. But, I'll make the occasional exception and go to a matinee during a school week, cause then you get the full theatre experience, without the hassle of all those people talking. For example, today's viewing was in a theatre with 6 total people.

I was conflicted about the new Star Trek movie. On the whole, I'm not a fan of these 're-boots' that studios have been doing with movie franchises lately. They can get a little fuzzy with the time line (this, I contend, is what killed Superman Returns - a movie I desperately wanted to like), and if it's a prequel, as this is, then going in you get the feeling that you already know how it's going to end, cause obviously everyone survived to see the future movies.

On the other hand, I was a bit of a Trekkie growing up (just The Next Generation, really.... Still, everyday that I think about it I am less and less surprised at my dating record growing up), so I still wanted to see how they were going to work this. Plus Josh, who is a HUGE Trekkie, gave me one of the better reviews ever: "I didn't blink the whole movie. That's how much action there is." Alright, considered me intrigued. Plus, it was a chance to finally go to the new Foxboro Showcase Cinema so you're getting two reviews at once: the theatre and the movie.

The movie first: holy... fucking... shit. This was such a good movie. Great special effects, great way of making old characters seem new again and great plotline. Without giving anything away, they were able to satisfy the hardcore fans and all their fears about how this would work, while at the same time making a movie that was hip enough to work at a level that even non-Star Trek fans could appreciate. It's a lot more character-driven than you would expect and not nearly as sci-fi geek motivated. I thought the casting was great - no one big star to pull all the attention away from anyone else. The biggest name in the film is actually the bad guy and it took me until the end of the credits to figure out where I knew that voice from. There are a lot of 'that guys' all over this thing. You know, when you're watching something and suddenly you recognize the face, but have no idea of the name. "Oh hey, it's that guy from Lord of the Rings... and the kid from Alpha Dog (under-rated movie, by the way)... and it's that guy from Shaun of the Dead... and oh, look, Harold, from Harold and Kumar." I can not recommend this movie strongly enough if you're a Star Trek fan. And, even if you hated the movie or the show growing up, give this thing a chance when it comes out on video.

As for the theatre: I really enjoyed the experience. Normally I'm hesitant to even go near Foxboro Stadium, cause when you work someplace for two years and only enjoyed about a third of that time, you're not really looking forward to being near it again. Honestly, I can't go into the Showcase Live half without thinking about bar setups. But, the theatre still has that 'new building' gleam to it, so it's nice. The floors aren't sticky, there isn't any graffiti anywhere and the chairs are comfy, even if they don't recline as much as you expect. If the Krafts make sure that the staff keeps up the maintenance on the whole place (not just the luxury level seats) then this could become my go-to theatre, replacing Randolph.

Also, as an added bonus, they had an extended preview for the new G.I. Joe, which, again I'm going to look into a midnight showing for.

-And on a side note: this "Thank You Fans" video that the Celtics put out is just further proof that if you put slow motion anything over a power ballad, even if it's not a very good power ballad and it's slow motion of people that I pray everyday don't sit next to me at Celtics games, I will watch it 14 times in one day.