BruceGreenwood Tagged Articles at Cinematical

"I've never been a fan of Star Trek. It's true, I never quite got it." -- J.J. Abrams

Last night Cinematical had the chance to screen roughly 20 minutes of footage from the new Star Trek film alongside select journalists, Paramount executives and Trek director J.J. Abrams. Four scenes in total, each was a fairly critical component of the film -- and while hardcore Trekkers may have a few problems with the final product, there's no denying this rebooted version of Star Trek will kick off the summer of '09 in spectacular fashion.

Below, I'll give you a very brief summary of each scene, then spit out a few initial thoughts on it all before providing a few movie facts (based on what we learned last night). Some of this info will come as a welcomed surprise to those faithful out there, and some ... well ... let's begin, shall we:

Note: We'll be discussing plot points, so there will be spoilers ahead.

Scene Summary

1. Kirk's Introduction -- This was our first introduction to the Chris Pine version of Kirk -- a somewhat disheveled, but great looking punk who hangs around the Starfleet bar looking to pick up chicks. His wooing of one such chick -- who goes by the name of Uhura (Zoe Saldana) -- winds up getting Kirk into trouble with some of the boys. A fight ensues, and a man by the name of Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood) steps in to save the day before urging Kirk to follow in his father's footsteps and join the Starfleet.

If there is one thing I'll never outgrow with family films, it's an appreciation for their villains. Mind you, it is more a guilty pleasure sort of appreciation the older I get, but nonetheless, those creepy, greedy, ruthless villains will forever be enjoyed by yours truly. There is just something fantastically wicked about them that is far more interesting than other movie bad-guys. Perhaps it is their one-dimensionality, which keeps them even less human and therefore less worthy of empathy. Perhaps it is because they kidnap dogs, trap aliens, hunt endangered species and would easily harm a child for a buck, but at the end of the day they consistently reek of cowardice. Regardless of plot, regardless of budget, and regardless of how many kids they have to take on, they have been one of the most dependable standards in the history of film.

In Mee-Shee: The Water Giant, which is being shown as part of the Tribeca Family Film Festival, the villains are two representatives (Charles Mesure and Joel Tobeck) of an evil oil-drilling company. The funny thing is I have to stress that they are from the evil oil-drilling company, because there is actually a good oil-drilling company, which is rare in the typically environment-friendly genre (to be fair, though, the good-guys quit their company in the end anyway). At first they are on a mission to sabotage and steal from their rival, but when it is discovered that the lake they're working in is the home of a giant sea creature, their goal quickly turns to a capture-and-profit scheme.