dmkalman

Wil Wheaton is perfect as The Ready Room host because his enthusiasm and his knowledge are real. Whether you loved or hated the Wesley Crusher character, Wil was a significant part of Next Gen, and through all of his personal ups and downs, he remained connected to his cast mates and to the franchise. While he didn't land a significant role in this latest Star Trek iteration, he managed to land as much total screen time as several of his former colleagues while making an important contribution to the community.

All that said, I'm hoping for the very long-awaited continuation of Star Trek: Assignment Earth, featuring Supervisor Wesley Crusher and Kore Soong. Make it so.

...who lost her sight as an infant, and soon began to demonstrate uncanny musical abilities. In this film, we learn about Rachel's gifts and the joy she derives from music. More importantly, we get to know Rachel and her family, and their everyday challenges. Professional film critics may nitpick the film's home movie style and tone. In my opinion, the director remained admirably restrained. Instead of pumping up the volume or attempting to steer the narrative, he allows Rachel's story to unfold simply and without pretense. He got it just right.

When you get right down to it, Star Trek is about characters. Not CGI. This production offers downright primitive FX, but the characterizations are riveting. Walter Koenig gives a devastating performance -- his best ever -- that actually made me irate when I considered how his immense talent was squandered for so long in corporate Trek. Likewise with Garrett Wang. In Voyager, his Harry Kim was, like many corporate Star Trek characters, bland and generally uninteresting. (That's why alternate time line/universe Trek stories are always superior.) Nichelle Nichols' performance here outshines anything she's done in any of the TOS feature films. Alan Ruck as Harriman oscillates between menacing and hysterical. And JG Hertzler as Koval sets a new standard for menacing Klingons. Chase Masterson (call me!) as the Orion slave girl continues to be the hottest flame in the Star Trek universe. It was great to see Lawrence Montaigne reprise the role of the Vulcan Stonn, and Gary Graham rounds out a truly professional acting ensemble. I'd rather watch cheap productions like this one -- with twisty plots and interesting, passionate characters -- over the slick, simplistic, corporate dreck. Let's see if the upcoming Star Trek prequel -- with its $150 MILLION budget -- can deliver this kind of intense, emotionally engaging adventure. I doubt it.

**UPDATE** OK. I enjoyed Star Trek (2009). It was slick, fast, and fun...and it had two great Spock performances. But I also found the story strained (lacking a coherent plot-line) and derivative (in a bad way). It echoed (strangely) the abysmal Star Trek: Nemesis with its monstrous death-ship and Romulan bad-a$$ baldy. (Maybe in the next film the young Kirk and Spock will go back in time and save some whales.) So, I'd give the big budget flick a 7.9 on its flash and on the strength of Zachary Quinto's performance, but the movie as a whole doesn't hold up well under multiple viewings. I still enjoyed Of Gods and Men more.