I’m really sorry I couldn’t get away to be the one in London interviewing the cast and crew of “Star Trek Into Darkness” for HitFix, but if we had to send someone else, I’m glad we sent Guy Lodge.
I got to spend some time with Guy earlier this year at Sundance, and one of the many reasons I’m proud to be a part of Team HitFix is because we’ve got Guy writing film reviews for us. Guy is a very smart, very English critic, and having his voice in the mix with mine and with Greg’s and with Kris Tapley’s is part of what makes our site what it is. Guy will be handling a lot of our Cannes reviews this year (I won’t be making the trip, unfortunately) and Greg Ellwood will also be there.
Guy sat down with, among others, the one-two punch of the day, Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine. I look at these guys and it seems to me like someone grew them in a lab, specifically to be the stars of “Star Trek.”
Quinto deserves hazard pay for taking on the role of Spock, which ostensibly belonged to Nimoy on a molecular level. It was impossible to imagine one without the other until seeing Quinto do it, and at that point, it seemed perfectly natural that this other person could play the part. What Quinto did was challenge any idea we have about how Nimoy played the part and what choices he made and instead focus on the character as written. Half-human, half-Vulcan, wrestling to figure out his own nature while also working to prove himself a great officer for Starfleet.
And in my “Star Trek Into Darkness” review, I may have confused you when I mentioned that I think the franchise depends on one of the best movie star performances of the new century. I was talking about Chris Pine, who I think is fantastic in both of the “Trek” films. What he does as Kirk absolutely floors me. I think he is hilarious, but I also think he’s a credible badass who earns every bit of swagger. He is angry, he knows that the world owes him, and he’s willing to knock out everyone to prove it. I see him as the raw materials that will eventually solidify in the form of Captain James T. Kirk, the man in charge of the Starship Enterprise during its five-year mission. This guy is still working his way towards that, and I like how Pine’s approached it.
Paramount’s moved the film up a day, so “Star Trek Into Darkness” opens on May 16.