I have to say that while I like the Star Trek reboot now playing in theatres everywhere, the one teeny, tiny thing that I'd change about it is the casting of James T. Kirk. No, I don't like Chris Pine's interpretation of the role at all.
No, he's not Shatner. No, none of the actors were hired on the basis of their ability to impersonate the original cast. But Captain Kirk ought to be larger than life, and this one isn't.
One simple thing could have been done to change that: Hire someone who had training in classical theatre, knows how to speak English correctly and beautifully, and does so. I believe that has been the case with all the starship captains from the various series, with the possible exception of Scott Bakula as Captain Archer of Enterprise (and look what happened there).
Each time Mr. Pine opened his mouth and said things like (I improvise): "Yer not serious, Spack!" I cringed. This totally undermined for me the sense that Kirk is anything more than an arrogant, narcissistic boor. Yes, he comes from Iowa and that (presumably) is the way people from Iowa speak. Yes, he's hardly out of his teenage years and is wet behind the ears. However, as the movie's plot has him assuming command of the Enterprise at this tender age, a development that stretches credulity in and of itself, the least that might have been done is have him act older than his years; something that could have been done merely by having him speak proper English.
No comments:
Post a Comment