The opening sequence of "Star Trek (2009)" is JJ Abrams at his finest

JJ Abrams gets a lot of hate, and rightfully so in many cases. He's great at creating mystery and intrigue, but not-so-great at answering and solving it. Looking at the clusterfuck that is "The Force Awakens" and "Rise of Skywalker" you can see lots of well-sown seeds that didn't really bear any viable fruit (though, admittedly, much of that blame falls on Disney for not having a cohesive plan).

However, Abrams is an accomplished filmmaker and has some top-notch movies under his belt. "Mission: Impossible 3" and "Cloverfield" are fantastic, and don't rely on solving his "mystery box", instead relying on the characters themselves to make the story interesting. Which is where we see (in my opinion) Abrams' at his best.

The opening sequence of "Star Trek (2009)" opens a glimpse into the main plot, only cracking the "mystery box" very slightly, yet the characters overshadow the mystery masterfully. Focusing on George, Winona, and the birth of Jim Kirk, adds a powerful human element to a story about an attacking alien ship.

Paired with Michael Giacchino (who also ripped our hearts out musically in the same year with "Up"), the opening sequence is by far the most powerful moment in Abrams' repertoire.

Sure, the rest of the movie isn't the greatest, and each subsequent movie declines in quality no thanks to his reliance on nostalgia and knowledge of prior movies, but this opening holds up well enough to get me to rewatch it regularly.

EDIT: Oops, hit post before I finished.

Submitted July 23, 2023 at 07:58AM by RLLRRR https://ift.tt/cho6QTR