Tag: James T Kirk

The genius of bill Shatner

Not a day goes where I don’t think about James T. Kirk. When ever I come to a moral crossroad, I just sit and think about that time when the legendary Starfleet captain lost his memory then went native, and yet that somehow solves nothing. And that’s all thanks to the nuanced performance of William Shatner.

I sincerely wish that people would study his acting more closely because he really stepped up his game for the Star Trek movies. For instance, when we’re introduced to ADMIRAL Kirk in The Motion Picture, he clearly hates his job and is just itching to jump back into the captain’s chair. It should be noted that The Motion Picture is a shitty screenplay that the screenwriter wrote in his basement over the weekend. If it weren’t for Douglas Trumbull’s special effects, the movie would have been a complete disaster. But Shatner understood the character. He knew, as Spock explained to him in Star Trek II, that being a Captain was his “best destiny” and that he had no business being a desk jockey.

Was his performance hammy and caricature-like? Absolutely. He was given nothing to work with and director Robert Wise clearly didn’t understand Star Trek. So Shatner did what he does best: ACT.

We laugh at Shatner’s trademarked delivery and cadence, but we’re sorta missing the point. For one, that’s a very effective way of communicating, which is something you want from a leader. When Shatner is doing that, that’s a performance he’s adding on top of another performance. In short, Shatner understands that there’s James T. Kirk the CAPTAIN and James T. Kirk the MAN. We only saw glimpses of that nuance in The Motion Picture, but this is fully explored in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

In Khan, Kirk not only hates his job, but he’s straight out depressed. He’s a man without a mission; a purpose. That is until a foe from the past steals a deadly device and suddenly he’s thrusted into action. I’ve said many times before that Shatner’s performance here is one the greatest ever. Had this not been science fiction, I’m sure that the Oscars would have given him a nod.

One of the best scenes is towards the end when the Enterprise is limping away from certain doom. Sulu, perhaps rhetorically, asks “we’re not gonna make it, are we?”. Kirk looks to his son, who quietly shakes his head. Kirk says nothing in return. Shatner sits in the captain’s chair, hands and legs crossed, for the first time facing his certain mortality. That scene always gives me goosebumps.

Of course everyone remembers that sequence because of Spock’s sacrifice and Ricardo Montalban’s over the top performance, but Shatner is doing something here too: the facade between Kirk the captain and Kirk the man is slipping. It’s really the first time where we see Kirk powerless and unsure of himself. We sense that and and yet it goes unspoken of. That’s the genius of Shatner and Nicholas Meyer’s direction.

After Spock’s death, Kirk continues this moodiness into Star Trek III. But he completes this arc which culminates in Star Trek IV: Kirk is fully restored to the hero we know and love. So I implore all would-be actors: study this performance.

Something’s off

After shitting the bed one too many times, Alex Kurtzman and company finally did something right with the first season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Then, almost as if we’re in the Twilight Zone, they went out on a high note with the third season of Picard. It seemed like Kurtzman finally had this Star Trek stuff figured out and for the first time in awhile, the future of the franchise looked bright.

And maybe it still is. But considering Prodigy and Discovery got (mercifully) axed, it’s now up to Strange New Worlds to carry the banner (Lower Decks doesn’t exist in my eyes). The first season was solid, not great, but it seemed like writers figured out that you don’t have to do too much to tell a good Star Trek story.

Thankfully they’re still doing that. Unfortunately the writing has regressed in a way that’s difficult to put my finger on. Season 2 is simply poorly written. Not in a stupid Alex Kurtzman way, it’s just plain bad.

Truth be told, I hardly remember the first episode other than I cringed a lot. I love Carol Kane. But her character is straight up annoying. And the fan service is unnecessary. Stealing the Enterprise?! Where have we seen THAT before?!

The second episode was marginally better: a simple courtroom case to determine the fate of first officer Una Chin-Riley. Obviously they were going for a Measure of a Man vibe, but it was a little too on the nose. Star Trek has a history of doing courtroom drama, almost ALL of it good. Additionally, courtroom drama should be the easiest thing for a television writer to produce; everything is front and center and self-contained. The gold standard for Star Trek courtroom drama is, of course, The Measure of a Man, but what was brilliant about it was that it contained five actors and showcased Patrick Stewart’s acting skills. It was amazingly simple. In SNW S2 Ep. 2, there was too much focus on interpersonal drama and the speeches went on far too long. Perhaps if they waited later in the season to have this court case, it might’ve been more impactful. But where it stands, the episode fell flat.

But what really pissed me off was the third episode. Going back in time to present day Toronto (where the show is conveniently filmed)? Lame. And more fan service bullshit by introducing child Khan? Yes, Star Trek II is an incredible movie but it’s time to let it go. But there’s also the issue of Paul Wesley as James T. Kirk.

Wesley seems like a competent actor and a nice guy. But let’s be frank: no one is sold on him being the greatest Captain in Starfleet history. And I don’t think it’s his fault. No one in Kurtzman’s production team has probably told him how to play the role.

As I’ve said a million times before, William Shatner is actually a great actor. He understood that when you play a Starfleet captain, you’re playing two roles: the captain and the man. Patrick Stewart and Avery Brooks understood this too. When you play the captain, it’s okay to be over the top and hammy; being in command of a ship is a performance in itself. The drama occurs when the captain doesn’t know when to drop the facade.

I don’t think Chris Pine does this with his interpretation of Kirk, but he has a unique charisma of his own. Plus he has the luxury of playing an alternate Kirk. Wesley is playing the OG Kirk. While I understand that he doesn’t want to mimic William Shatner, I’m just suggesting that he probably needs to. Don’t be afraid to speak in Shatner’s unusual cadence. It’s actually a VERY effective way of communicating. It’s theatrical, it’s bold, it’s memorable…just like James T. Kirk!