When that happens, disappointment is almost sure to follow. Hollywood promises are almost always empty promises.

So it is with the kind of frustration born of over a month of lying to ourselves about ‘this time being different’ that we take a look at the feature film “Hanna” on Take a Movie to Work at Declaration Entertainment.

Of course, it’s not all bad. This isn’t a Roland Emmerich movie after all. The first twenty minutes of Hanna are fabulous. The film opens in the bleak, barren wilderness of arctic Finland where a wild-looking young girl – Hanna – stalks a caribou through the frozen woods. The remoteness of the setting is accentuated perfectly by the utter lack of score or dialogue. When Hanna looses her hand-made arrow, the only sounds are hoof beats and panting.

As Hanna cleans her game, a man appears behind her. “You’re dead,” he says, “I’ve killed you.” A moment later, Hanna charges the man in a no-holds-barred fight that might leave either of them dead.

The man is Hanna’s father, Erik Heller – played by the always capable Eric Bana – a former operative for the CIA who has brought his charge to this rural wilderness to raise her, off the grid, and train her to be a self-sufficient, multi-lingual, brutal assassin. While the relationship is built on struggle, the love the two share for each other is palpable.

Saoirse Ronan as Hanna is brilliant, subtle and powerful, but able to perfectly communicate the child within the killer. In the end, all Hanna wants it to finally be a part of the world she has only heard about in stories.

The trouble is that for reasons that are mysterious in the beginning, the only way Hanna can ever taste of that world is to first confront the past that has driven her and her father to the edge of the world to begin with.

Man, just revisiting this set-up makes you want to see the movie again. So much promise. Terrific actors, mysterious pasts, the promise of a nearly insurmountable struggle. This movie couldn’t be off to a better start.

Tragically, that is about as far as it ever gets.

SPOILER ALERT!

After an incredibly compelling action sequence in which Hanna reveals her power to her CIA captors, killing many men double her size and shooting out the cameras that surround her in the concrete holding cell, HANNA the film utterly changes. Actually, ‘falls apart’ might be a more accurate statement.

Gone are the stark, slow, quiet scenes that so enthralled in the set-up. In their place, a music video of grating techno music, distractingly fast-paced editing, and 1970s reminiscent camera work that takes the viewer completely out of the world of the film and leaves them thinking far more about their hatred for hipster director Joe Wright than whether or not the heroine will escape. (In the interest of fairness, it should be noted that perhaps the most impressive steadicam shot in the history of cinema does occur about halfway through the film when Eric Bana does an entire, multi-location action sequence in a single, uninterrupted take, but it stands alone amid the utterly distracting camera work that mares the rest of the film).

Oh, and there are lots and lots of inexplicably flashing lights. Hanna has never seen working electricity before. Apparently the CIA hasn’t either.

From this point on, there are more plot-holes than running sequences – and there are A LOT of running sequences as Hanna makes her away from Africa – where the CIA naturally has giant, underground, saucer-shaped-concrete fortresses – to Berlin to rejoin her father.

Along the way, she encounters an unlikely cast of characters (unlikely because there is no one like them on Earth), from the wonderfully acted but miserably condescending British hippie family – a family so liberal that they think it is a charming alternative parenting style to allow a beautiful, blonde, under-aged girl to wonder around Muslim Northern Africa alone – to the hermaphroditic pornographer assassin, to the vaudevillian carney safe-house operator who has the iron will to withstand torture but not, apparently, to get a job.

The good guys are all liberals, of course, or people that liberals reduce to characters.

The bad guys are Americans, from the American operatives and soldiers she spends the first half of the movie killing to Cate Blanchett, the cold, barren agent with the deep southern drawl who murdered Hanna’s mother years before.

What little storytelling occurs in the second two-thirds of the film is tired and stale. Super-soldier, evil American government, blah-blah-blah.

No explanation is ever given to why the well-trained, genetically enhanced Hanna can so ably defeat scores of trained American soldiers in the first act, but then spends the rest of the film running like a helpless child from three German thugs. She even lets the thugs presumably murder the only friends she has ever had she is so terrified of facing them, which seems even more ludicrous a few scenes later when her none-genetically-enhanced father kills two of them with his bare hands…

In the end, this film is just a two-hour, mildly anti-American music video – and the music sucks. If you want a really good time, just watch the trailer again…

For more on this film, and for top-notch political video commentary, see Bill Whittle’s review on TAKE A MOVIE TO WORK at Declaration Entertainment.

But Marissa (Cate Blanchett), a high level government operative with a vendetta against Erik, will stop at nothing to kill Hanna. With Marissa and her assassins on her tail, Hanna’s quest for freedom becomes a fight for survival. In the real world of hunter and hunted, Hanna’s skills are put to the test, and this time, death awaits the slightest mistake. 

—–

Joe Wright has enjoyed a successful and acclaimed directorial career, from his feature length debut with the latest “Pride and Prejudice” to the acclaimed “Atonement.” In “Hanna,” Wright’s abilities shine bright. From a sterile CIA compound in the Moroccan desert to a dilapidated fairytale-themed amusement park in Germany, Wright’s locational choices fit his action perfectly. And the Chemical Brothers’ soundtrack complements beautifully. In one scene, Hanna wanders through a trashy subway. The strings accompanying the scene blends with the crazy babbling of the homeless Hanna passes, mixing and rising like an orchestra tuning before a performance. Hanna’s fear and loneliness are perhaps at their peak here, and both are beautifully mirrored in the scene’s every aspect. 

Occasionally Wright’s cinematographic choices overreach – one fight for instance occurs in ridiculous, unnecessary slow motion – but by and large his camerawork captures the beauty of the life and landscapes that Hanna is seeing for the first time. 

Fairytales feature prominently in the film. Key scenes occur in a fairytale theme park. Hanna’s only keepsakes from a mother she never knew are a strip of photo booth pictures and a warn copy of “Grimm’s Fairy-tales.” Early in the film she opens the book to the story of Little Red Riding Hood, and its hardly a stretch of the imagination to see Melissa as a wolf, hungry for Hanna and her “hunter” father. I see “Hanna” as Wright’s fairytale – his coming-of-age story for the generations. 

Writers David Farr and Seth Lochhead, in their first feature-length script, have avoided the pitfalls of many modern writers. The dialogue between CIA professionals is clipped and punchy; between Hanna and her adoptive road family, natural and fun. For being a thriller with a pretty basic plot, “Hanna” has some good depth, comedy and imagery to supplement the story. 

The acting is quite good. Ronan is a great cold-killing assassin. In a military base she kills her captors with veteran coldness, ignoring the blood spatter on her face. In an overwhelming, beautifully-shot scene where she first experiences modern technology, the assassin disappears, replaced by a frightened little girl. And she hits every emotion in between – from love to sorrow – with great feeling. She’s well supported by Bana, whose brutal instincts and tough love parenting are delicately balanced with the worry and love of a real father. Blanchett is a coy villain whose words and looks drip with seductive venom. The film is bolstered by a cast of exceptional supporting actors in original characters – from the neat to a fault villain sidekick (Tom Hollander) to the freewheeling family that Hanna falls in with as she journeys from Morocco to Germany, namely the shockingly truthful daughter Sophie (Jessica Barden). 

“Hanna” also briefly raises the question of whether life is sacred. As the film progresses (SPOILER ALERT), we learn that Erik was a recruiter for the CIA, finding women at abortion clinics and convincing them to give their baby (in the embryonic stage) over to research. Under Melissa’s watch, these babies were genetically enhanced to make them perfect warriors. But when the program was terminated, Melissa eradicated the experimental babies. It was a step too far for Erik, who – together with Hanna’s mother, who had come to love her child – rescued the newborn Hanna. Hanna’s mother died saving her. It is a straightforward handling of the issue. Erik even expresses remorse for his horrific actions, and his love for Hanna shows he means it. Of course, other viewers are welcome to draw their own conclusions, or ignore it all together. 

Like any good action film, the rest of the movie is a serious plug for a culture of death as Hanna and Erik blow away their opposition. But the cinematic beauty of this film put “Hanna” a step ahead of the competition. It’s a killer film that hits its mark.

Adam Sandler is George Simmons, a comedian/movie star as wealthy and popular as Sandler, but having turned his back on his family and cheated on his one true love, Laura (Leslie Mann), he’s now left with only “show-biz friends,” which means he has no friends at all. In-between making films like “Merman” (“Splash” with a guy mermaid) and private-jetting to corporate standup gigs that pay $300k, this desolate 40 year-old haunts a Malibu mansion and looks to fill his emptiness with willing groupies and everything money can buy.

After being diagnosed with a rare form of Leukemia, George is given an 8% chance of survival and put on experimental medicines that only seem to quicken his deterioration. He has no one, so he tells no one, but for some element of human contact he returns to his roots in the L.A. comedy clubs. This is where George meets Ira (Seth Rogen), a struggling comedian much better at writing jokes than delivering them. Needing a joke writer, an assistant, and even a friend, George hires Ira to be all three and a fascinating, complicated and unpredictable relationship is born.

The film’s first half takes us into the ultra-competitive world of show business and standup comedy, using Ira and his two roommates as a microcosm. The three of them are close but always simmering just below the surface is a fierce rivalry. Mark (Jason Schwartzman) is a sitcom star who leaves his $25,000 paychecks lying around, Leo (Jonah Hill) is just starting to make money as a performer, but Ira’s relegated to grabbing open mic nights and working full time behind the deli counter of a grocery store. Apatow obviously understands this world very well because the relationships feel 100% authentic, especially the tensions that never leave these three, even in the best of times.  

The narrative takes an abrupt turn in the second half, way outside the world of Hollywood and into suburban family life, when George re-enters Laura’s life. Though it’s been twelve years and Laura’s now married with two daughters, imminent death stirs up old feelings between them and George decides he wants her back. Because her Australian husband (Eric Bana) is unfaithful, George proceeds under the assumption all’s fair. But things aren’t as black and white as he thought, and this includes his own feelings.

Apatow’s genius is how effortlessly he pulls two completely different worlds into one cohesive film without breaking the spell. You have to credit the director’s skills as a screenwriter, but the whole show is the single and separate emotional journeys of George and Ira, and both actors playing those roles deliver revelatory, career-high performances.

Sandler’s always shown promise as a dramatic actor; the problem has been the films themselves. Even more than the under-appreciated “Punch Drunk Love,”  ”Funny People” gives Sandler a showcase any serious actor would kill for and boy does he deliver. George is alternately pathetic, cruel, charming and despairing, and Sandler hits each note perfectly. Never once do you catch him acting. Never once does he stoop to pathos. Rogen, an actor I’ve never warmed to until now, is just as good. Finally he shakes off the cold hostility that’s undermined everything he’s done thus far and delivers an accessible, average guy (though driven) worth rooting for. Leslie Mann (Apatow’s wife) is, as always, fetching and compelling.

At 146 minutes, the pacing is certainly deliberate and measured, but the butt never numbed and I was sorry when it ended. The language is crude. Everyone’s obsessed with sex, especially the male member, but unlike Apatow’s other films these moments don’t feel look-at-this-iconic-moment forced. The world’s so perfectly realized that, coming from these characters, the “dick” stuff is more charming than off-putting and feels as natural as breathing.

Without giving anything away, what’s most impressive about this terrific film is how difficult and troubled George’s journey is. When he remembers he’s dying, he really is a changed man. When he forgets, the closed, self-involved “star” quickly returns. This is why the film, length and all, works so damn well. From moment to moment, you never know (especially in the second half) which George you’re dealing with. It’s a perfect thread of emotional tension that tightens until the very last scene, which, for my money, is one of subtlest, sweetest and best of the year.

I was wrong about Apatow, I was wrong about Rogen, and when it comes to movies I love being this kind of wrong.

–

Hollywood movies often focus on the commanders, the captains and colonels, but they have also managed to highlight some great sergeants as well.  When you are picking out DVDs for next weekend, remember that May 16th is Armed Forces Day and consider a few selections that show the sergeant in all his gruff and grumbling glory. 

If you have never experienced the joy of going through basic training and do not plan to, your first stop should be Full Metal Jacket, with R. Lee Ermey’s legendary portrayal of a Marine drill instructor who must have missed out on the block of instruction on sensitivity.  I saw this in the theater about a week before I reported to Basic.  That was a poor idea.

The Marines I know seem to prefer Jack Webb in the more realistic The DI, but I am partial to Warren Oates as the “Big Toe” of a platoon of Army foul-ups in Stripes.  This is one great performance – as Sergeant First Class Hulka, Oates is both hilarious and moving.  You can see how this veteran NCO (his character wears the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, meaning he had seen action) truly cares about teaching his men to survive, and you kind of sympathize with him when Bill Murray’s smart-assery pushes him into slugging our hero in the gut.  Hulka’s contemptuous rejoinder to “Psycho” – “Lighten up, Francis” – is classic, as is his inventory of baffled expressions while watching the antics of his recruits.  I remember getting some of those looks myself from Drill Sergeant Whittlesey. 

And do not forget Louis Gossett, Jr. as another Devil Dog making Naval officer candidates earn the right to receive his salute in An Officer and a Gentleman. My only objection to this movie is that it made Squid School look a lot more fun than Fort Benning’s Army Officer Candidate School, but then I didn’t look like Richard Gere.

The tough sergeant turning a band of screw-ups into a well-oiled fighting machine is classic Hollywood.  The archetype is Marine Sergeant Stryker in The Sands of Iwo Jima, in which John Wayne supposedly utters the quintessential NCO aphorism “Life is tough.  It’s tougher if you’re stupid.”  But even if the Duke actually never says those words in the film, he should have, and generations of NCOs have shared that particular insight with their soldiers. 

Right up there is Clint Eastwood as another jarhead in Heartbreak Ridge.  It’s a good action flick, but what was particularly interesting is how he developed his nerdy lieutenant into a tough, confident leader who ends up saving the platoon.  But not all sergeants get to work with top notch officers.  In the miniseries Band of Brothers, Donnie Wahlberg does a great job as Easy Company’s First Sergeant Carwood Lipton, who was faced with protecting his men from a cowardly commander.  He does, but suffers a terrible fate – he receives a battlefield commission and becomes a mere lieutenant.  As Colonial Marine Gunnery Sergeant Apone in the fantastic Aliens, Al Matthews not only contends with an incompetent platoon leader, but flesh eating space bugs and Bill Paxton’s loudmouth Private Hudson.  “Game over, man!  Game over!”

The definition of an NCO is someone who makes things happen – whether or not strictly within the bounds of the regulations.  Don Rickles embraces this as the entrepreneurial and sharp-tongued supply sergeant Crap Game in Kelly’s Heroes.  Steve Martin played another NCO who didn’t let little things like rules get in the way in Sgt. Bilko.  James Caan, as real-life WWII Staff Sergeant Eddie Dohun, rescues his critically wounded officer from the battlefield and takes him to an aid station in A Bridge Too Far.  When the doctor refuses to look at what seems to be a hopeless case, SSG Dohun did what any good sergeant would do and improvised – by sticking his cocked .45 in the surgeon’s face.  The wounded officer lived.

Behind every good officer are literally dozens of great NCOs.  Even Lee Marvin could not have handled The Dirty Dozen without Richard Jaeckel’s Sergeant Bowren.  In Crimson Tide, the feuding officers vie for the support of the Master Chief Petty Officer, the “Chief of the Boat.”  Tom Hanks may have been the commander, but the heart of his company was Sergeant Horvath (Tom Sizemore) in Saving Private Ryan.

That is not just a Hollywood cliché – that is real life.  In fact, some of the best portrayals of NCOs in the movies have simply been the telling of the true stories of what they really did.  Black Hawk Down accurately shows modern urban combat as a confusing and deadly amalgamation of separate firefights involving small units led by young sergeants.  Josh Hartnett does a good job as a Ranger squad leader trying to keep his men alive, while Eric Bana and William Fichtner are Delta sergeants who take the fight right to the enemy. 

But the portrayals that best show the reality of the American NCO are that of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Johnny Strong as Delta Force Master Sergeants Gary Gordon and Randall Shugart.  As the movie shows, when one of the Blackhawk choppers went down, they repeatedly requested permission to fast rope in to protect the injured crew knowing it would mean near certain death.  Finally getting permission, they set up a perimeter and fought until overrun, littering the streets with the bodies of Somali militiamen and saving one member of the crew.  They earned the Medal of Honor, but I suspect that if we could ask them both would say that they were simply doing what NCOs do and nothing more.

Sam Elliot played another real-life hero, Command Sergeant Major Basil Plumley, in We Were Soldiers. As the movie shows, most enlisted troopers in the Second Battalion, Seventh Cavalry, and the wise officers as well, treated CSM Plumley with an awe verging on terror.  But when the battalion was surrounded by a division of North Vietnamese at Ia Drang, CSM Plumley stayed cool, keeping morale strong in the face of what should have been a massacre.  In the film, and in reality, these cavalrymen fought a massively superior force to a standstill.

Though I am a former cavalry commander, my favorite NCO portrayal is of an infantry sergeant in the British Army.  Zulu depicts the true story of the legendary near-last stand of a company of Welsh soldiers at Rourke’s Drift in South Africa.  The tiny band held their ground against a brave and deadly enemy force forty times their size.  As Colour-Sergeant Bourne, Nigel Greene is the ultimate NCO.  From keeping up standards in battle – “Button your tunic!” – to advocating for his exhausted men to facing down an iklwa-wielding Zulu warrior with his bayonet, Colour-Sergeant Bourne was the backbone of the company. 

Sergeants truly are the backbone of the Army and of the other services.  Right now, a young buck sergeant is leading his Marine fire team through the mountains of Afghanistan, a platoon sergeant is prepping a cavalry patrol through the streets of Kosovo, and a command sergeant major in Iraq is double checking his troops before another convoy mission.  These men and women are the heart of our military.  Take a moment to think about them as you pop in a movie and sit back and relax next weekend, safe and secure.  And raise a beer to them.  I will.

A shiny new Enterprise is luring in a new generation of STAR TREK fans

J.J. Abrams is officially the Lazarus of movie directors as his all-new Star Trek has gone “Boldly Gone Where No Star Trek Movie has Gone Before.” With a cast of relative unknowns, the 42-year-old has resurrected a franchise that had been killed by insular “nerdyness” and timid imagination. The Gene Rodenberry creation didn’t so much bomb as it died slowly over a period of years. First, the 2002 movie Star Trek: Nemesis starring the Next Generation cast disappointed with a meager $43.3M domestic. Then, the final TV series Enterprise, which starred Scott Bakula, was not embraced by core fans or broader audiences and was canceled after four seasons, ending May 13, 2005.

Director J.J. Abrams will definitely "Live long and prosper"

Now riding a staggering 96% Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes – that’s 96% of America’s movie critics issuing positive reviews – The Enterprise is riding high again thanks to the creator of TV hits Alias and Lost. Try getting 96% of any group to agree on anything. It’s no small feat. Compare Star Trek’s RT score against the ratings for the last 5 Best Picture winners.

STAR TREK has better reviews than Oscars darling SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORES FOR THE LAST 5 OSCAR WINNERS
2004 – Million Dollar Baby – 91% Fresh
2005 – Crash – 75% Fresh
2006 – The Departed – 92% Fresh
2007 – No Country For Old Men – 94% Fresh
2008 – Slumdog Millionaire – 94% Fresh

The original STAR TREK cast (above) with the next generation of franchise stars

With the ringing endorsement of tough-to-please critics, Star Trek hit warp speed at the box office last night with lightly-promoted preview screenings starting at 7pm. The impeccably-reviewed feature film seized an estimated $7M or so in Thursday night ticket sales. The idea may have been to get some of the hardcore Trekkies and Trekkers out of the way, clearing multiplexes for mainstream movie audiences today, and they have showed up in massive numbers.

William Shatner (left) with Captain Kirk 2.0 Chris Pine

With Chris Pine (Bottle Shock) in the legendary role of Captain Kirk and Zachary Quinto (NBC’s Heroes) wearing the pointy ears made famous by Leonard Nimoy, Star Trek has soared to a history-making $26M on its official opening day according to multiple studio execs, double the previous-best opening day for any movie in the franchise. That means in the first 29 hours of general release, the re-imagined sci-fi blockbuster has delivered an estimated $33M.

STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT had the previous-best opening day in franchise history

ALL-TIME TOP 5 OPENING DAYS FOR STAR TREK MOVIES
1. Star Trek (2009) – $26M [$33M in its first 29 hours]
2. Star Trek: First Contact (1996) – $13M
3. Star Trek: Generations (1994) – $9.7M
4. Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) – $9.5M
5. Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) – $7.7M

How will the weekend play out? The Thursday night preview screenings will probably make Star Trek a bit less front-loaded. In fact, I’m guessing that, based on word-of-mouth and its family-friendly PG-13 rating, my sources believe that the movie could get a 5% boost on Saturday to a possible $27.3M, followed by an aggressive Mother’s Day drop of 40% on Sunday. That would mean a 4-day gross of almost $77M or so.

The great news for Paramount and Abrams and Pine and Quinto and the rest of the cast is that Star Trek will almost certainly have the best legs of any of this summer’s major tent-pole movies. Rank-and-file moviegoers are likely to discover Star Trek for the first time in coming weeks or, now that Trek is cool again, it may rekindle interest with core fans who rejected the most recent incarnations.

STAR TREK could have "legs" like BATMAN BEGINS

It will not be a surprise to see Star Trek sail past $200M. After all, 2005’s Batman Begins performed that way. The Christopher Nolan Batman reboot opened on a Wednesday with $15M and had banked $72.9M in 5 days. Based on that movie’s Friday-thru-Sunday of $48.7M, the first Batman movie in 8 years reached its $205M domestic total at a 4.2 multiple (4.2 X $48.7 got Nolan’s original to $205M). Anticipating a 4.2 multiple for Star Trek is probably overreaching, but a 3.4-3.5 multiple is possible. That would propel Abrams and company to well past $200M.

Competing studio execs  tell me that X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Fox) took a big tumble as expected. The Hugh Jackman X-Men spin-off only mustered $9.15M or so on its second Friday, but it will still likely top $27.95M for the weekend, down about 67%. Meanwhile, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (Warner Bros) coaxed about $3M to start the frame, and it will likely be helped by Mother’s Day, grabbing a possible $10M, down a mere 35% from last weekend.

Beyonce continues to sell tickets in OBSESSED

Obsessed, the low budget sizzler from Sony Screen Gems, continues to outperform its low expectations with $2M on Friday, which pushes the Beyonce catfight flick past $50M. The thriller should finish the 3-day with about $6.25M and a spectacular $55.89M by Monday.

The urban-geared comedy Next Day Air (Summit) got off to a disappointing start with just $1.25M (likely #5 for the day), and it will drift down the top ten to #6 for the weekend with a meager $4.1M or so from its thousand or so playdates.

The Zac Efron comedy 17 Again (Warner Bros) will likely spend another weekend in the top five with about $1.15M on Friday and about $4.5M for 3 days. That will give the Efron vehicle a new domestic cume of about $54.26M.

EXCLUSIVE STEVE MASON EARLY FRIDAY ESTIMATES
1. NEW – Star Trek (Paramount) – $26M, $6,755 PTA, $33M
2. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Fox) – $9.15M, $2,231 PTA, $111.77M cume
3. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (Warner Bros) – $3.05M, $961 PTA, $22.84M
4. Obsessed (Sony) – $2M, $769 PTA, $51.64M cume
5. NEW – Next Day Air (Summit) – $1.25M, $1,098 PTA, $1.25M  cume
6. 17 Again (Warner Bros) – $1.15M, $396 PTA, $50.91M cume
7. The Soloist (Dreamworks/Paramount) – $1M, $478 PTA, $20.89M cume
8. Monsters vs. Aliens (Dreamworks/Paramount) – $847,000, $388 PTA, $184.36M cume
9. Earth (Disney) – $697,000, $389 PTA, $24.29M cume
10. Hannah Montana: The Movie (Disney) – $690,000, $300 PTA, $72.35M cume

EXCLUSIVE STEVE MASON EARLY 3-DAY ESTIMATES
1. NEW – Star Trek (Paramount) – $69.68M, $18,103 PTA, $76.68M
2. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Fox) – $27.95M, $6,814 PTA, $130.57M cume
3. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (Warner Bros) – $10.06M, $3,170 PTA, $29.86M
4. Obsessed (Sony) – $6.25M, $2,402 PTA, $55.89M cume
5. 17 Again (Warner Bros) – $4.5M, $1,550 PTA, $54.26M cume
6. NEW – Next Day Air (Summit) – $4.1M, $3,603 PTA, $4.1M  cume
7. The Soloist (Dreamworks/Paramount) – $3.6M, $1,722 PTA, $23.49M cume
8. Monsters vs. Aliens (Dreamworks/Paramount) – $3.55M, $1,625 PTA, $187.06M cume
9. Hannah Montana: The Movie (Disney) – $2.62M, $1,140 PTA, $74.29M cume
10. Earth (Disney) – $2.44M, $1,361 PTA, $26.03M cume

Steve Mason is on Facebook and now also on Twitter@LAMase.

William Shatner (left) with Captain Kirk 2.0 Chris Pine

Keep in mind that Paramount never changed its Star Trek marketing to promote the 7pm Thursday start, so the opening night audience was likely heavy on Trekkers or Trekkies (not sure which term is “politically correct” anymore). So this was a “soft” opening and what amounts to a night of word-of-mouth screenings. Keep in mind that Transformers premiered during the summer when kids are more available while Star Trek has made its premiere during the school year.

The reviews are through-the-roof at 96% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and, as a topic, Star Trek is trending at #1 on Twitter. The reviews in the Twitterverse are just as positive.

just got back from seeing Star Trek. I am not typically a fan of sci-fi, but I really liked this movie.

Star Trek was surprisingly good, and even Star Trek newbies like myself could enjoy it.

I saw the new Star Trek last night with my son, who just turned 7. It was great; we both loved it. Next gen of Trekies/SciFi buffs is born.

I’m still pumped up from having seen Star Trek. Looking forward to seeing it tomorrow and Sunday [diff. grps].

still thinkin’ of how f*****’ awesome Star Trek was. now wanting a phaser to set from “stun” to “kill”

Go see star trek immediately. Incredible!

The new Star Trek movie was great when I went in with low expectations. It is what Nemesis was trying to accomplish and succeeded much …

for those of you who were curious. Star Trek rocked my FACE OFF. It was Shamazing! <3 Spok…*droooool*

Star Trek is fresh, funny, exciting and – biggest surprise of all – emotionally engaging.

Now the question is, “How high will The Enterprise fly on its opening day?” Seems like $20M is a lock, but it could be bigger. If the movie does $20M today, the 4-day should be $63M-$65M. $22M or better should send this spectacularly-reviewed blockbuster past $70M. If the day is $25M or better, the number for the opening 4 days could start with an 8.

I’ll be online with my Exclusive Early Friday & 3-Day Estimates as early as humanly possible tonight (Friday).

Steve Mason is on Facebook and now also on Twitter@LAMase.

As of Wednesday night, Star Trek is cruising with 94% Fresh (positive) reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, and critics are slinging some seriously glowing hyperbole.

“Paced at warp speed with spectacular action sequences rendered brilliantly and with a cast so expert that all the familiar characters are instantly identifiable, the film gives Paramount Pictures a new lease of life on its franchise.”
– Ray Bennett, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

“It’s an exciting, stellar-yet-earthy blast that successfully blends the hip and the classic.”
– Joe Neumaier, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

“Trading on affections sustained over 40 years of popular culture, STAR TREK does what a franchise reboot rarely does. It reminds us why we loved these characters in the first place.”
– Ty Burr, BOSTON GLOBE

“Blasting onto the screen at warp speed and remaining there for two hours, the new and improved STAR TREK will transport fans to sci-fi nirvana.”
– Todd McCarthy, VARIETY

LOST and ALIAS creator J.J. Abrams has successfully rebooted STAR TREK

Let’s be honest. Prior to what, by all accounts, is Abrams’ full-on Lazarus-style resurrection of Kirk, Spock and The Enterprise, Star Trek was dead. Worse than dead, it has been considered “uncool.” That’s what Paramount is fighting in the marketplace, and realistically, even in its peak as a movie franchise, it wasn’t a powerhouse.

The biggest opening weekend for a Star Trek movie was 1996’s Star Trek: First Contact with $30.7M and the top grossing title ever was Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (with that ridiculous humpback whale storyline), which surpassed $109M. Consider this. Here are the top five opening days for movies in the Star Trek franchise.

ALL-TIME TOP 5 OPENING DAYS FOR STAR TREK MOVIES
1. Star Trek: First Contact (1996) – $13M
2. Star Trek: Generations (1994) – $9.7M
3. Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) – $9.5M
4. Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) – $7.7M
5. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) – $7M

Erik Estrada as Ponch & Larry Wilcox as Jon Baker with Chris Pine's dad Robert, who played Sgt. Joe Getraer

When journeyman actor Robert Pine, best known for playing Sgt. Joe Getraer on the late 70’s TV hit ChiPs, appeared as an Akritirian Ambassador named Liria on the series Star Trek Voyager (the TV series with Kate Mulgrew as Captain), he could have never imagined that his son Chris would someday play Captain Kirk, but the 28-year-old is now in the Trek’s most pivotal role. He was excellent in a little movie called Bottle Shock last year, but aside from that, and roles in The Princess Diaries 2 and Smokin’ Aces, he is basically an unknown.

Original Gene Rodenberry STAR TREK television cast above and Abrams' 2009 casting choices below

In fact, the new Star Trek is filled with actors who are more-or-less unknown. Simon Pegg, the brilliant UK star of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz and cast as the colorful Scotty here, is probably the biggest name in the cast along with John Cho from the Harold & Kumar movies, playing Sulu. But these are all talented actors who will wear well as the franchise turns into a steady hit machine for Paramount. Fans of NBC’s Heroes already know Zachary Quinto who gets to don Spock’s pointy ears and Chekov is being portrayed by one of my favorite young actors, 20-year-old Anton Yelchin, who was heartbreaking in the gritty Alpha Dog and showed a lighter touch in Charlie Bartlett. Trekkers are also likely to take to the sexy Zoe Saldana (Drumline, Guess Who?) who steps into Nichelle Nichols’ shoes as Uhura and will appear in James Cameron’s long-awaited Avatar at the end of the year.

The appropriate movie to look to for box office guidance is 2005’s Batman Begins. Great filmmaker (Christopher Nolan), spectacular reviews, but the franchise was dead and uncool after 1997’s ridiculous Batman & Robin. The reboot 8 years later opened on a Wednesday with $15M and had banked $72.9M in 5 days (the Friday-thru-Sunday was $48.7M). That lays the groundwork for an accurate prediction for Star Trek.

My bet is on a possible $65M for 4 days. With Thursday preview screenings starting at 7pm, Star Trek could snag as much as $8M on Thursday night (the Trekkers will be out in full force). Then Friday could be something in the $20.5M range with a slight uptick of 5% on Saturday to a possible $21.6M followed by a standard 30% Sunday drop to about $15M.

Once audiences realize that Star Trek is light year better than previous movies in the franchise (and last weekend’s Wolverine), the picture will play and play and play. I think that, of all of the major studio releases this summer, Star Trek may have the “longest legs.” If the movie opens within 5% of my number or bigger, the multiple (the number by which you multiply the opening weekend in order to arrive at the final domestic gross) could be 3.4-3.5, which would push J.J. Abrams reinvented Rodenberry opus to something in the $220M-$230M range.

I am anticipating a steep drop of 65%-70% for X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and producer/star Hugh Jackman will be forced to settle for a second weekend of $27M-$30M. That would still be a nifty 10-day gross of $130M or so.

Finally, Next Day Air (Summit), a low budget, R-rated urban comedy starring Donald Faison (Scrubs), Mike Epps (Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins), Wood Harris (The Wire) and Mos Def (Cadillac Records), will open in the shadow of the retooled U.S.S. Enterprise and is unlikely to wrap up the weekend with any more than $6M.

FINAL PREDICTIONS FOR THE WEEKEND OF MAY 8-10
1. NEW – Star Trek (Paramount) – $65M (includes Thursday previews)
2. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Fox) – $30.6M
3. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (Warner Bros) – $8.8M
4. Obsessed (Sony) – $6.7M
5. NEW – Next Day Air (Summit) – $6M
6. 17 Again (Warner Bros) – $3.8M
7. Monsters vs. Aliens (Dreamworks/Paramount) – $3.7M
8. The Soloist (Dreamworks/Paramount) – $3.3M
9. Hannah Montana The Movie (Disney) – $2.6M
10. Earth (Disney) – $2.4M

Steve Mason is on Facebook and now also on Twitter@LAMase.

The summer kicks off in earnest on Friday with “X-Men Origins: Wolverine.” It’s followed quickly by “Star Trek” the next week.

Both franchises are beloved totems of my youth.

I remember biking down to the 7-11 to get the latest X-Men comic just about as fondly as I do seeing “Star Trek: The Wrath of Kahn” 13 times one summer at the local Edwards theater.

That makes me wonder which I want to see more.

There’s been very little, review-wise, on “Wolverine,” even given the workprint leaked online. But yesterday, Ain’t It Cool News posted a psuedo-review that sheds some light.

It breaks down to good performances, lots of action, good fights, and an incoherent story. Sounds like half the films released last summer.

From AICN:

The finished effects are lackluster, to say the least – some really bad CGI work made me groan numerous times (especially, but not restricted to, Patrick Stewart’s cameo). The scene with Stewart looks so much better in the workprint – trying to digitally de-age him did NOT work this time around…

Good pacing, good lead performances, and some cool comic book fights overcome a non-existing story, horrible dialog (including the classic “I’m so cold…”), and criminally underdeveloped characters. It’s a fun flick, but it will never be considered one of the great comic book movies of our time (like Iron Man, Dark Knight, Watchmen, etc.).

Then there’s “Star Trek.” (I have to note the irony here of Patrick Stewart in “Wolverine” going up against a Star Trek film.)

There has been endless promotion about this project, including a batch of 15 new pictures released today. Here’s one:

And though it opens a week after “Wolverine,” “Trek’s” reviews are already in and they’re generally rapturous (see the story I did on those here.)

Subsequently, I’ve heard from colleagues who’ve seen the film and say Eric Bana is, despite the chatter, good as the villain. They also say Zach Quinto gives great Spock.

In addition, I’ve heard from multiple sources that Simon Pegg, as Scotty, steals every scene he’s in.

All of which means bupkis to the moviegoing public.

Presales on movie ticketing service Fandango have the films in a virtual dead heat, with “Wolverine” accounting for 10% of all tickets sold and “Star Trek” 12%.

I haven’t seen numbers from competing service Movietickets.com but, according to The Business Insider, Movietickets has “Wolverine” outpacing last summer’s champ “Iron Man” by a 3-to-1 ratio at the same point before its release.

The first reviews of JJ Abrams’ “Star Trek” hit the web today and they should please fans of the series, if not fans of Matt Damon.

How did Damon weasel his way into this?

After denying it for months, Abrams revealed to Life magazine recently that Damon was his first choice for Captain Kirk:

“…it would have been great to work with Matt – but at the end of the day, it was such a better move to cast the movie with unknowns.” 

The reviewers agree.

The Hollywood Reporter gushes that “all the familiar characters are instantly identifiable,” while the U.K.’s Daily Mail says Chris Pine plays Kirk with “real dash and charisma.” But the film’s not just for geeks who’ve already drunk the Romulan ale.

THR:

The film is so much fun, however, that it will draw in moviegoers just looking for a sensational ride. The boxoffice should beam up enormous returns.

And The Daily Mail says the film is “not only by far the best of the 11 Star Trek movies, it must rank as the outstanding prequel of all time.”

That’s breathy praise from prose that is, at times, a bit vague. But among the plot points and character details revealed are:

1. The film begins with the birth of Kirk and follows he and Spock in parallel as they mature.

2. The plot “centres on the initial dislike and rivalry, followed by respect and friendship” between the duo.

3. Eric Bana is no Ricardo Montalban. His Romulan baddie “hardly has anything to do and certainly doesn’t have any depth or sophistication of motivation.”

4. “Whole scenes are, perhaps unsurprisingly, stolen by Simon Pegg as Scotty” 

5. Time travel plays a huge role in the film. (Sounds like JJ Abrams, to me.)

These last three points come from Slashfilm.com, which has an elliptical (but more considered) take on the film. Enjoy.