Wolf Gnards

William Shatner vs. Chris Pine

That's not really a tough question or a question at all really, there is only one James Tiberius Kirk and that man is William Shatner. The new Star Trek film is due to be released on May 7, and upon its release thousands upon thousands of nerds will flood their blogs with one profound statement: That's not Kirk!

Now I have no problem with Chris Pine. I have no problem with the new. In fact, I think Next Generation is far better than the original Star Trek series (but that's a whole other debate). My problem is that Chris Pine has the audacity to not even try to do a Bill Shatner imitation. Yes, it would be completely cheesy, but it's really the only thing that can be done. Look at the Star Wars prequels. Ewan McGregor did a hell of an Alec Guinness imitation. He wasn't bogged down by it and he added his own spin to the character. McGregor was an actor and he acted. He was charged with being an iconic character, Obi Wan Kenobi, and he did his job by utilizing what was laid out before him.

And here's where the problem is... James T. Kirk is William Shatner. Or is it Shatner is Kirk? Shatner is so crucial to the character that the two have become hopelessly intertwined. So, how are we to believe that Chris Pine is a young James Kirk if he uses none of the tools at his disposal? The only thing worse than a bad Kirk imitation is an obvious Kirk impostor.

Follow up: