Was Bana more right than wrong when he said his role was a cameo?

[Jackson_Roykirk]

Just to say up front, this is not a "Bash Bana's performance" thread. That's not my intention nor the point I'm trying to make...

...With that out of the way:
Remember way back when Eric Bana said in an interview that his role as Nero was basically a cameo? There may have been some official backtracking/clarification afterward, but after I think about about the film, it seems to me that there is at least a little truth in that statement and here's my reasoning:

This story was NOT about Nero, nor about revenge, nor even about the distruction of Vulcan. NOR is it about growing up or coming of age or "discovering yourself" (although these all played a part).

The main point of this story is the emerging Kirk/Spock friendship. Nero's part was relatively unimportant inasmuch as the threat that our hero characters acted through could have been just about anything. The most important point made in this film was what Old Spock told young Kirk upon their meeting in the ice cave on Delta Vega. Spock said:

"I have been, and shall always be, your friend"
​

THAT'S the point of this film and that's why Bana's role could be more-or-less described as a "cameo". The whole Nero plotline is a secondary plotline, NOT the main plot of the film.

This film is not about Nero and revenge; it's about Kirk, Spock and friendship.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

No. A cameo is not a synonym for a less-than-earthshakingly-huge-and-central part. Cameos are generally very short, consisting of one or two lines or no dialogue at all.

 

[cooleddie74]

He ended up having less screen time than I thought he would after Abrams edited out all the Klingon/Rura Penthe scenes. So, yeah...Nero wasn't as big a presence in the film as he was probably originally intended to be before the decisions on the cuts and trims were made.

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

No. A cameo is not a synonym for a less-than-earthshakingly-huge-and-central part.

Right -- Bana's (and thus my own) use of the word was incorrect, but the point I'm trying to make is that "Nero's Story" was not the central meaning of this film but rather closer to "the story taking place in the background".

The central story/main plotline was the emerging Kirk and Spock friendship. Perhaps that's what Bana was talking about when he called his role a "cameo".

 

[Jedi Marso]

I think Bana did the best he could with the material he was given.

 

[Jeri]

Clearly viewers got enough villain in this show; they wouldn't have cared about more backstory or more minutes for him, since the backstory of the main cast was vastly more intriguing.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Clearly viewers got enough villain in this show; they wouldn't have cared about more backstory or more minutes for him, since the backstory of the main cast was vastly more intriguing.

I agree though I sure hope we get the Rura Penthe scenes in the DVD.

I think the real villain of the movie is the Narada. Nero was necessary but this was not his story. Nor was it a story about an incredibly powerful villain vs our heroes THANK GOODNESS. I really enjoyed how those elements weren't the focus of the film but merely supported the main story.

 

[Jeri]

I will watch all the cut scenes. I usually find extra tracks tedious, but I crave more Star Trek movie.

 

[Overgeeked]

Someone counted the number of minutes Bana was on screen: under 5. That's about as cameo as you can get for the main villain of a movie.

 

[Feofilakt]

Someone counted the number of minutes Bana was on screen: under 5. That's about as cameo as you can get for the main villain of a movie.

I think the xenomorph in Alien got more solid screen time than Bana.

 

[commodore64]

I think Bana was right -- he had a cameo.

 

[Cdr MacDuff]

Yep, he's right. The main storyline was really about the old TOS crew re-meeting each other for this nuTrek and it was the good part of the movie. The villain storyline didn't work for me.

 

[Borgminister]

And yet, the movie worked.

I'll delve into the villain on Blu-Ray when it comes out.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I will watch all the cut scenes. I usually find extra tracks tedious, but I crave more Star Trek movie.

Crave! Crave!

::

 

[Cdr MacDuff]

And yet, the movie worked.

I'll delve into the villain on Blu-Ray when it comes out.

It did work and I did like the movie. But lets not kid ourselves. While for the moment its what Star Trek needed. The movie effectively had a lot of action and humor. It still would be better with a little more depth, drama, mystery, social commentary and/or substance. Lets wish it for the next movie, which won't have the novelty of presenting to us the nuCrew and how they met each other. In general, I think there's a way we can talk about the good aspects and the bad aspects of the movie. Usually, we shouldn't have to wait for a Blu-Ray version for the villain to make sense.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Rhyl: "Yay! More screen time than Eric Bana!"

 

[Trek Survivor]

No. A cameo is not a synonym for a less-than-earthshakingly-huge-and-central part.

Right -- Bana's (and thus my own) use of the word was incorrect, but the point I'm trying to make is that "Nero's Story" was not the central meaning of this film but rather closer to "the story taking place in the background".

The central story/main plotline was the emerging Kirk and Spock friendship. Perhaps that's what Bana was talking about when he called his role a "cameo".

Um, does this really come as a surprise? Did anyone actually go into the cinema thinking "wow, this is a movie all about a character called Nero and his story"!?!?!

OF COURSE this was all about the original ST characters - Kirk, Spock and to a lesser extent McCoy - meeting and developing their relationships. It was never labelled as anything but...?

 

[Vykan12]

I wonder if Bana's ship got more screentime than he did. It certainly was more intimidating.

I'm also getting a bit tired of this whole argument that Nero's wasn't that important to the plot. There's no reason you couldn't tack on 5-10 minutes to this viciously paced movie so that this villain would have some actual backstory.

 

[erebus]

I think in some sense cameo seems to mean 'a supporting part for a big star'.

That kind of makes sense because i recently heard or read somewhere that JJ was considering using well known actors for the non-repeating characters (e.g Russell Crowe at one time).

And Eric Bana had the skill to flesh out a character with so little screen time.

 

[Falcor5]

Someone counted the number of minutes Bana was on screen: under 5. That's about as cameo as you can get for the main villain of a movie.

Ya 5 minutes pretty much is a cameo which is strange for the main antagonist. I thought he did a good job with what he had but his talent was largely wasted. I hope in the deleted scenes he has more scenes.