Lets start with the answer to the first question of how was Star Trek: Into the Darkness. I thought it was awesome. JJ Abrams has reintroduced this film for old and new fans alike. It is probably the best Star Trek movie since “Wrath of Khan”. Many people will give you their thoughts on the film and IMAX 3D, but what I want to do is figure out who is Dukie, meaning whose really the shit. That is who is the best Captain Kirk. One caveat, I have always loved William Shatner as James T. Kirk. To me he will always be THE Captain of the Enterprise and go boldly where no one has gone before. Yes, some people love Captain Jean-Luc Picard and feel like he is superior than Kirk and they are entitled to their opinion. He is a fine actor and plays a great Charles Xavier, but he can only follow and not surpass the original Captain. And no, Scott Bakula, is not allowed in this discussion even though he was quite good in Enterprise and I will always love him for Quantum Leap, but not so much for Major League 3. But I digress. Focus, Jim, focus. William Shatner created and established the great cowboy, explorer persona that we all love in our Captain. And he created the quirks and audio staccato that has been both revered and spoofed by generations of Trekkies. William Shatner is by all means the original Kirk. So I went into this competition of Kirk vs Kirk – William Shatner vs Chris Pine a little bit biased. I also knew that my bias was also based on the fact that Shatner had been sitting in the captain’s chair for a considerably longer time than Pine. So in order to square that away I would need to even the score some. Actually I might have given advantage to Pine by only comparing Kirk to Kirk in the first two movies. But then after consideration I realized I was giving Shatner handcuffs with Star Trek the Motion Picture and decided to compete on their second movies only: Shatner’s “Wrath of Khan” Kirk vs. Pine’s “Into The Darkness” Kirk.

Ok. Now that we have established the forum, lets look at the criteria of rating Kirkiness. There are some things that are definite Kirkiness. Those items are: swagger, leadership, fighting, sexiness, bravery and wit. Let me tell you that after watching “Into the Darkness” it was a game changer for Chris Pine. I enjoyed the first one, but that was an establishing moment for Pine’s Kirk. This time we get to see who Kirk really is. There are some spoilers in this Celebrity Death Match so please do not read unless you have watched the movie or don’t care about spoilers.

Swagger- Noun
“A very confident and typically arrogant or aggressive gait or manner.” I think of Kirk as an intergalactic pimp. He has an energy that drips off of him. It’s something that commander Pike didn’t necessarily have. Probably the reason why he never made it out of the pilot and why they had to create the Kirk character. Of course Shatner embraced these characteristics. That’s why this competition is not truly fair. As he is so fond if quoting, “He doesn’t believe in the no-win scenario”. Pine is a handsome man and is very cocksure. He has an energy about him as well, but it is different. Pine is absolutely confident in everything he does, from being a captain to picking up women. But his swagger does not come from the same place. Due to the changes in the story line Pine’s Kirk has his swagger because he is trying to fill a hole in his life from the death of his father. A father who sacrifices his life for his birth is difficult to live up to. He doesn’t have the natural swagger of a man who had a good upbringing, but the swagger of a person with something to always prove. He is a 15 year old boy in the body of a 25 year old. Shatner’s Kirk had his father’s approval and advice growing up. George Kirk was the inspiration for Shatner’s Kirk to join Starfleet and George Kirk lives long enough to see him become captain. He wanted to show the world how great he was because he thought he was great, not because he had a chip on his shoulder. Shatner had swagger the entire film, even when he was tricked by Khan and was caught with his “britches down”. Pike also had swagger and took on missions that no other captain would want to take on his own. He was intent on going out and getting revenge on the murderer of his mentor, Captain Pike. He was not afraid to go to the Kling-on home base and did tell Khan that “He was only alive because he allowed it”. Unfortunately, he did lose some of it when his Starship was about to be destroyed and he felt like he sacrificed his entire crew to die.
Final outcome: On the issue of swagger I give that one to William Shatner.

Leadership – Noun
“capacity to lead. To direct on a course or in a direction.” Kirk is a leader of men. He gets the best out of them. In Star Trek the original series Kirk is described as being able to get the most out of his squad. Being a leader is the ability to make the tough decisions even when you are not sure what the right one is. Even though Shatner was all so human – as Saavick describes him- this human quality allowed him to be a great leader. Men wanted to and did die for him. Spock’s own death was because he believed the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few or the one. Only his own upbringing or the lessons of the captain could engage some thinking. Even with a mind altering device in their brains Chekov and his captain couldn’t pull the trigger on Shatner. Pike continued to lead his men into danger over revenge. It took his people to continuously tell him what was morally right to stop him from making enormous mistakes. Not that Shatner was without major problems either. But that is what makes Pine’s Kirk so human as well. Revenge is a viable emotion after seeing his mentor killed. He was a new type of leader that allowed his crew to eventually teach him how to lead them.
Final verdict: I am going to give Leadership to Shatner as well.

Fighting – verb
“to contend in battle or physical combat”. We all know that Shatner had a fight and win clause in his contract. He had the same clause when he became TJ Hooker & we believe that James Caan had the same clause when he was head of security in the TV show, “Vegas”. As my daughter explained to me while watching “Wrath of Khan”- Shatner looked too old and was not ready for action. Sure he beats up his son, David, when he first gets to Genesis, but his son is soft and is a doctor/scientist, not a warrior. I hate to agree with her but Pike was young and spry and even though he gets his ass kicked by Khan he had a few great fight scenes to show what he could do. So even though Pike doesn’t win his big fight, he does do some good fighting on the enemy ship – not as good as Khan or Spock – to earn the win on this one.

Sexiness- noun
“The arousal of sexual desire”. William Shatner is at a severe disadvantage due to his age again. Young Shatner is a stud. Wrath’s Shatner is 50 years old. Sure Carol Marcus still thought he was sexy and I’m sure that his wavy hair was a turn-on for many older women, but Chris Pine is 33 years old when “Into the Darkness” is released. That’s a lot of years difference and hard to do a head to head comparison. Also the outfits are not made to look sexy but distinguished as the crew was older.
Final verdict: I’m just going to give this one to Pine in a walk off.

Bravery- adjective
” having or showing courage”. This is the toughest one. Both Shatner and Pine are brave beyond belief. Shatner continuously offers himself up for the safety of his crew. He tells Khan that if he really wants him, Khan needs to meet him on Genesis. Pine also puts himself at the forefront of danger at every possible situation. His Kirk is not afraid to die and has shown that numerous times. He is like an extreme athlete who pushes the limit constantly. Shatner wants to live. He continuously tries to cheat death and pat himself on the back when he does. That is why he fixed the computer in Kobayashi Maru scenario. He can’t even face death in a simulation. In the end though Pine gets the opportunity to risk everything to save his ship and earth. He too tricked the Kobayashi Maru scenario, but he did it because he was a rascal not due to his fear if death. He wanted to get over on Spock’s simulation. When the true moment arrives, he gives the ultimate sacrifice similar to Spock in Wrath of Khan to save the crew. Shatner never even considers this option. Pine embraces the motto: “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.”
Final verdict: “Damn it, I have to give this one to Pine, too.”

Wit – noun
“the ability to relate seemingly disparate things so as to illuminate or amuse”. Shatner wins this one easily. Dude is just funny in real life so he brings this to his role. Pine isn’t funny, he is more smug. People want to be around Shatner and have a drink with him and tell stories. With Pine they more or less tolerate him because he is handsome and aggressive like Gaston in Beauty and the Beast.

In the end Chris Pine is a very good Captain Kirk. His bravery and sexiness are amazing. Shatner is the original and his leadership and swagger are second to none. In the end though Shatner is the original and as my friend Prodigy says “it takes a full knockout to take out the champ. You cant win on points alone.” For that Shatner is the best Kirk. Come back to me after Pine does his third film, I might change my mind.