5 Awesome Performances...
5. Montgomery Scott Star Trek: Into Darkness
Pegg effectively hit geek Shangri-La when he was offered the role of Montgomery Scotty Scott in J.J Abrams reboot of the Star Trek franchise. A dedicated Trekkie, he was no doubt utterly thrilled with the prospect of taking on one of the most famous Scots in geek culture. Yet for my money, the first Star Treks Scotty didnt thrill me like I thought it would. Yet quixotically, Abrams solved this with a counter-intuitive solution he gave us more Scotty, but in a different way. I believe Peggs performance in the sequel was made better by the more serious tone which dominates Into Darkness. Of course, you can have light-hearted moments in a Star Trek film, but when that film gets dominated by a broody Benedict Cumberbatch and a plot about shady war-dealing, comedy goes by the wayside. Its a decision that worked well for Pegg, who either spends his scenes pissed off, in mortal peril or in the company of Cumberbatchs John Harrison. The constantly furrowed brow and sense of grim fury he brings to the role meshes perfectly with this darker narrative and allows the Gloucestershire-born actor to knock it out the park in a rare big-screen non-comedy role. He gets to be conflicted, and even resigns in the first act on moral grounds, and this conflict with Chris Pines Kirk is brought to life well by Pegg, who makes a good job of showing Scotty wrestling with inner demons before coming back for some awesome moments later on it the film, which the actor rocks in once more.