Review: Star Trek XI
May. 9th, 2009 03:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
omg_wtf_yeahI went out and saw the new Star Trek movie Thursday. First off, I've only seen a few episodes (Journey to Babel, Cage, City on the Edge of Forever, The Apple, Amok Time, Naked Time, This Side of Paradise, Trouble With Tribbles, Squire of Gothos, The Changeling, Return Of The Archons, Mirror Mirror, Space Seed, the one where Kirk's split into his id and ego, the one where they go to the fantasy world and a few others), the end of Wrath of Khan, the Search For Spock and parts of Journey Home. So I'm not terribly knowledgeable about Star Trek.
I thought the plotline was pretty interesting. I always say that the moment you introduce time travel in a movie, you open a can of worms you can't deal with but when I let go of that I could enjoy it. The idea of an alternate timeline, following the same characters, some of whom have an altered past, was kind of interesting. The problem I had with it was that they didn't resolve it. Usually, with this plotline, the main characters would have to correct the chain of events that led to this different and undesired timeline. I understood that the filmmakers wanted a fresh break, separate from the canon, but it felt a little arrogant. :|
Some people felt that the villain, Nero, was one dimensional and I get that. The conflict was a familiar one; his beloved (pregnant) wife was cut down and he was helpless to stop it so he vows to take his revenge on those he feels are responsible. It's simple but it works. I thought the actor did a good job bringing across barely restrained violence and thirst for revenge. He looked very badass. In general, I liked what they did there. What I got from the premise behind Romulans and Vulcans is that (this is the metaphor I used with my sisters) they're like the student body of a parochial school; the Vulcans are like the straight-and-narrow students and the Romulans are like the baddies who smoke in the restrooms. Please, no one disallow me my narrow perception. I love the RomuVulcan private school.
I liked Chris Pine as Kirk -- I thought he was different than Shatner!Kirk but I thought he captured some of the humor and warmth of Shatner's portrayal. The introduction of kid!Kirk, crying and driving a convertible 100 mph down a dusty highway, blaring Beastie Boys was...omg, asanine. It was one of those cases that style definitely won out over logic. The part where he, a tiny child, drives the car off a cliff, flinging himself out just before the precipice was just mindblowingly stupid. The bar scene was also stupid -- Pine was a bit too much Christian Slater there for me... Ew. But after that, I thought the character kind of found his legs. Around the middle of the movie, I found that I liked him a lot. I thought his heart was in the right place.
Zachary Quinto was a bit hit or miss to me. Some of the actions given Spock in the movie didn't gel with what I know of the original character. I gave him some latitude given the fact that he's supposed to be younger, maybe trying a bit too hard, whatever. What seemed most wrong to me was how competitive Quinto!Spock was with Pine!Kirk. I don't see that in Nimoy!Spock -- afterall, in Mirror, Mirror, Spock says he has no interest in captaincy so why is Quinto!Spock so aggressive, competitive and generally threatened by Kirk? Also seems wrong that Spock, a totally by-the-book Vulcan, would indulge in a student/student teacher dalliance with Uhura. I think he'll probably be better in the next films after he's loosened up and had more experience with the character.
Karl Urban was awesome as McCoy! Nothing against DeForest Kelley but I kind of thought Urban might be too hot to pull off the grumpiness that is Bones but, boy howdy!, it looks like he obsessed over TOS and Kelley! There was one time, when he made this loose sort of fist, standing on the bridge and I thought, "OMG, he's so McCoy! LOL!" He did a pretty slamming job.
Some of the background characters seemed really different from the original cast members. I take it that they were trying to do something different with them while maintaining some of the traits inherent in the original characters. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't.
Takei!Sulu seems pretty brash, jovial, temperamental to me while new!Sulu was much more mild mannered and thoughtful. I liked Chekov pretty well and I thought he was one of the better parts of the new movie -- I haven't seen much of Original!Chekov and, to be honest, I preferred the new one a little bit. ;) Pegg as Scotty seemed way, way different. His devil-may-care sort of demeanor seemed...pretty weird considering that the character as we know him is always knitting his brows, frowning, or something. I've always thought Scotty was pretty stressed. Maybe my understanding of him is wrong. :|
New!Uhura was very disappointing to me. You see, I like Uhura in TOS a lot. I think Nichelle Nichols as Uhura is just awesome; she's charming, charismatic, dignified, good-humoured and fiercely loyal. She was an independent character, defined by her actions, alone. The new Uhura struck me as very typical. She was snobby, unduly self-important and derisive. She irritated me.
I have nothing positive to say about the Spock/Uhura relationship. I didn't like it. It was like the writers thought that the movie, being a movie, needed a romantic subplot and just crammed one in where it wouldn't fit. What bothered me about it was that it didn't jive with the characters. Saldana!Uhura takes herself very, very seriously but she runs off the bridge to indulge in some highly inappropriate comfort make-out time with Quinto!Spock. Quinto!Spock asserts that he desires for everyone to do their job then has a little cuddlefest with Saldana!Uhura in the transport room in front of everyone (during which, Uhura has clearly abandoned her post) while there's an enemy vessel nearby. It seemed like the motivation behind the scene was to put in some gag where Kirk's all, "OMG, you're bagging the hottie I've been chasing??? WTF?" Laaame.
All in all, I think the romance would have made more sense if it had utilized Leila from This Side of Paradise, whom we know had a then-unrequited romantic history with Spock from their Starfleet days. :\
The scene between Nimoy!Spock and Pine!Kirk was very sweet. The Spock/Kirk dynamic is one of those things that makes up the soul of Trek and it was very endearing to see some of that there. They had a really good rapport and it supplied one of my favorite Pine!Kirk moments when, following the mind meld, he staggers away tearfully, moved by Spock's emotions. (I said before that I liked Pine as Kirk and I really do -- I think he did a really fine job, if not capturing the spirit of Shatner's portrayal then definitely creating a lovable character on his own.)
There were times when style seemed to win out over substance but, in a general sense, I liked it. The beginning was strong and George Kirk was really interesting. I liked the way that they juxtaposed the childhoods of Kirk and Spock and I liked the scene where Pine!Kirk drove up to the Starfleet recruiting center on his motorcycle. The settings were appealing and attractive. The alien terrain was interesting, if a little over the top. I especially liked the ice sheet and the Starfleet recruiting center. The ships looked cool, too.
The idea of an alternate timeline is intriguing to me as an outsider but I don't think it's right to do that to a much-loved franchise. Had they set it in an alternate universe in the first place then they could do what they liked to the characters without irritating hardcore TOS fans by messing with their canon. The fact that they didn't seemed like a slap in the face to old fans. :\
I feel pretty positively toward this movie (aside from the Uhura thing) and I figure that the next movie/s are going to be stronger entries -- when everyone's more comfortable with their character. I'm really excited about where some of the cast will go with their characters and how they'll develop emotionally. :) I really want to see the fostering of Pine!Kirk's friendship with Quinto!Spock and their adventures together. It would be awesome if the next movie involved mirror!verse though it might be a little soon to go on another alternate universe/timeline plotline now. LOL.
I thought the plotline was pretty interesting. I always say that the moment you introduce time travel in a movie, you open a can of worms you can't deal with but when I let go of that I could enjoy it. The idea of an alternate timeline, following the same characters, some of whom have an altered past, was kind of interesting. The problem I had with it was that they didn't resolve it. Usually, with this plotline, the main characters would have to correct the chain of events that led to this different and undesired timeline. I understood that the filmmakers wanted a fresh break, separate from the canon, but it felt a little arrogant. :|
Some people felt that the villain, Nero, was one dimensional and I get that. The conflict was a familiar one; his beloved (pregnant) wife was cut down and he was helpless to stop it so he vows to take his revenge on those he feels are responsible. It's simple but it works. I thought the actor did a good job bringing across barely restrained violence and thirst for revenge. He looked very badass. In general, I liked what they did there. What I got from the premise behind Romulans and Vulcans is that (this is the metaphor I used with my sisters) they're like the student body of a parochial school; the Vulcans are like the straight-and-narrow students and the Romulans are like the baddies who smoke in the restrooms. Please, no one disallow me my narrow perception. I love the RomuVulcan private school.
I liked Chris Pine as Kirk -- I thought he was different than Shatner!Kirk but I thought he captured some of the humor and warmth of Shatner's portrayal. The introduction of kid!Kirk, crying and driving a convertible 100 mph down a dusty highway, blaring Beastie Boys was...omg, asanine. It was one of those cases that style definitely won out over logic. The part where he, a tiny child, drives the car off a cliff, flinging himself out just before the precipice was just mindblowingly stupid. The bar scene was also stupid -- Pine was a bit too much Christian Slater there for me... Ew. But after that, I thought the character kind of found his legs. Around the middle of the movie, I found that I liked him a lot. I thought his heart was in the right place.
Zachary Quinto was a bit hit or miss to me. Some of the actions given Spock in the movie didn't gel with what I know of the original character. I gave him some latitude given the fact that he's supposed to be younger, maybe trying a bit too hard, whatever. What seemed most wrong to me was how competitive Quinto!Spock was with Pine!Kirk. I don't see that in Nimoy!Spock -- afterall, in Mirror, Mirror, Spock says he has no interest in captaincy so why is Quinto!Spock so aggressive, competitive and generally threatened by Kirk? Also seems wrong that Spock, a totally by-the-book Vulcan, would indulge in a student/student teacher dalliance with Uhura. I think he'll probably be better in the next films after he's loosened up and had more experience with the character.
Karl Urban was awesome as McCoy! Nothing against DeForest Kelley but I kind of thought Urban might be too hot to pull off the grumpiness that is Bones but, boy howdy!, it looks like he obsessed over TOS and Kelley! There was one time, when he made this loose sort of fist, standing on the bridge and I thought, "OMG, he's so McCoy! LOL!" He did a pretty slamming job.
Some of the background characters seemed really different from the original cast members. I take it that they were trying to do something different with them while maintaining some of the traits inherent in the original characters. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't.
Takei!Sulu seems pretty brash, jovial, temperamental to me while new!Sulu was much more mild mannered and thoughtful. I liked Chekov pretty well and I thought he was one of the better parts of the new movie -- I haven't seen much of Original!Chekov and, to be honest, I preferred the new one a little bit. ;) Pegg as Scotty seemed way, way different. His devil-may-care sort of demeanor seemed...pretty weird considering that the character as we know him is always knitting his brows, frowning, or something. I've always thought Scotty was pretty stressed. Maybe my understanding of him is wrong. :|
New!Uhura was very disappointing to me. You see, I like Uhura in TOS a lot. I think Nichelle Nichols as Uhura is just awesome; she's charming, charismatic, dignified, good-humoured and fiercely loyal. She was an independent character, defined by her actions, alone. The new Uhura struck me as very typical. She was snobby, unduly self-important and derisive. She irritated me.
I have nothing positive to say about the Spock/Uhura relationship. I didn't like it. It was like the writers thought that the movie, being a movie, needed a romantic subplot and just crammed one in where it wouldn't fit. What bothered me about it was that it didn't jive with the characters. Saldana!Uhura takes herself very, very seriously but she runs off the bridge to indulge in some highly inappropriate comfort make-out time with Quinto!Spock. Quinto!Spock asserts that he desires for everyone to do their job then has a little cuddlefest with Saldana!Uhura in the transport room in front of everyone (during which, Uhura has clearly abandoned her post) while there's an enemy vessel nearby. It seemed like the motivation behind the scene was to put in some gag where Kirk's all, "OMG, you're bagging the hottie I've been chasing??? WTF?" Laaame.
All in all, I think the romance would have made more sense if it had utilized Leila from This Side of Paradise, whom we know had a then-unrequited romantic history with Spock from their Starfleet days. :\
The scene between Nimoy!Spock and Pine!Kirk was very sweet. The Spock/Kirk dynamic is one of those things that makes up the soul of Trek and it was very endearing to see some of that there. They had a really good rapport and it supplied one of my favorite Pine!Kirk moments when, following the mind meld, he staggers away tearfully, moved by Spock's emotions. (I said before that I liked Pine as Kirk and I really do -- I think he did a really fine job, if not capturing the spirit of Shatner's portrayal then definitely creating a lovable character on his own.)
There were times when style seemed to win out over substance but, in a general sense, I liked it. The beginning was strong and George Kirk was really interesting. I liked the way that they juxtaposed the childhoods of Kirk and Spock and I liked the scene where Pine!Kirk drove up to the Starfleet recruiting center on his motorcycle. The settings were appealing and attractive. The alien terrain was interesting, if a little over the top. I especially liked the ice sheet and the Starfleet recruiting center. The ships looked cool, too.
The idea of an alternate timeline is intriguing to me as an outsider but I don't think it's right to do that to a much-loved franchise. Had they set it in an alternate universe in the first place then they could do what they liked to the characters without irritating hardcore TOS fans by messing with their canon. The fact that they didn't seemed like a slap in the face to old fans. :\
I feel pretty positively toward this movie (aside from the Uhura thing) and I figure that the next movie/s are going to be stronger entries -- when everyone's more comfortable with their character. I'm really excited about where some of the cast will go with their characters and how they'll develop emotionally. :) I really want to see the fostering of Pine!Kirk's friendship with Quinto!Spock and their adventures together. It would be awesome if the next movie involved mirror!verse though it might be a little soon to go on another alternate universe/timeline plotline now. LOL.
