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May. 8th, 2009
I've had chocolate and a pat on the head from someone who understands, and I feel better now. Regardless of what I said before, I basically enjoyed the movie. I'll undoubtedly see it at least once more, probably on IMAX. I may even buy the DVD when it comes out. It was a really well done, early twenty-first century flashy sci-fi action flick. There were SW-type aliens in bars and lots of space ships zipping unrealistically through space. It was stupid fun. It just wasn't Trek.
One thing really bothered me, however. If Bill is telling the truth, he was never approached about any kind of involvement with this movie. The official line is that there was nothing for him to do. That's not true. The movie ends with Leonard doing the opening "Space ..." monologue. It was fine, but considering that a big part of the movie is Kirk finding himself, it would have made much more sense to have Bill do it, and if it's true that they didn't even ask him ... well, that's just petty.
The Good:
Zachary Quinto. OMG, amazing! We first see him in profile when he comes to say goodbye to Amanda before leaving for Starfleet Academy, and he looked so much like a young Leonard I gasped. Not only does he look like Leonard, he moves like him and even sounds a bit like him. It's very clear he did his homework. His performance was subtle and moving; speaking as a Spock girl from way back, he was the highlight of the movie.
Simon Pegg. I've read comments that criticized his role as comic relief. He certainly was funny, but Scotty always was. And it was made quite clear that he's as much a genius as the rest of them. If they turn this into a series of movies, I hope he stays with it.
Lt. George Samuel Kirk, Sr. Good man. Stalwart, brave, and true. Even if he was married to that chick from House.
Sarek. How did I not know that Ben Cross was playing him? Not surprisingly, he was terrific. I particularly liked the fact that, in this universe, he told Spock the truth about why he married Amanda.
Engineer Olsen. He should have known better than to choose that red flight suit. ;)
Leonard. Do I really have to explain why?
The Okay, I Guess:
McCoy. The actor isn't skinny enough, and I expected a bit more of a southern accent at the beginning, but he sold it, they got his backstory right, and I laughed out loud when he said he liked Spock.
Sulu, and Chekov. They were fine. Sulu got to swing a sword and Chekov got to be brilliant, which is more than he ever got to do before.
Uhura. On the up side, she didn't say "hailing frequencies open" even once. On the down side, she's doing Spock. Given all the yakking that people have done over the years about the role of women in Classic Trek, and how "we would do so much better if we were making it now," I'm not happy that they changed her from an underused bridge officer to a cadet who's involved with one of her academy instructors and who uses that relationship to get assigned to the ship she wanted. That is not an improvement, no matter how often they told us about her brilliance. Even the fan dance was less offensive. (Hmmm. Maybe she should be dropped down to Bad.)
The Bad:
No Sam Kirk. No Gary Mitchell. I know, I know. It's an AU. I still wondered where they were.
They frelling killed Amanda on screen. That's just not right, even if she was played by Winona Fucking Ryder.
CGI spaceships. As always - ugh. I may have to make a pilgrimage to the Smithsonian this summer to get the bad taste out of my mouth.
The Big Bad, however, was Chris Pine. IMO, he was the almost-fatal flaw because he played Kirk as a real asshole. James T. Kirk may have been a swaggering, overbearing, tin-plated dictator with delusions of godhood, but he was never an asshole. One of the realities that people don't often acknowledge about Trek is that Jim Kirk is the heart and soul of the show. When that heart is played as an flaming asshole, it throws everything out of whack. I don't blame the actor for this, BTW. I saw him on Letterman the other night, and he seems like a nice guy. No, I lay all the blame at the feet of the director. Fannish heresy, I know.
The Truly Ugly:
The science. Oh. My. God. Jesus wept, people. Magnetic effects from Saturn's rings? The rings that are made of ice and silicate rock? A supernova that threatens to destroy the galaxy? Really? "Red matter" that's so dangerous it can trigger the formation of a singularity at the center of a planet (eh?), but can still be handled with a syringe? Dear God.
What many younger fans don't seem to realize is that back when they were making Classic Trek, there was a very real attempt to be scientifically correct. And in large part, this - the combination of good stories and good science - was what attracted many of us to it in the first place. Yes, science sometimes took a backseat to the requirements of plot, but they made a real effort, and Trek was miles ahead of their contemporaries in this regard. That commitment has waned with each subsequent spinoff, and has really hit bottom with this movie. Since they clearly Don't Get It, rather than a reboot, maybe this should be the end of the franchise.
One thing really bothered me, however. If Bill is telling the truth, he was never approached about any kind of involvement with this movie. The official line is that there was nothing for him to do. That's not true. The movie ends with Leonard doing the opening "Space ..." monologue. It was fine, but considering that a big part of the movie is Kirk finding himself, it would have made much more sense to have Bill do it, and if it's true that they didn't even ask him ... well, that's just petty.
The Good:
Zachary Quinto. OMG, amazing! We first see him in profile when he comes to say goodbye to Amanda before leaving for Starfleet Academy, and he looked so much like a young Leonard I gasped. Not only does he look like Leonard, he moves like him and even sounds a bit like him. It's very clear he did his homework. His performance was subtle and moving; speaking as a Spock girl from way back, he was the highlight of the movie.
Simon Pegg. I've read comments that criticized his role as comic relief. He certainly was funny, but Scotty always was. And it was made quite clear that he's as much a genius as the rest of them. If they turn this into a series of movies, I hope he stays with it.
Lt. George Samuel Kirk, Sr. Good man. Stalwart, brave, and true. Even if he was married to that chick from House.
Sarek. How did I not know that Ben Cross was playing him? Not surprisingly, he was terrific. I particularly liked the fact that, in this universe, he told Spock the truth about why he married Amanda.
Engineer Olsen. He should have known better than to choose that red flight suit. ;)
Leonard. Do I really have to explain why?
The Okay, I Guess:
McCoy. The actor isn't skinny enough, and I expected a bit more of a southern accent at the beginning, but he sold it, they got his backstory right, and I laughed out loud when he said he liked Spock.
Sulu, and Chekov. They were fine. Sulu got to swing a sword and Chekov got to be brilliant, which is more than he ever got to do before.
Uhura. On the up side, she didn't say "hailing frequencies open" even once. On the down side, she's doing Spock. Given all the yakking that people have done over the years about the role of women in Classic Trek, and how "we would do so much better if we were making it now," I'm not happy that they changed her from an underused bridge officer to a cadet who's involved with one of her academy instructors and who uses that relationship to get assigned to the ship she wanted. That is not an improvement, no matter how often they told us about her brilliance. Even the fan dance was less offensive. (Hmmm. Maybe she should be dropped down to Bad.)
The Bad:
No Sam Kirk. No Gary Mitchell. I know, I know. It's an AU. I still wondered where they were.
They frelling killed Amanda on screen. That's just not right, even if she was played by Winona Fucking Ryder.
CGI spaceships. As always - ugh. I may have to make a pilgrimage to the Smithsonian this summer to get the bad taste out of my mouth.
The Big Bad, however, was Chris Pine. IMO, he was the almost-fatal flaw because he played Kirk as a real asshole. James T. Kirk may have been a swaggering, overbearing, tin-plated dictator with delusions of godhood, but he was never an asshole. One of the realities that people don't often acknowledge about Trek is that Jim Kirk is the heart and soul of the show. When that heart is played as an flaming asshole, it throws everything out of whack. I don't blame the actor for this, BTW. I saw him on Letterman the other night, and he seems like a nice guy. No, I lay all the blame at the feet of the director. Fannish heresy, I know.
The Truly Ugly:
The science. Oh. My. God. Jesus wept, people. Magnetic effects from Saturn's rings? The rings that are made of ice and silicate rock? A supernova that threatens to destroy the galaxy? Really? "Red matter" that's so dangerous it can trigger the formation of a singularity at the center of a planet (eh?), but can still be handled with a syringe? Dear God.
What many younger fans don't seem to realize is that back when they were making Classic Trek, there was a very real attempt to be scientifically correct. And in large part, this - the combination of good stories and good science - was what attracted many of us to it in the first place. Yes, science sometimes took a backseat to the requirements of plot, but they made a real effort, and Trek was miles ahead of their contemporaries in this regard. That commitment has waned with each subsequent spinoff, and has really hit bottom with this movie. Since they clearly Don't Get It, rather than a reboot, maybe this should be the end of the franchise.