Posted on May 13th, 2013 by Ian Blackthorne
There will be no sim on the 15th because of the release of the new Star Trek movie!
This thread will serve as the discussion for the movie. Spoilers are allowed in the comments since they’re not visible by default on the front page view. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, don’t click on the comments!
5 Comments
Leda Harper says: Damn, that was big. And loud. And big.
Dad said it was a bit too heavy on the action for his taste, and I’m inclined to agree, but then I’ve always been the kind of nerd who liked the setting for its exploration angle. It’s interesting that the whole wrapup was essentially a rejection of the ‘Starfleet goes all military’ angle.
Khan setup – good stuff, man, I liked Cumberbatch, though he was missing out on a certain grand theatricality for me. Ah, well, different times.
Urban’s McCoy remains the best damn thing about the cast so far as I’m concerned, though they’re all good. Already sick of ‘Uhura and Spock are an item, remember?’
The scene at the reactor – hrrrrrnnnnn – that one’s tough for me though I know it made all the grizzled old Trek vets perk up. Well done, well written, well thought out and a solid exploration of the idea from a younger Kirk’s perspective. Still a little cheap…but then part of the appeal of the franchise is that they can pull on several decades of cultural memory.
Mom picked up on the escape clause before I did. Mom is wily, and has been watching this stuff for longer than I’ve been alive, and was squeeing with excitement.
I dug it, but I genuinely regret that there isn’t time to explore this universe in these big-ass action setpiece flicks. Cautiously hopeful that a TV series spins off it.
Ian Blackthorne says: Overall: Fucking Awesome.
We saw it at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles airport outside of Washington, home of the space shuttle Discovery. The screen is a true 6-story IMAX and the projector is proper 70mm film. Friends don’t let friends watch LieMAX. Unfortunately due to trouble with my Mom’s car (she came to visit specifically to see Star Trek on true IMAX) we were running late to a sold-out show and had to sit in the first row. Until my eyes adjusted, I was literally laying on the seat.
Specifics:
I felt that the script didn’t do Khan justice. The actor did a fine job with what was there, and I don’t envy anyone trying to follow Ricardo Montalban, but this is Khan Noonien Baddest Motherfucker Singh we’re talking about. Sure, he crushed a guy’s head in his hands, but he just didn’t seem to be at the same level of badassery as his prime universe counterpart.
The cast chemistry was even stronger this time around. Instead of gradually growing into the characters we know and love, this time the actors started where they left off. The lighthearted moments of Trek humor amidst the chaos were spot-on; the new interactions between these iconic characters seemed so familiar. Karl Urban once again stood out with a crushing performance as Dr. McCoy, and Simon Pegg’s Scotty was even sharper this time around, showing a definite story arc and growth of the character.
Speaking of character growth, Kirk’s arc was fairly impressive as well, showing facets of the character that we’ve never really seen before, such as humility. We’d seen Shatner’s Kirk staggered and at a loss before, such as when Kruge had his son killed, but never really saw him humbled. There was always a sense that he would have given his life to save his crew, but this Kirk actually did it. The reactor door scene, well, I started mouthing the words as soon as Scotty called Spock on the bridge. Harper made a good point to me in conversation that the depth of friendship wasn’t yet there between this Kirk and Spock, and that it worked precisely because we could all recite it. I agree, but it was nice to see Spock do the KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN yell.
The addition of Carol Marcus I’m still unsure about. She was never in Starfleet in the prime universe, and part of why the character worked so well was that she was an excellent foil to Kirk in most ways. The actress did a fine job though. Also, I wish Pike hadn’t died, but the mentor always has to die, it’s a trope for a reason. I knew he was doomed as soon as he gave Kirk the pep-talk in the bar.
Nitpicks:
The Enterprise just falling out of orbit from losing power was my biggest technical gripe. Orbits don’t work that way; you’d need a retrograde force, usually a deorbit burn, to lower the opposite point of your orbit into the atmosphere. Also, by the time they got control back, if the ship was actually in danger of burning up, it would have already by the time they were in blue cloudy skies.
T'Kirr says: I loved it! It left me more satisfied than the first one. Probably because Spock kicked some serious Khan ass over Kirk. =P Their friendship definitely developed much faster in this universe, probably in part due to suggestion by the older Spock, so in that way it kinda works. Several lines in their banter sent me into hysterics. I almost groaned when I saw the role reversal death scene, but it turned out well, and that had to take skill to do right.
I really like how the characters are developing. Kirk, Scotty, and McCoy are really recognizable. The Spock/Uhura thing is a little weird still. Oh well.
It’s funny you had IMAX film, because we were told by our IMAX manager than only one theater in the country was given the IMAX film, and that was some place in a no-name city in California. Huh. Still, it rocked!
Ian Blackthorne says: I’d also like to gripe that there were no consequences to Kirk’s death, so his sacrifice pales to Spock’s in the prime universe. He didn’t go into the radiation knowing that he’d be brought back, so his intent was noble, at least.
In the prime universe, the consequences of Spock’s death lasted at least until the beginning of Star Trek V. The Enterprise was lost, David Marcus was killed, and it took two full movies to have Spock back to where he was. This time, ten minutes later, Kirk’s alive and well as if nothing happened.
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OMGKIRKDIES!
Seriously, that was awesome. I thought that this movie, while entertaining throughout, kind of took awhile to get going. It had me worrying that it was going the way of The Dark Knight. Now, while most people loved that movie, it seems, I wasn’t particularly excited to see another iteration of the hero (Or at least, the hero in command. Whoever sits in the center seat, it was always going to be an awesome ensemble effort.) being made to look like an idiot throughout the whole film. Yes, I fully expected it would take awhile for the good guys to really get any traction, because, well…
IT’S GODDAM KHAN!
But still, it was a concern, that it would basically just boil down to Kirk having to get bailed out by Spock, thus cheating us of any actual rivalry. Especially, after it became clear that the film was planning to be realistic about Kirk’s actual chances against the guy in a fight.
And then, holy shit. The role reversal. As soon as they got to that radiation door, and I realized what was happening, that’s when the whole film really came together for me. And yes, while it took me a minute to think of it, I realized that they’d left themselves an out, that scene was still powerful as hell.
Overall, while I’m going to need some time to decide whether it was “better” than the first one, I’m still buying this sucker the day it comes out on DVD. And I’m looking forward to Wednesday, when it’s time to jump back into our own Star Trek universe!