Finally saw the new Trek movie
May. 11th, 2009 11:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cmdr_zoomI liked it.
There were parts they definitely got right and parts that made me go "nnng," but that's Star Trek for you.
Nimoy, great as always. Urban was great too, and Quinto; I expected that going in. Cho and Yelchin, also good - I agree with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
demiurgent about how the latter is a wunderkind done right, and without being saddled with the burden of being Gene Wesley Roddenberry's personal Sue. Pegg surprised me, turning in a good performance as Scotty.
Which leaves Pine. Meh. He held up the role. He certainly had the cockiness. Watching him during the KM test was amusing - I didn't catch the callback to eating the apple until I went back and read spoiler comments, but that makes it better. "I don't like to lose."
Bana didn't have a lot to do besides snarl and shout hoarsely and prowl about in leather, which he was pretty good at. Greenwood had the gravitas I expect of a captain; I almost expected at the end to see him not just in a wheelchair, but reduced to blinking "yes" and "no" due to brain damage from the Not-Ceti Eel.
On to the plot!
The CGI enlarged eyes on that one Kelvin crewer were way too distracting. Uncanny valley.
The Vulcan bullying was spot on, and established this Spock's Berserk Button right off the bat. The teaching pits reminded me of the scene at the start of Trek IV (though I doubt any of these were programmed to ask "How do you feel?")
I cringed through the whole scene with the car and the miraculous Grand Canyon of Iowa. Abrams, you fail geography forever. (Also, still not forgiven for building starships on the ground.)
The KM test was cute, as I said, though I also miss the "THE Captain Kirk?" I suppose it would have gotten lost amid all the apparently real admiration heaped on him later. :p
The whole sequence with McCoy getting Jim aboard the E was great - played a little broad, but otherwise classic Bones. I was amused by the contrast between what the first movie and this one thinks is an appropriate time to devote to a flyby, and I have to admit, shorter was probably better. (But I still don't think the new E, herself, can compare to either the original or the refit. Sorry. Asz_gryphon once had Scotty say, I'm already married to a well-established lady.)
The Battle of Vulcan - shades of Wolf 359. I'd say it was deliberate, but no telling with this director and crew.
Was anyone surprised when the redshirt bought it, especially after being so gung-ho before the drop? "Fencing", love it. Though Sulu was, in fact, pretty damn badass. Chekov, also awesome. Now if they can just keep him from babbling about what was inwented in Russia.
Oh, Spock. That was just heartbreaking. And his log entry afterward, where he notes that he is now a member of an endangered species - with anyone else, that would be a touch of poetic whimsy, but I could hear him realizing its literal truth. His relationship with Uhura was a little surprising, but then I recall her cooing over his harp playing in the rec room. There's also the "favored student with hints of maybe something more" that we saw with Saavik.
Somewhere in here, Nero channels Khan bigtime.
Not just throwing him in the brig, but off the ship? Harsh. Then again, they had to get him away from the E and ontoHoth Delta Vega (which is in the Vulcan system now, what?) somehow. "I CAST SUMMON BIGGER FISH!" Yeah, I can see why people are calling this a Star Wars movie.
And here's Ambassador Spock with the Exposition Dump! And Scotty! (Liked the Ambassador's bemusement at finding him there.) Was that Warwick Davis in the alien suit? No, IMDB says it's Deep Roy!
Jim doesn't know what button to push, so he just starts hittin' them all, until he gets to VULCAN FURY! Not the first time Spock's gone postal on his captain... then again, I suppose it is. Sarek manages one of his rare moments of unclenching enough to connect with his son.
Jeez, Scotty, why didn't you just say "nothing could possibly go wrong" while you were at it? And as others have noted, the Narada's internal layout is a textbook example of No OSHA Compliance. Another tick on the Star Wars checklist. Meh. I like both genres, but not so much mashed together like this. Then again, the TNG movies did a fair amount of swinging-from-catwalks stuff, probably the result of not having geriatric actors. The bit with the Romulan and his gun was predictable but competently done.
Kudos to Spock for being smart enough to (1) figure out how to fly the timeship and (2) guess why it's so helpful. And here comesthe Millenium Falcon the E diving out of warp at the last moment to cover him so that he can blow this thing and we can all go home. *facepalm*
While I admit that the "okay, fuck you then" was probably satisfying for both principals, if they had used that time to get further away rather than pouring more fire onto a sinking ship, they might not have put themselves at such risk. (Comparisons to the end of Wrath of Khan are probably inevitable.) So, when the faster-than-light engines aren't enough, the solution is to throw all the fuel out the back and ignite it, and surf the subluminal shockwave? ... whatever, it's Star Trek, and I can tell Abrams just wanted an excuse for one more big explosion.
Yes, he saved the planet, but that scene with Kirk not only being cleared but jumping straight to Captain was so forced. Then again... end of Trek IV. (Also, slightly disappointed they didn't mention that the commendation was for "original thinking".) Fortunately, we had Spocks right after it, and that scene was wonderful. Quinto and Nimoy shine. And then it's back aboard the E one more time to see how many TOS refs we can jam in before the end credits.
My #1 wish for the inevitable sequel? NO MORE $^%#ING LENS FLARES.
There were parts they definitely got right and parts that made me go "nnng," but that's Star Trek for you.
Nimoy, great as always. Urban was great too, and Quinto; I expected that going in. Cho and Yelchin, also good - I agree with
demiurgent about how the latter is a wunderkind done right, and without being saddled with the burden of being Gene Wesley Roddenberry's personal Sue. Pegg surprised me, turning in a good performance as Scotty.Which leaves Pine. Meh. He held up the role. He certainly had the cockiness. Watching him during the KM test was amusing - I didn't catch the callback to eating the apple until I went back and read spoiler comments, but that makes it better. "I don't like to lose."
Bana didn't have a lot to do besides snarl and shout hoarsely and prowl about in leather, which he was pretty good at. Greenwood had the gravitas I expect of a captain; I almost expected at the end to see him not just in a wheelchair, but reduced to blinking "yes" and "no" due to brain damage from the Not-Ceti Eel.
On to the plot!
The CGI enlarged eyes on that one Kelvin crewer were way too distracting. Uncanny valley.
The Vulcan bullying was spot on, and established this Spock's Berserk Button right off the bat. The teaching pits reminded me of the scene at the start of Trek IV (though I doubt any of these were programmed to ask "How do you feel?")
I cringed through the whole scene with the car and the miraculous Grand Canyon of Iowa. Abrams, you fail geography forever. (Also, still not forgiven for building starships on the ground.)
The KM test was cute, as I said, though I also miss the "THE Captain Kirk?" I suppose it would have gotten lost amid all the apparently real admiration heaped on him later. :p
The whole sequence with McCoy getting Jim aboard the E was great - played a little broad, but otherwise classic Bones. I was amused by the contrast between what the first movie and this one thinks is an appropriate time to devote to a flyby, and I have to admit, shorter was probably better. (But I still don't think the new E, herself, can compare to either the original or the refit. Sorry. As
z_gryphon once had Scotty say, I'm already married to a well-established lady.)The Battle of Vulcan - shades of Wolf 359. I'd say it was deliberate, but no telling with this director and crew.
Was anyone surprised when the redshirt bought it, especially after being so gung-ho before the drop? "Fencing", love it. Though Sulu was, in fact, pretty damn badass. Chekov, also awesome. Now if they can just keep him from babbling about what was inwented in Russia.
Oh, Spock. That was just heartbreaking. And his log entry afterward, where he notes that he is now a member of an endangered species - with anyone else, that would be a touch of poetic whimsy, but I could hear him realizing its literal truth. His relationship with Uhura was a little surprising, but then I recall her cooing over his harp playing in the rec room. There's also the "favored student with hints of maybe something more" that we saw with Saavik.
Somewhere in here, Nero channels Khan bigtime.
Not just throwing him in the brig, but off the ship? Harsh. Then again, they had to get him away from the E and onto
And here's Ambassador Spock with the Exposition Dump! And Scotty! (Liked the Ambassador's bemusement at finding him there.) Was that Warwick Davis in the alien suit? No, IMDB says it's Deep Roy!
Jim doesn't know what button to push, so he just starts hittin' them all, until he gets to VULCAN FURY! Not the first time Spock's gone postal on his captain... then again, I suppose it is. Sarek manages one of his rare moments of unclenching enough to connect with his son.
Jeez, Scotty, why didn't you just say "nothing could possibly go wrong" while you were at it? And as others have noted, the Narada's internal layout is a textbook example of No OSHA Compliance. Another tick on the Star Wars checklist. Meh. I like both genres, but not so much mashed together like this. Then again, the TNG movies did a fair amount of swinging-from-catwalks stuff, probably the result of not having geriatric actors. The bit with the Romulan and his gun was predictable but competently done.
Kudos to Spock for being smart enough to (1) figure out how to fly the timeship and (2) guess why it's so helpful. And here comes
While I admit that the "okay, fuck you then" was probably satisfying for both principals, if they had used that time to get further away rather than pouring more fire onto a sinking ship, they might not have put themselves at such risk. (Comparisons to the end of Wrath of Khan are probably inevitable.) So, when the faster-than-light engines aren't enough, the solution is to throw all the fuel out the back and ignite it, and surf the subluminal shockwave? ... whatever, it's Star Trek, and I can tell Abrams just wanted an excuse for one more big explosion.
Yes, he saved the planet, but that scene with Kirk not only being cleared but jumping straight to Captain was so forced. Then again... end of Trek IV. (Also, slightly disappointed they didn't mention that the commendation was for "original thinking".) Fortunately, we had Spocks right after it, and that scene was wonderful. Quinto and Nimoy shine. And then it's back aboard the E one more time to see how many TOS refs we can jam in before the end credits.
My #1 wish for the inevitable sequel? NO MORE $^%#ING LENS FLARES.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-11 07:30 pm (UTC)I mean, really. WICTOR WICTOR?!
Not one, but /two/.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-11 07:57 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-13 10:53 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-11 08:22 pm (UTC)Pine did a fine job by virtue of the fact that this is a drastically different Kirk than before -- moreso than any other character. Consider that history changed and his dad died when he was born. Without that influence, and with a stepfather he was rebelling against, he'd be another person entirely with only the gravitas-genes he got from his pop to rely on. Far cockier and immature without a guiding hand.
The silly alien ship with no safety rails was silly, but passable. A bit too HR Gigerian for what's allegedly a mining ship, but whatever.
Kirk's on the spot big applause everybody totally cool with it promotion to captain was a bit much, but I guess it's unavoidable if they want to do sequels with this cast (instead of scattering them, which is what probably would've happened given each member was either filling dead man's shoes or just sucked into the current situation). I was a bit more "No way" over Spock not just tossing Kirk in the brig, but tossing him OFF the ship... and within spitting distance of Other Spock. How conveeeeenient.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-13 10:55 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-13 08:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-11 11:44 pm (UTC)Re the canyon: you could see where it looked like blocks had been carved out of the ground. Having grown up in quarry country, it wasn't to jarring for me. Still, I wanted to slap "I'm James Tiberius Kirk" upside the head for being a brat.
And to carry on a comment I saw elsewhere, why didn't Nero just haul ass to Romulus and warn them about the supernova?
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-12 02:16 am (UTC)I suspect, like Kirk's nemesis, Nero was much more intent (obsessed?) on hurting and/or beating Spock.
"He tasks me! He tasks me, and I shall have him!"
(Trek has gotten a lot of mileage out of that book.)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-13 10:56 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-14 03:18 am (UTC)As for his ship, that was detailed in the prequel comic. After Nero snapped, he started messing with his ship and glueing a lot of dangerous crap on there, so he could kill the people who were OBVIOUSLY behind the supernova. Hey, he was a Romulan. To them, it's always a conspiracy :)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-12 01:30 am (UTC)Yeah, I was wondering how the hell a canyon happened in Iowa. I'm telling myself it was the result of seismic activity. The Midwest does get earthquakes. Not very often, but when they do, they're doozies.
But I shouldn't have to do mental gymnastics to make someone's story make sense. That's their job. -.-
Still loved it, though.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-12 02:12 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-13 08:17 pm (UTC)