I've barely blogged lately. There are myriad reasons for that, and a lot of them have to do with another project that sucked all the hours out of my day (we're talking 3 hrs of sleep a night/early morning).
Lots of ideas had been floating in my head of what I should post, but I realized that Jarede has mentioned twice that I should be doing a Star Trek review. He's right. I should've done this forever ago.
I went to the IMAX with Andy to see the movie in HD glory. The movie was amazing that way, I'll admit. I was often wowed.
The best part of the opening sequences was when Young Kirk put on Sabotage in the (recently stolen) car's stereo:
This sequence leads to one of the overarching themes of the movie: hanging off cliffs and ledges. This seems to happen at a frequency of every 7.8 hours of a human's life. Okay, I'm being a hoser, but it happened all the time in the movie.
The movie had good action sequences and stuff. Some funny-ish introductions of characters like Scotty. Spock sorta brooded well. Kirk was, you know, lascivious and reckless. Uhura? Meh. Anyway, I could go on, but won't.
But the real trick is in the villain: a Romulan who got the terrible shaft and thus blames a major Star Trek character for all his ills. In order to avenge himself he decides he wants to cause Major Star Trek Character pain by destroying his homeworld with a terrible weapon. This can be seen in this clip/trailer:
Oh, wait, I meant this:
It was like Star Trek Nemesis all over again.
Sorry, I'm a bit snarky, but seriously? The same plot?
Star Trek 11 happens in an alternate universe so that they can play with the facts, mold things how they want. I just didn't see the need for it. Whatever. People died that shouldn't have. People hooked up who never had. Blah Blah
The movie was good as movies go, but with all of the background (wait? futureground?), they didn't do a very good job. Sigh...
And I was totally sick of people hanging off cliffs/ledges.
I guess I'm too much of a trekkie.
And I think this sums up my feelings of Star Trek:
13 comments:
Sounds like there is a lifespan for things like Star Trek (and U2) and they are both getting old. Tis sad. After your description, I think my fear of heights is making me glad I didn't see them doing all their stunts.
Meh, it looked fake, so if you eventually see it, you'll be fine.
Oh and I liked the 3 hours of sleep connection you made, but that video is weird!
YEEEEEESSSSSSSS! Thank you for the review, I have been EAGERLY awaiting it! I have to admit, as a very uneducated trekkie, I did appreciate how much they made the movie appeal to all audiences. And yes, quite a bit of literal cliffhanging. And I was a little put off by the bad guy--they tried to make you like him but then he wants to kill everyone (even his own crew) just to stick it to something that he had no control over anyways. You'd think that he could put time-travel to more productive use.
But the shaft to Shatner?!? You can include Nimoy but no Captain Kirk? Come on!
Yeah, I don't know why they hated on Shatner.
You're right, the character development of the bad guy was terrible. And it seriously was Nemesis all over again.
But, you know, if you have a gargantuan monstrosity of a flying machine of time travel, revenge does seem like a good idea.
But who said that people bent on revenge were logical. Ahab was whack.
There's a good Ahab scene in Star Trek First Contact, too.
Which movies have you seen, Jarede?
Since I'm poor I have to wait for the dollar theater showing but I'll keep your review in mind. There are VERY few people who have anything negative to say about this film. Come on! It's a summer blockbuster...it can't be flawless. I was raised on TNG and DS9. Star Trek IV was a staple in our home, the Wrath of Kahn gave me nightmares as a little kid. And The Search for Spock is a underrated classic. But my brother really dug the film so we'll see if I embrace it as he did.
Hey Ben. The movie had lots of good points, don't get me wrong. And, really, seeing it in IMAX was awesome. The problem really came down to your definition of Star Trek, I guess. If it's a looser definition, then the movie is great.
The trick was that they had said that it was the back story to Kirk and Spock and the crew. It wasn't because of the fact that they built an alternate reality.
The sort of pathetic thing about it was when they tried to throw in shout-outs to the trekkies just to mollify the nerdy masses. Mostly they were just worth a healthy eye roll.
I think they hated on Shatner because he's made a fool of himself lately (Priceline commercials, anyone?)...and he has gotten a little old and a little pudgy. Not that I have anything against that, it just doesn't appeal to the movie-going audience as a whole typically, no?
Rumor has it (so who knows), that he was a smidgen hard to work with.
Who knows, though.
Awww, Venom! I liked it, but I'm not a Trekkie. I definitely gotta say it was better than the new Terminator! My friends and I see cool movies like these at the drive-in these days - how fun is that? :-)
At the driven-in? Are you guys in convertibles, too? Or some sweet gargantuan car from the 50s?
Yeah, I wasn't a fan of the whole Spock-Uhura twist. But I was a fan of having Leonard Nimoy making an appearance. The new Spock just doesn't do it for me . . . I keep expecting him to rip the tops of people's heads off.
I know he was like a seething fiend of anger. This tends to happen to Spock in alternate realities. The proof is in The Original Series puddin'.
Spock and Uhura? Aaaaawkwaaaaard.
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