Posted on 05/30/2013 9:12:47 PM PDT by garjog
My Review of Star Trek Into Darkness -- short version: wait to rent it.
Long version: Disappointingly annoying.
What follows could be considered a spoiler, but there is nothing original in this film, so there is nothing that can be spoiled. Sorry.
We went to see Star Trek into Darkness on Saturday. Very crowded and had to sit close. I was an original fan, captivated by the television series in the late 1960s, with Star Trek scrap books and posters, models of space ships and everything.
There are serious problems with the Into Darkness script that are not merely anathema to Trekkies. First we discover that the villain is a famous one from the original series. He has a British rather than Latin accent and doesn't look at all like the other character. So the casting was wrong. But, we are baffled how this villain will re-appear in the future of the life of the crew who begins the Five Year Mission at the end of the film. Won't they all know who he is?
Also, a tribble appears. But, we don't see tribbles until the crew is well into their mission in the future. It is a life form that they discover in their voyage, which this crew hasn't begun.
THEN Spock has a romantic relationship with Uhura. Wrong. Officers in the military, or any professional, are not going to be kissing each other on duty. And we all know that Vulcans have a mating ritual that occurs every seven years. Vulcans don't date. This is out of character for Spock. (You know that a focus group of writers said that they had to add romance).
In the same way this dog's breakfast of a script adds a new female character, an admiral's daughter, as a "second science officer", apparently to add romance to planned sequels and perhaps for gender equity. So, in addition to Kirk, Spock and Bones, we now have a hot blond babe. This is like adding a fourth female Musketeer to please feminist reviewers .
Then Kirk is killed by radiation and resurrected exactly like Spock in one of the first Star Trek films -- that is taking allusion to other films a bit too far. It is more like cutting and pasting.
MORE.
Star Trek shows often made commentary on social or international controversies. Into Darkness apparently is a tip to the Truthers because the Admiral uses deception to purposefully start a war. Every story needs conflict, but to moralize that the war on terror was started by Bush is just plain stupid (and insulting on memorial day).
ALSO, Into Darkness begins with a suicide bombing in which we are led to sympathize with the suicide bomber. He HAD to do it, see? (No, committing suicide and killing 40 innocent people to get what you want is immoral.)
And Chris Pine doesn't look or act like a military trained captain. He looks like an actor rather than a commanding leader.
Finally the show is two hours long, too loud and has long close cuts of faces better suited for television. I could tell that my wife Teresa wanted to walk out about an hour into the show.
Positives: wonderful special effects and endearing imagery that reminds us of what we love about the Star Trek universe.
Let's hope that each and everyone of the writers of this twisted, just-plain-wrong insult of a film are replaced before the next sequel.
They should have either gone with Gary Mitchell or used an actual East Indian for the role of Khan.
That’s where they messed up.
Did any of you like it?
I liked it well enough for what it was. However, it didn’t stick close to the canon, imo.
At Swords Point is a VERY GOOD movie.
After all the rumors that Cumberbatch, and the not-really denials of the fact, I then knew that Cumberbatch was going to be Khan. It just doesn’t jive. They’ve really messed things up. I was “okay” with the first one, it was fun its own way, but still messed up.
I don’t know, couldn’t they have started fresh, whole new crew? Whole new characters? They just have to hit those touchpoints, and that’s it.
Disappointed. Maybe it’s time to give up on this whole debacle, after all the original Star Trek is a lefty’s wet dream, anyway.
Now, if they can get that Captain Worf Star Trek series they’ve been kicking around, then you might have something...
The theater was cool dark and quiet, and I did get a small nap in before i woke up snoring.
A number of the back ground scenes were filmed at LLNL in the NIF facility. Many were superimposed over green screens
Loved it and am glad I saw it on the big screen. I grew up watching Star Trek.
I hope he dies pennyless in a gutter.
Nearly went blind from all those lens flares.
I have enjoyed some of JJ Abrams’ TV shows. Fringe and Lost faded in their later season, IMO, but I enjoyed them mostly. After reviewing his Filmography, I have not liked any of the movies he’s produces/directed. I really wanted to like Super 8, but it lost me at some forgotten point.
I enjoyed all of Lost very much. We started renting them and couldn’t stop.
This Kirk is totally unreal. Even giving an artistic liscense to make some changes to the story. Kirk had a reputation as a “walking stack of books” and was known to be a very hard student instructor of lower classmen. He was known to be a “by the books” type of Officer until an incident caused him to re-evaluate that position.
I could say the same for almost all the characters, and it goes beyond one-dimensional directing and acting. It’s like they are trying to make a cartoon rather than a sci-fi movie.
I disagree — I found it to be annoyingly disappointing.
I agree, Khan should have been asian.
I hated where Kirk died EXACTLY like Spock had in STWOK.
Alice Eve/Carol Marcus is hot, but her brief appearance in bra and panties served absolutely no purpose (Except to amuse me).
Spock and Uhura, doesn't work.
The guy acting as Scottie is good.
The guy acting as Bones is awesome.
All in all, I found it entertaining. Good movie to see on the big screen. (I only go to maybe a few movies a year, so that might bias me)
I didn't know that they filmed some scenes in the National Ignition Facility. But, the set and designs and effects were the best thing about the film.
I thought that I recognized the lobby of the Getty Museum in LA.
Some here say that they liked some of the casting and I agree.
It just seemed that in the last scene with Chris Pine sits in the captain’s chair, he looked like much too young pretty boy actor, not a ship captain.
Why do the ruin this for us?
The last edition didn’t bother me so much.
I liked it, with the understanding that it’s an alternate universe for the original series.
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