Saw it this afternoon, and it's a blast. I love the way J. J. Abrams has rewritten Trek lore and made it his own--while still keeping within the parameters of Roddenberry's vision. This gives me hope for his upcoming Star Wars installment. . .
Saw it this afternoon, and it's a blast. I love the way J. J. Abrams has rewritten Trek lore and made it his own--while still keeping within the parameters of Roddenberry's vision. This gives me hope for his upcoming Star Wars installment. . .
I STID a couple of weeks ago and while it definitely held my attention and was hardly ever boring, I also didn't like the way it so blatantly borrowed from other Trek films....
The overall plot is basically a rehash of Star Trek VI, wherein radical factions of Starfleet are trying to instigate a war with the Klingons.
The ending, wherein Kirk sacrifices himself to save the Enterprise was a direct rip-off (sorry but its too blatant a copy to call "homage") of Wrath of Khan, right down to the "ship...out of danger?" line, not to mention Quinto's subsequent "KHANNNNNN!!!!!" scream, which just came across as cheesy to me.
Not to mention the fact that killing Kirk, only to have him revived a few minutes later after getting a few more drops of Khan's "magic blood" felt forced and just plain lazy.
I also thought outing Cumberbatch as Khan was pointless and just inserted because of some misguided belief that you needed a strong villain from the original series to sell this movie. Take away the scene where he tells Kirk and company his real identity and the film would have worked just as well. Beyond the name and the physical attributes, there is no real connection to the earlier Khan (nor any physical or vocal resemblance between Ricardo Montalban and the pasty pale Cumberbatch) so giving him that identity felt forced and insincere to me. Indeed, I recently read an interview with Bob Orci, one of the writers, who recounted how the villain was originally written as a new character only to have Damon Lindelof come in and convince everyone to then retrofit the Khan identity on top of the already established new character.
And while I am not at all averse at having a more action oriented Trek film, the overt references to Star Wars were a little grating. The uniforms inspired by the imperial officers (right down to the caps) were obvious enough, but the spaceship chase on Kronos was an embarrassing rip-off of the Death Star trench run from Return of the Jedi.
So overall, a moderately entertaining movie but Abrams hardly "makes it his own" in my humble opinion. With Abrams moving on to Star Wars (a franchise he clearly identifies with more) I only hope we get some good writers and a director who isn't afraid to chart his own course rather than copying the best parts of prior movies next time around.
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 27,927Chief of Staff
I saw this last Wednesday with my son, we both loved it...I thought the dialogue was particularly good and very reminiscent of the original tv series...also the main actors, I thought, were evocative of the original actors/characters....I hope Abrams decides to make more -{
YNWA 97
Thunderbird 2East of Cardiff, Wales.Posts: 2,818MI6 Agent
Saw it this afternoon, and it's a blast. I love the way J. J. Abrams has rewritten Trek lore and made it his own--while still keeping within the parameters of Roddenberry's vision. This gives me hope for his upcoming Star Wars installment. . .
I STID a couple of weeks ago and while it definitely held my attention and was hardly ever boring, I also didn't like the way it so blatantly borrowed from other Trek films....
The overall plot is basically a rehash of Star Trek VI, wherein radical factions of Starfleet are trying to instigate a war with the Klingons.
The ending, wherein Kirk sacrifices himself to save the Enterprise was a direct rip-off (sorry but its too blatant a copy to call "homage") of Wrath of Khan, right down to the "ship...out of danger?" line, not to mention Quinto's subsequent "KHANNNNNN!!!!!" scream, which just came across as cheesy to me.
Not to mention the fact that killing Kirk, only to have him revived a few minutes later after getting a few more drops of Khan's "magic blood" felt forced and just plain lazy.
I also thought outing Cumberbatch as Khan was pointless and just inserted because of some misguided belief that you needed a strong villain from the original series to sell this movie. Take away the scene where he tells Kirk and company his real identity and the film would have worked just as well. Beyond the name and the physical attributes, there is no real connection to the earlier Khan (nor any physical or vocal resemblance between Ricardo Montalban and the pasty pale Cumberbatch) so giving him that identity felt forced and insincere to me. Indeed, I recently read an interview with Bob Orci, one of the writers, who recounted how the villain was originally written as a new character only to have Damon Lindelof come in and convince everyone to then retrofit the Khan identity on top of the already established new character.
And while I am not at all averse at having a more action oriented Trek film, the overt references to Star Wars were a little grating. The uniforms inspired by the imperial officers (right down to the caps) were obvious enough, but the spaceship chase on Kronos was an embarrassing rip-off of the Death Star trench run from Return of the Jedi.
So overall, a moderately entertaining movie but Abrams hardly "makes it his own" in my humble opinion. With Abrams moving on to Star Wars (a franchise he clearly identifies with more) I only hope we get some good writers and a director who isn't afraid to chart his own course rather than copying the best parts of prior movies next time around.
Well done that man! As a Trek fan of 25 years I completely agree, 110%. Abrams can do flash in the pan, he can't do anything with legs or longevity.
This is Thunderbird 2, how can I be of assistance?
Comments
Star Trek Into Darkness Available for Pre-Order, special blu-ray
Starfleet Phaser U.S. Limited Edition Gift Set.
I really want one !
I STID a couple of weeks ago and while it definitely held my attention and was hardly ever boring, I also didn't like the way it so blatantly borrowed from other Trek films....
The ending, wherein Kirk sacrifices himself to save the Enterprise was a direct rip-off (sorry but its too blatant a copy to call "homage") of Wrath of Khan, right down to the "ship...out of danger?" line, not to mention Quinto's subsequent "KHANNNNNN!!!!!" scream, which just came across as cheesy to me.
Not to mention the fact that killing Kirk, only to have him revived a few minutes later after getting a few more drops of Khan's "magic blood" felt forced and just plain lazy.
I also thought outing Cumberbatch as Khan was pointless and just inserted because of some misguided belief that you needed a strong villain from the original series to sell this movie. Take away the scene where he tells Kirk and company his real identity and the film would have worked just as well. Beyond the name and the physical attributes, there is no real connection to the earlier Khan (nor any physical or vocal resemblance between Ricardo Montalban and the pasty pale Cumberbatch) so giving him that identity felt forced and insincere to me. Indeed, I recently read an interview with Bob Orci, one of the writers, who recounted how the villain was originally written as a new character only to have Damon Lindelof come in and convince everyone to then retrofit the Khan identity on top of the already established new character.
And while I am not at all averse at having a more action oriented Trek film, the overt references to Star Wars were a little grating. The uniforms inspired by the imperial officers (right down to the caps) were obvious enough, but the spaceship chase on Kronos was an embarrassing rip-off of the Death Star trench run from Return of the Jedi.
So overall, a moderately entertaining movie but Abrams hardly "makes it his own" in my humble opinion. With Abrams moving on to Star Wars (a franchise he clearly identifies with more) I only hope we get some good writers and a director who isn't afraid to chart his own course rather than copying the best parts of prior movies next time around.
Well done that man! As a Trek fan of 25 years I completely agree, 110%. Abrams can do flash in the pan, he can't do anything with legs or longevity.