Star Trek Thoughts
May. 11th, 2009 03:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eleanorjane[kind of crossposted at LJ]
One of the hassles of being cripplificated in my particular fashion is a general disinclination to go out when not really necessary; combine that with a best friend who is permanently skint and belaboured by fatherly duties, and you get the fact that - unlike days of yore - I almost never make it to the movies any more.
Which doesn't normally bug me all that much, but my flist is abuzz with Star Trek mutterings, and I am sick of being out of the loop, so here I am, watching a lousy-quality telesync release. It's better than a cam version, but not by much.
Honestly, I was biased against this from the get-go when an interview with Abrams made it very clear he wanted to make Star Trek: The Action Movie. We'll see how it pans out in play.
(Bloody hell it's a pretty movie, though. If nothing else, I think I will need to make icons.)
ETA1: Okay, Kirk is less annoying than I expected, McCoy is just plain weird (and I note that Karl Urban still hasn't worked out how to act yet), Uhura is awesome but kind of snotty, and Chekov is adorable.
ETA2: Zachary Quinto is pretty awesome as Spock, and I think I'm getting to like Kirk. McCoy's still weird, and Captain Pike is marvellous. Nuts to Kirk & Co, I want The Adventures of Captain Pike!
ETA3: AHAHAHAHAHAHA Scotty. ♥ I was thinking he was played a bit too much for laughs, but he sold me with the line "The notion of transwarp beaming is like trying to hit a bullet with a smaller bullet, whilst wearing a blindfold, riding a horse." So much ♥♥♥, you guys.
And, upon reflection, my thoughts:
So, I liked it more than I was expecting to.
Pros:
+ Zachary Quinto was excellent as Spock. He brought real emotion to the role, and a certain dry humor necessary for the character to be sympathetic in the modern world.
+ The supporting cast was great; once Karl Urban loosened up he was great fun as Bones (although jamming Bones in as a cadet of the sameage vintage as Kirk and Uhura is a bit forced, but hey), and Sulu, Chekov and Scotty were all good. Scotty especially. And I adored Pike.
+ Holy fuck, it was pretty. I am not at all immune to the shiny. It didn't quite feel like 'Trek' to me, but then I'm unfamiliar with the TOS aesthetic beyond the clichéd images, so I'll give it a pass. (I am a sucker for any movie set that looks like it was designed by Apple.)
Neutral:
* I disliked Kirk less than I expected to; the arrogance was all there, but it's a canonical part of the character, so.
Cons:
- I still think it was ridiculous to give him the starship command as a third-year cadet. For god's sake, he hasn't even graduated from the Academy yet; that's just - wait, I was going to say stupid, but it's fucking ludicrous.
- Barely scraped a pass on the Bechdel test, except on a technicality. I realise it's an ensemble piece, but really - couldn't they have put in the canonical Pike-era Number One? Nurse Chapel? Anything? Instead we get... Uhura. And that's great, (although I thought she was a bit one-note, to be honest) but two love interests and two mothers = not enough females.
- I should say 'ridiculous science' here, but I didn't actually care enough about the science for it to bug me.
Upshot:
Still shiny. Still going to try and see it in cinemas. Still going to look forward to future sequels. Still disappointed with what this one got wrong, though.
One of the hassles of being cripplificated in my particular fashion is a general disinclination to go out when not really necessary; combine that with a best friend who is permanently skint and belaboured by fatherly duties, and you get the fact that - unlike days of yore - I almost never make it to the movies any more.
Which doesn't normally bug me all that much, but my flist is abuzz with Star Trek mutterings, and I am sick of being out of the loop, so here I am, watching a lousy-quality telesync release. It's better than a cam version, but not by much.
Honestly, I was biased against this from the get-go when an interview with Abrams made it very clear he wanted to make Star Trek: The Action Movie. We'll see how it pans out in play.
(Bloody hell it's a pretty movie, though. If nothing else, I think I will need to make icons.)
ETA1: Okay, Kirk is less annoying than I expected, McCoy is just plain weird (and I note that Karl Urban still hasn't worked out how to act yet), Uhura is awesome but kind of snotty, and Chekov is adorable.
ETA2: Zachary Quinto is pretty awesome as Spock, and I think I'm getting to like Kirk. McCoy's still weird, and Captain Pike is marvellous. Nuts to Kirk & Co, I want The Adventures of Captain Pike!
ETA3: AHAHAHAHAHAHA Scotty. ♥ I was thinking he was played a bit too much for laughs, but he sold me with the line "The notion of transwarp beaming is like trying to hit a bullet with a smaller bullet, whilst wearing a blindfold, riding a horse." So much ♥♥♥, you guys.
And, upon reflection, my thoughts:
So, I liked it more than I was expecting to.
Pros:
+ Zachary Quinto was excellent as Spock. He brought real emotion to the role, and a certain dry humor necessary for the character to be sympathetic in the modern world.
+ The supporting cast was great; once Karl Urban loosened up he was great fun as Bones (although jamming Bones in as a cadet of the same
+ Holy fuck, it was pretty. I am not at all immune to the shiny. It didn't quite feel like 'Trek' to me, but then I'm unfamiliar with the TOS aesthetic beyond the clichéd images, so I'll give it a pass. (I am a sucker for any movie set that looks like it was designed by Apple.)
Neutral:
* I disliked Kirk less than I expected to; the arrogance was all there, but it's a canonical part of the character, so.
Cons:
- I still think it was ridiculous to give him the starship command as a third-year cadet. For god's sake, he hasn't even graduated from the Academy yet; that's just - wait, I was going to say stupid, but it's fucking ludicrous.
- Barely scraped a pass on the Bechdel test, except on a technicality. I realise it's an ensemble piece, but really - couldn't they have put in the canonical Pike-era Number One? Nurse Chapel? Anything? Instead we get... Uhura. And that's great, (although I thought she was a bit one-note, to be honest) but two love interests and two mothers = not enough females.
- I should say 'ridiculous science' here, but I didn't actually care enough about the science for it to bug me.
Upshot:
Still shiny. Still going to try and see it in cinemas. Still going to look forward to future sequels. Still disappointed with what this one got wrong, though.
