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Non-Spoilery review:
It's like the girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead: When she was good she was very very good, and when she was bad she was horrid.
I have very conflicting feelings about this movie. Thanks J.J. for proving all of my concerns valid. I waited four years for this movie and this is what you give me?
Spoilery review:
Things that I LOVED:
- BONES!
- SCOTTY!
- KEENSER!
Things with which I had minor issues:
- If they built the biggest ever set for the Enterprise, why do I feel like the ship wasn't all that important?
- Chekov in a red shirt. Actually the severe lack of Chekov in the movie as a whole.
- The look of Engineering. I know they filmed in that sciency place where they actually play with real lasers. But it didn't look like a warp core. It didn't even look like the warp core in the 2009 movie.
(- Unrelated to Into Darkness - but can we talk about how annoying it is that the 2009 movie - which I still love - doesn't have a subtitle? As if it's the only thing called Star Trek out there. Rude.)
- Jim's character arc. I was SO happy when Pike tore him a new one in the beginning of the movie, because frankly Jim Kirk at the age of 25 (26 in this movie? How long has it been since the end of the last one?) Is not ready for command. Actually he seemed to be less mature than he was at the end of the last movie. Which is annoying.
- That whole opening sequence I kept thinking to myself "Why is Spock being such a hypocrit? He already agreed to violate the Prime Directive by interfering with the volcano in the first place."
- Despite being told that there was "more character stuff" in this movie, I still don't feel like I know what they were trying to do with Kirk's arc.
- Why do they have so many different uniforms?
- Why are they wearing hats at all? Did the costume designer forget that Andorians are one of the founding members of the Federation? I'd like to see them try to wear a hat with their blue antennae.
- The sheer amount of destruction. I know that's what they're looking for in a Hollywood Blockbuster these days, but it was unnecessary.
- The number of things that seemed to be added to the movie purely because someone said "Wouldn't it be cool if..." - "the Enterprise was underwater." - "Kirk had a threesome with chicks with tails!" - etc.
Things with which I have major issues:
- The militaristic overtones.
- Starfleet officers warmongering. And firing missiles at other Starfleet officers without trial. Everyone (except Scotty and Keenser) going along with it because of orders. (Although to be fair a bunch of them did express their disapproval and eventually that made Kirk change his mind.)
- Pike dying. I don't need Kirk's father figures to die in order to be invested in his emotional storyline. I also really don't like that Jim in both movies is only ever placed in command because the better option - Pike - is unable to do so.
- Spock crying. Especially since he's only known Jim for like two years at this point. That scene didn't work for me in this timeline. They haven't had the time to know each other that well. Even though Spock is more emotionally compromised in this timeline.
- Carol Marcus completely gratuitously in her underwear. (Especially because we didn't get any of the guys in their underwear this movie.) Thus continuing the trend that all named female characters in the new Trek movies have to appear in the underwear at least once.
- Khan. He didn't need to be in the movie. It doesn't fit with the original timeline (unless this is actually an alternate universe). He didn't fit with the original character. It just didn't work for me.
- THEY CURED DEATH AND CREATED WHAT I CAN ONLY ASSUME IS AN IMMORTAL EXTRA-REGENERATIVE TRIBBLE.
- The storytelling was not nearly as smooth as the 2009 film. And they telegraphed how they were going to fix everything at the end. There was no danger.
Some more things that I loved so I don't go away angry:
- Bones flirting with Carol Marcus while the entire bridge (and Jim in particular) is listening.
- Jim thinks that Bones has the best hands on the ship. (!!!)
- Cesarean section on a GORN!
- Scotty is the shit. And everyone else should take lessons in ethics from him. Brilliant performance by Pegg. Beauty.
- Sulu in the Captain's chair, being badass.
- Pine was very Shatner in some of the scenes.
- I LOVED Uhura and Spock fighting and pulling Jim into the middle of it. And when she went on her toes to kiss Spock at the end of the movie that was super adorable.
- I thought that everyone's performances were really good and only fell flat when the writing did weird stuff to their characters.
Could we just have a movie of Scotty and Bones sassing the Enterprise and being awesome together?
Yes I hold Star Trek to a higher standard. Why shouldn't I?
ETA: There's some discussion on LJ! And it contains spoilers for STID but also probably for Iron Man 3! You have been warned.
It's like the girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead: When she was good she was very very good, and when she was bad she was horrid.
I have very conflicting feelings about this movie. Thanks J.J. for proving all of my concerns valid. I waited four years for this movie and this is what you give me?
Spoilery review:
Things that I LOVED:
- BONES!
- SCOTTY!
- KEENSER!
Things with which I had minor issues:
- If they built the biggest ever set for the Enterprise, why do I feel like the ship wasn't all that important?
- Chekov in a red shirt. Actually the severe lack of Chekov in the movie as a whole.
- The look of Engineering. I know they filmed in that sciency place where they actually play with real lasers. But it didn't look like a warp core. It didn't even look like the warp core in the 2009 movie.
(- Unrelated to Into Darkness - but can we talk about how annoying it is that the 2009 movie - which I still love - doesn't have a subtitle? As if it's the only thing called Star Trek out there. Rude.)
- Jim's character arc. I was SO happy when Pike tore him a new one in the beginning of the movie, because frankly Jim Kirk at the age of 25 (26 in this movie? How long has it been since the end of the last one?) Is not ready for command. Actually he seemed to be less mature than he was at the end of the last movie. Which is annoying.
- That whole opening sequence I kept thinking to myself "Why is Spock being such a hypocrit? He already agreed to violate the Prime Directive by interfering with the volcano in the first place."
- Despite being told that there was "more character stuff" in this movie, I still don't feel like I know what they were trying to do with Kirk's arc.
- Why do they have so many different uniforms?
- Why are they wearing hats at all? Did the costume designer forget that Andorians are one of the founding members of the Federation? I'd like to see them try to wear a hat with their blue antennae.
- The sheer amount of destruction. I know that's what they're looking for in a Hollywood Blockbuster these days, but it was unnecessary.
- The number of things that seemed to be added to the movie purely because someone said "Wouldn't it be cool if..." - "the Enterprise was underwater." - "Kirk had a threesome with chicks with tails!" - etc.
Things with which I have major issues:
- The militaristic overtones.
- Starfleet officers warmongering. And firing missiles at other Starfleet officers without trial. Everyone (except Scotty and Keenser) going along with it because of orders. (Although to be fair a bunch of them did express their disapproval and eventually that made Kirk change his mind.)
- Pike dying. I don't need Kirk's father figures to die in order to be invested in his emotional storyline. I also really don't like that Jim in both movies is only ever placed in command because the better option - Pike - is unable to do so.
- Spock crying. Especially since he's only known Jim for like two years at this point. That scene didn't work for me in this timeline. They haven't had the time to know each other that well. Even though Spock is more emotionally compromised in this timeline.
- Carol Marcus completely gratuitously in her underwear. (Especially because we didn't get any of the guys in their underwear this movie.) Thus continuing the trend that all named female characters in the new Trek movies have to appear in the underwear at least once.
- Khan. He didn't need to be in the movie. It doesn't fit with the original timeline (unless this is actually an alternate universe). He didn't fit with the original character. It just didn't work for me.
- THEY CURED DEATH AND CREATED WHAT I CAN ONLY ASSUME IS AN IMMORTAL EXTRA-REGENERATIVE TRIBBLE.
- The storytelling was not nearly as smooth as the 2009 film. And they telegraphed how they were going to fix everything at the end. There was no danger.
Some more things that I loved so I don't go away angry:
- Bones flirting with Carol Marcus while the entire bridge (and Jim in particular) is listening.
- Jim thinks that Bones has the best hands on the ship. (!!!)
- Cesarean section on a GORN!
- Scotty is the shit. And everyone else should take lessons in ethics from him. Brilliant performance by Pegg. Beauty.
- Sulu in the Captain's chair, being badass.
- Pine was very Shatner in some of the scenes.
- I LOVED Uhura and Spock fighting and pulling Jim into the middle of it. And when she went on her toes to kiss Spock at the end of the movie that was super adorable.
- I thought that everyone's performances were really good and only fell flat when the writing did weird stuff to their characters.
Could we just have a movie of Scotty and Bones sassing the Enterprise and being awesome together?
Yes I hold Star Trek to a higher standard. Why shouldn't I?
ETA: There's some discussion on LJ! And it contains spoilers for STID but also probably for Iron Man 3! You have been warned.
