STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS - Grading & Discussion [SPOILERS]

Well, you know that JJ wants to establish his rep as an action director AND as an auteur as Spielberg did early on. JJ thought he was going to do that with Super 8. Didn't quite work out that way. Whereas Spielberg hit the jackpot with Jaws.

Seeing that JJ has reformatted the Khan character into something more complex and more akin to what he was in TOS (as you shrewdly upthread observed), Cumberbatch's range as an actor allows JJ to do many things.

Let's see what happens.

 

Unfortunately, <snip> and the others will still be around.

Don't hold your breath. Two consecutive Treks with 90+ ratings from legitimate critcs? The franchise has never had that before. The franchise has never even had two good ones in a row before.

CBS/Paramount are ecstatic. Whining is, once again, futile.


.

 

We don't know what STID rating will end at yet but I agree that if it is 80-90+ then absolutely they will be coming back and deservedly so, but can another director bring the best out of a K&O&DL script?

 

I'd qualify that statement by saying the franchise has never had two GREAT ones in a row before. We had 3 good ones in Wrath of Khan, Search for Spock and Voyage Home.

 

Some early reviews from Australian film critics show lots of promise:

 

Paramount's ace in the hole? What you are starting to read from MAINSTREAM critics: approval and the notion that this is a MUST SEE film for the ordinary moviegoer.

Yes, the purist fanboi over at AICN and IMDB will bitch up a storm.

JJ didn't make the movie for them. He made it for the mass audience.

 

He had to make it for mass audience because you don't spend nearly $300 million filming and distributing a movie worldwide to appeal to old school trekkies only.

 

I would like to ask again: do we hear the Klingon theme in this movie when they show the Klingons? You know, the Klingon theme that was first played in TMP.

 

I haven't seen the movie but I have seen the clip of Kirk in his little ship on Kronos and I think we can hear Giachinnos Klingon theme during the chase. So my guess is no we won't hear TMP Klingon theme.

 

GIVE ME KEENSER SPOILERS NOW.

 

In retrospect TSFS is not a very good movie; it's interstitial. It's among the worst written of the features, but Nimoy works well with the cast.

 

I love search for Spock. The crew really do come together in that one, willing to sacrifice all for their friend. Has some great lines and a memorable villain and very memorable scenes. Its underrated!

 

If I put my critical viewing cap on, I'd say there have been two very good (TWOK, 09), three good (TVH, TUC, First Contact), four mediocre (TMP, TSFS, Generations, Insurrection) and two bad (TFF, Nemesis) Trek films--my general criteria being in comparison to similar kinds of films with similar kinds of ambitions.

However, when it comes to Trek (as it does with Bond--two franchises I came to as a kid and which provoke feelings of nostalgia), I rarely put that critical viewing cap on. I have my own hierarchy of favourites, but I have enjoyed every series and every film (a few episodes I find ridiculous, scattered across series, that I will probably never re-watch--none of the films has been as bad as the worst of the series episodes, though). I overlook all sorts of shortcomings that I would not overlook in other films outside Bond and Trek. Don't really have a rational explanation for it--it just is. So I'm sure I'll enjoy this film quite a bit too. It will certainly be the best looking of all of them.

 

First of all...first post! =P

That said, it seems there are 2 different types of complaints regarding the plot of the new movie:

A) JJ is just being lazy re-using Khan.

B) People dont like the way the Khan story is told, for varying reasons.

To the second group, you have a valid opinion which I wont argue with. However this opinion is no different than not liking the plot of the first movie. Its just a problem with the storytelling.

To the first group, I will say that perhaps the 2nd movie was too soon to use the character Khan. However I would like to make the point that the character of Khan still existed even in this alternate timeline even if he wasnt the focus of the 2nd movie. He was still floating out there in the Botany Bay, and some ship was still going to find him. Thats just a fact.

So while the 2nd movie may have been a little too soon *feeling* to use that character, the fact is that character was in this timeline and was going to be found, so this particular story is just the way it turned out. If a few more movies are made, perhaps it will feel better to place this particular story later on in the series of movies and substitute the 2nd spot for some later story. But either way, Khan was coming eventually.

 

Oh, please, don't act like reading the spoilers finally tipped the scales for you. You've been way too invested in your persona here to contend that you had an open mind about the movie up until this point. You've spent too much time and energy ranting about the movie you haven't seen yet, Abrams, the writers, and the fans to turn back now.

It's been perfectly obvious how you were going to react to the movie for months now:

1) Complain endlessly and irrationally for months in threads discussing the movie you knew little about and insult anyone who is a fan of the previous film and who might enjoy this one.

2) Pick an important moment to grandstand in a thread about the movie and self-righteously announce that you aren't going to waste your money on this abomination like all the Abrams sheeple and that you were no longer going to post here.

3) Pay to go see the movie in theaters so you can know the details enough to argue about it despite promising you wouldn't go see it and that you would stay away from the discussions.

4) Never admit that you paid to see the movie, and instead proudly insist that you saw a bootleg of the film at a "friend's house" so that you can claim to argue from authority, brag about not paying, and still not feel guilty about stealing because it wasn't you, it was "a friend."

5) ???

6) Profit!!!

Again, how is regenerative properties in Augment blood more implausible than a magical light up dildo that creates entire habitable planets out of dust and brings Spock back from the dead? The transformative properties of Augment DNA have already been established in prior canon on Enterprise. Deal with it.

You know, I would be fine with you guys having a negative opinion about the films if you just restricted it to that. But you always have to take it that one extra step and insult the intelligence of the fans who have a different opinion from you, and that's why you're so insufferable.

Plus, "retarded," really? Stay classy.

See you in a few weeks after you see the "bootleg" at your "friend's house" and predictably return to tell us how despite your total open mindedness the movie is a complete piece of shit just like you've said it would be all along. Abrams' "slimy face" will enjoy spending the money that you said you wouldn't spend on seeing the movie.

 

^^ Brilliant

 

I guess unfounded arrogance due to a hyper-inflated superiority complex is where it's really at then, huh?

 

DalekJim sneezed on his keyboard. This is what he really meant to say:

http://www.trekbbs.com/showpost.php?p=3110932&postcount=14

 

Not only that, Variety is tracking STID to do an 85 million dollar opening. Pretty damn good for a trek film.

 

Okay, I admit it, I have NO willpower! I lasted two days! That means something right? I don't have a problem. I can stop whenever I want.

So...it sounds fantastic, but I have one question and it's kinda silly:

Spoiler: Admiral Marcus

So Marcus dies by getting his head crushed, it's not too bloody is it? I'm taking my sister to see it and we both kinda have a problem with blood.