STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS - Grading & Discussion [SPOILERS]

Any good?

 

FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP

I loved the dialogue they *admittedly* stole from TWoK. It makes sense that the same people would say the same words to describe the same things.

And Spock screaming "Khan" was just fun. You don't like it, meh...you're a joyless prod who isn't going to like anything so why even bother trying to entertain you?

 

Cumberbatch is note perfect. Having now seen the movie I'm not as convinced as I was before that Khan will feature in the third movie, but he'll be back without a doubt - and when he is, I hope Cumberbatch plays him again.

That will be epic.

Other quick notes:

• They do not "cure death" - that's bullshit;
• Warp distance to Kronos is not "two minutes" - that's bullshit;
• They won't soon be "beaming from one star system to the next" again - that's bullshit;
• The Enterprise has one hell of a warp core - for the first time ever it looks real and as if it could be something that powers a huge spaceship, rather than a sculture spilling useless blue light on to the set.

Wow. Tremendous movie. I've got no complaints.

 

Whatever.

 

I loved it. I don't really care to spend the next four years arguing about why it's great, so I'll just get it out here.

The movie is fantastic to look at. The planets, the ship, fhe costuming, even the background details on Earth look better than anything we've seen in a Star Trek movie before. I was especially impressed with the new warp trails.

The sound design is still far and away better in the latest two movies than what came before.

I wasn't too thrilled with some of the corny lines that were in the last movie, but I thought the dialogue was much better in this film. It's even incredibly funny without venturing into comedy territory.

Nods to Mudd, Section 31, another Chapel reference, etc to keep us Trekkers entertained.

They tried to pretend it wasn't Khan even though we all knew it was Khan, yet they still managed to tell a unique story while paying homage to what had come before.

If Leonard Nimoy liked it, I have to like it.

 

Any clues on who the computer voice was?

 

Glad everyone enjoyed it

I did sit around in the credits just to see who Nolan North played (and listen to the music) but forgot to look out for that!

 

Okay. You two really have me looking forward to tomorrow morning now!

 

The Mudd reference was pretty sly.

I must be too much of a long-time Trek fan to judge whether the last part of the movie does in fact "bog down" a bit on fannish minutiae as a couple of professional reviewers have suggested - the tone and pace of the thing was seamless from beginning to end as far as I could tell.

The Klingons - Holy Fuck, as Squiggy has so eloquently put it. Yeah, bring on the Klingons in the third one. They are scary strange. Frankly now that they've established one without the hair I'd just as soon see them all go that way.

 

Nice little nod to Praxis too.

 

Yeah, that was cute.

Pine has a little Shatner moment on the way into Pike's office early in the movie; I LOLed.

I don't miss the original cast playing these characters, not one bit. They had a very good, very long run - decades, for goodness sake - and Kirk, Spock, McCoy and crew are excellently served as characters by the new cast.

Oh, and they appear to have added a new Enterprise crew member to the core cast: Carol Marcus. Uhura's skills and character are pivotal to this movie. So whoever it is who keeps harping on the lack of strong female roles in TOS can stop, now.

 

I'm (again) impressed by how Quinto's body language is so TOS Spock. The slight hunch, the stiffness, the way he stands off to the side and tilts his head. He's obviously studied Nimoy's Spock closely. He looks a little more awkward but NuSpock is also younger so that makes sense too.

And I lol'd at that Kirk moment as well Dennis, perfect delivery too.

 

B+

A fun spectacle of a summer movie with lots of action, special effects and a bit of Trek thrown in.

The Absolutely Awsome…

- Khan. I like what they did with the character in this continuity and he was every bit the intelligent menacing villain I expect him to be. Plus, I really got a kick out of Cumberbatch and his superdramatic stage enunciation as he spoke. He really played the part to perfection. I hope we see Khan again, but with a movie every three or four years, I don't know if we will. Even if he just gets a small part I'd be happy, like a Hannibal Lecter sort of role.

- Kirk and Khan working together. Oh man!

- Future Earth. Very lavish on a big budget.

- The Transporter effects. I like the swirling effect and seeing people move about as they're being transported.

- Scotty.

- Action on foot. I loved seeing a chase through the streets of San Fransisco. It was so anti-Trek. Who thought we'd ever see Spock chasing Khan through the mall?

The Disappointing…

- Same soundtrack as the first movie.

- A weak story. It was fun and innovative in a lot of respects, but it was more of a summer blockbuster plot than a real story.

- Some of the humor fell flat.

- The 3D was hit or miss.

- Too many uniform variations and not enough of the TOS ones.

- Kirk's death at the end rang hollow. We haven't spent enough time with these characters to really appreciate a moment like that. It looked exactly like what they were trying to do… Ape The Wrath of Khan. Plus who didn't know that Khan's blood would save the day?

Fascinating…

- Looked like Praxis has impacted Kronos. Mining disaster came early in this timeline.

- I was disappointed that Christine Chapel wasn't going to be in this, but I like the reference that we got. She was with Kirk this time around. Way to go Jim! I hope they have bigger plans for her down the road. That will mke up for her not being around.

In Closing…

I wasn't blown away, but I quite enjoyed the ride and look forward to seeing this in 2D. I also look forward to seeing where they go with Carol Marcus. Is there a David in their future?

Now on to read these 2000+ posts.

 

I can't think of any worthwhile reason to bring Christine Chapel back into Star Trek at this point. She was a minor character in TOS, an occasional walk-on in a few of the old TOS-based movies, and they have a growing cast for this version already what with Doctor Marcus being added. They've more than adequately served her legacy by name-checking her. Maybe they can do the same with Rand at some point.

Oh, did I mention "A+"?

Carry on.

 

Star Trek Into Darkness’: A cast of young stars advances franchise with smarts, flair



http://www.washingtonpost.com/going...009498-b7eb-11e2-92f3-f291801936b8_story.html

With every element so clearly put in place and the “Star Trek” vernacular so lovingly preserved and elaborated, the biggest challenge facing the filmmakers — especially screenwriters Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof — is to make sure that subsequent stories deepen what they have built, rather than just pile on more effects and stunts. Thankfully, “Star Trek Into Darkness” leaves the hatch open to countless possibilities, whether brand-new story lines or visits to familiar faces and places from the past. With the franchise now securely underway, it’s reassuring to know that Abrams and his team have the con.

 

I thought the soundtrack was the same, and it definitely used a lot of notes from it but listening to it now (and several times already) it has a lot of great stuff.

 

There was a lot of new music.

 

Yes, there was. And of course they're going to rehash the theme from the last movie. Its called a theme. I seem to recall 9 movies and 170 episodes that had a slmilar score.