I would like JJ Abrams to direct Star Trek 4.
- Thread starter Dales
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Closer to the action is fine, just keep things coherent. There were moments in the corridors of the (crashed) Enterprise saucer with Kirk and Chekov fighting the bad guys where I couldn't make out anything that was going on for scenes at a time. I know the old excuse of "It's disorienting like a real fight", but that's the lamest excuse, if you have a story to film, let us see it.
It's not the speed that's the problem, it's the up too close shaky camera syndrome that is. Every shot of Abrams had all the information you needed to understand what was going on and connect the previous scene to the next. There was nothing to hide.
I love Beyond. I honestly consider it to be one of the best Trek films in the series. However, I'm fine with Pegg and Jung not coming back. Just because it's the same team doesn't mean it's automatically going to be just as good or better. I've been burned too many times before. Most recently Skyfall, which I thought was exemplary Bond, followed by Spectre, which was just kind of there.
Just keep the characters going on their current development and have a great story and I don't care who writes it. However, I'm fine with Justin Lin sticking around. His eye is easier for me to enjoy than Abrams. With the bright flares and the shaky cam, I neded a sensory break.
But keep Michael Giacchino! His music has been home run followed by home run.
Just keep the characters going on their current development and have a great story and I don't care who writes it. However, I'm fine with Justin Lin sticking around. His eye is easier for me to enjoy than Abrams. With the bright flares and the shaky cam, I neded a sensory break.
But keep Michael Giacchino! His music has been home run followed by home run.
His music was much better in Beyond where Enterprising Young Men was reined in and didn't dominate the film.
Abrams is the definition of not directing plot well, at least as a tentpole franchise director. (This is puzzling because he could handle plot competently in something like Cloverfield, but even as someone who liked his efforts in The Force Awakens the comparative deficiency in plot competence is glaring, it's just that it doesn't bother me as much in a comparatively kid's-stuff franchise like Star Wars. For me that applies in spades to his Trek movies.)
I'm not really all that impressed by Abrams' action direction in the Trek franchise either. I mean, streaks ahead of the "action" in something like Generations, obviously, but he mostly seemed to think the best way to generate tension was to dangle Chris Pine off of something. Didn't work for me past a certain point, I like Lin's work better.
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Well, you're right about them not using Kirk:
Though I do wonder if 'finding new ways to create tension' was truly Pegg's motivation when taking that role from Kirk and giving it to Scotty.
'Dear Diary. Today, we wrote a scene where I survived fall from a cliff, by supporting my entire (falling) body weight with one hand. Then I pull myself back to solid ground with said hand.'
I'm gonna look so badass...'
I'm gonna look so badass...'
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I'd prefer Justin Lin to return. While I liked ST09 and Into Darkness. Those movies were just so fast paced and not given time to breathe properly. Even more so than Quantum of Solace. Which I think is a decent Bond film. Beyond was considerably slower paced where things were allowed to breathe and develop naturally instead of zipping from Point A to Point B in minutes.
Abrams did not direct Cloverfield.
I really hope he doesn't return to Trek, even if Lin passes too. The next film will establish the look for the Enterprise-A interior, and I'd hate for our one chance to de-JJ the old girl to slip away. I really hope Lin returns for one more. And more than that, I wish they weren't bringing back Payne and the other writer whose name I forget. Call me biased, but I don't want Orci acolytes writing it.
I don't want Abrams back. I never liked his sensibilities as a director. Plus, he doesn't like Star Trek. He was talked into doing it by his Bad Robot buddies but his heart was never in it the way it was for something like STAR WARS or SUPER 8, and that's why we had terrible characterizations of the crew to the point that Kirk was turned into a joke when he's supposed to be the hero.
BEYOND showed that Lin and Pegg showed a more earnest respect for Trek. For me, they delivered on making a summer spectacle while staying true to the spirit of Trek and its characters. I was so happy that Pine finally got a chance to play Kirk as the respectful commander that was more introspective about his place, his never ending concern for his crew and his realization of what he earnestly wants to do in Starfleet. No more obnoxious frat boy Kirk from the first two. STID almost fixed him, but the writing didn't really deliver on it in the end as hard as Pine tried to make it work.
I guess I'm not just saying no more Abrams, I'm also saying no more Orci, Kurtzman, and Lindelof. If Lin passes on, I hope they look to other directors like Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish, or Brad Bird. And reward Pegg with a good handle on the upcoming film, because he's made right by me.
BEYOND showed that Lin and Pegg showed a more earnest respect for Trek. For me, they delivered on making a summer spectacle while staying true to the spirit of Trek and its characters. I was so happy that Pine finally got a chance to play Kirk as the respectful commander that was more introspective about his place, his never ending concern for his crew and his realization of what he earnestly wants to do in Starfleet. No more obnoxious frat boy Kirk from the first two. STID almost fixed him, but the writing didn't really deliver on it in the end as hard as Pine tried to make it work.
I guess I'm not just saying no more Abrams, I'm also saying no more Orci, Kurtzman, and Lindelof. If Lin passes on, I hope they look to other directors like Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish, or Brad Bird. And reward Pegg with a good handle on the upcoming film, because he's made right by me.
Abrams' style can be hyperkinetic, but his movies, despite their notable flaws, feel like they're about something important. Beyond may have peril and big themes in theory, but the effect is too lightweight and inconsequential.
BEYOND is about the importance of unity, that everyone has a purpose which is what Kirk discovers for himself. I think that's a more effective message than "9/11 was an inside job".
This. It was always clear the Abrams did not have a true love for the characters and it came out in the choices he made as a director. As a producer he can be alright, but I think it would be best if Abrams, Kurtzman, and Orci stay away from future Trek projects. They just don't seem to get it.
I thought Lin did a fine job, though at some points the shaky cam went over the top (I'm still not quite sure of the sequence when Bones and Spock somehow enter an escape pod and then are captured and then knock the drones out of the ship. So shaky!) A new director might be nice, but I think the key is that the director and screenwriters all actually be fans of the original show.
Bring back Lin. He is actually a Trekkie, and it shows in the final product. This felt so much more like an episode of TOS than 09 or ID.
Don't let Abrams near ST (or SW) again.
Don't let Abrams near ST (or SW) again.
That was stated in the Scotty/Jaylah/Kirk scene, but otherwise was not supported by the plot. Kirk got his crew back (though he didn't seem especially upset they were missing), and then where'd they go? Kirk and Spock changed their minds about leaving, but the reasons were never explored beyond the fact that they like each other.
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