Chekov.

[Arpy]

My feelings toward the new Chekov seemed to come together today. He was fun, but troubling. He's too young, too smart, too earnest. He's too Wesley Crusher, after you get past the couple funny moments he had. Where's such a character to go in the next movie?

The original may have been a smart young man, but he had flavor. He was wiley, proud, Russian, and had a sense of humor - one you laughed with, not at. Also he was emotional in a relatable regular-Joe way. Yelchin's is too sweet and one-note.

If he doesn't get a personality, I think he may become cannon fodder - one of the big 7 they kill off to show that anything's possible in this new Trek. Hell, they killed Romulus, Vulcan, and Amanda in the last one, and showed Kirk's dad's death too.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I dunno, I really felt for Chekov when he was trying and failing to input his authorization code. It was a really short bit, but they made his struggle to pronounce "victor" quite apparent. In that scene they played it much more like a speech impediment than an accent, and I thought it worked really well.

In all of TNG, I never felt sorry for Wesley. At all. He was a spoiled little douchebag punk.

I would like to know how 17-year-old Chekov got to be first-choice navigator (Sulu was a replacement, McCoy took over when the CMO was killed, Scotty took over a bit after Olsen idioted himself to death etc.) aboard Starfleet's flagship. We never saw him at the academy - had he already graduated? Scotty's nephew Peter Preston was supposedly only 14 in Wrath of Khan.


I have no idea what they'll do with Chekov in the next film - but the great thing is, I don't have any idea where any of the crew are going. Anything can happen now - and I don't think Trek's left me thinking that before.

 

[sonak]

yeah, I don't know why they made him a Wesley Crusher-esque supergenius, instead of a regular early twenty-something character.

 

[The Wormhole]

My problem with Chekov in Trek XI is that they overdid it with the reversal of v and w. It seemed every line of dialogue he had had him saying something with a v or a w just so we could hear pronounce it differently.

The v/w reversal was not that prominent in TOS. In fact, they didn't really focus on it until Trek IV, which is the primary reason why the "Nuclear Wessels" bit is so memorable. In Trek XI, it's in your face eevrytime he's on screen.

Meanwhile, they completely ignored the one aspect of classic Chekov that was truly funny, his patriotic belief that everything of any signifcance in the universe had a Russian origin.

 

[Satyrquaze]

^ They have a whole other movie in which to showcase it.

 

[The Wormhole]

In that case, I expect nothing less than Trek XII to have all of Chekov's lines have him talking about Russia and how it contributed to everything of importance. I will accept nothing less than this and failure to adhere to this request will be grounds to boycott Trek XII. Also, it'll rape my childhood.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

In that case, I expect nothing less than Trek XII to have all of Chekov's lines have him talking about Russia and how it contributed to everything of importance. I will accept nothing less than this and failure to adhere to this request will be grounds to boycott Trek XII. Also, it'll rape my childhood.

That's not "Trek XII", that's "Star Trek 02".

 

[Brian]

I just figured they had to make him smart to make it plausible that he has the position he does at so young an age. At least it gives him a reason for being there, whereas Koenig's Chekov was just "there" most of the time.

 

[sonak]

I just figured they had to make him smart to make it plausible that he has the position he does at so young an age. At least it gives him a reason for being there, whereas Koenig's Chekov was just "there" most of the time.

but why did the character have to be so young in the first place? He's not supposed to be a teenager in TOS, just a young, inexperienced ensign, why couldn't it be that way in Trek XI?

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

but why did the character have to be so young in the first place? He's not supposed to be a teenager in TOS, just a young, inexperienced ensign, why couldn't it be that way in Trek XI?

Chekov is the young Russian guy. In a movie like Star Trek, where you have to introduce so many characters in so short a time, he has to be younger and more Russian, otherwise he would be completely forgettable.

 

[Brian]

Yeah, they de-aged the rest of the crew so much, it's a wonder Chekov wasn't walking around in diapers, lol.

 

[Dukhat]

Besides the depiction of Scotty as comedy relief (which had nothing to do with Simon Pegg's acting abilities, and plenty to do with the script), Chekov was the only other character I had an issue with. As has been said before, it almost felt like they confused Chekov with Wesley Crusher when establishing the character. Also, I know that Yelchin is of Russian descent, but the guy's an American. Couldn't they have found a genuine Russian actor who didn't need to use a fake accent?

The other issue I had was Chekov's look, and I don't just mean the mop-top. It was obvious that, besides acting ability, TPTB were trying to find people who actually bore a resemblance to their 1960's couterparts. IMHO, Pine looks like a young Shatner, Quinto looks like a young Nimoy, Urban looks like a young DeForest, Saldana looks like a young Nichelle (minus the beehive hairdo), etc. Anton Yelchin looks nothing like a young Walter Koenig. I know some fans have speculated that this isn't even the same Chekov from TOS, but I think that's BS. He's obviously supposed to be the same guy, but he's just not convincing enough.

Yeah, they de-aged the rest of the crew so much, it's a wonder Chekov wasn't walking around in diapers, lol.

That's just your perception. A 20-year-old in 1960 would have looked far older than their age than a 20-year old in 2009.

 

[Brian]

So, the fact that Kirk became a captain at least 10 years earlier than in TOS wasn't really a de-aging of the character? Half the crew being a class of cadets, rather than seasoned officers wasn't a de-aging? They only looked older in the 60's?

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Chekov on TOS was a one-note ethnic joke with a bad accent. There's nowhere to go but up.

 

[Brian]

Chekov on TOS was a one-note ethnic joke with a bad accent. There's nowhere to go but up.

This.

 

[Satyrquaze]

In that case, I expect nothing less than Trek XII to have all of Chekov's lines have him talking about Russia and how it contributed to everything of importance. I will accept nothing less than this and failure to adhere to this request will be grounds to boycott Trek XII. Also, it'll rape my childhood.

It's Chekov, not Michael Bay.

 

[Dukhat]

So, the fact that Kirk became a captain at least 10 years earlier than in TOS wasn't really a de-aging of the character? Half the crew being a class of cadets, rather than seasoned officers wasn't a de-aging? They only looked older in the 60's?

You're talking about artistic choices made for the film. I'm talking about the relative age range characteristics between someone from 1960 and someone from 2009.

But if your point is that the characters look too young because the film takes place at least 10 years before we see those same characters again in TOS, then in 10 years they should all look just right to you

 

[Brian]

I'm talking about how they put all the characters in place at a much younger point in their lives than in the television show. So for Chekov to remain the "eager youngster" in comparison, he had to be very young. So they had to give him some edge (intellect) to warrant him even being there.

 

[shapeshifter]

In Generations, Chekov, joking to Kirk on the apparent youth of Sulu's daughter says, I vas never that young. Kirk looks him up and down adoringly, and smiling, replies, Nooo, you were younger. It's teh Canon1! His accent will, with practice, improve over time.

As for his apparent higher IQ here, I wonder if this was inspired by a few OS episodes in-which Spock seems to have taken him under his wing, perhaps is even tutoring him on the side... At least, that is the feeling I got from those scenes. It's possible the writers here picked that out as well and decided to really give him something for Spock to find admirable about early on. I like to think they are providing some foreshadowing of this [possible] future connection between them.

 

[Nerd unRage]

In that case, I expect nothing less than Trek XII to have all of Chekov's lines have him talking about Russia and how it contributed to everything of importance. I will accept nothing less than this and failure to adhere to this request will be grounds to boycott Trek XII. Also, it'll rape my childhood.