Star Trek!
STAR TREK ZOMG! I really enjoyed that movie. It wasn't flawless, but overall I thought it was pretty damn fantastic. As a person who hasn't paid much attention to Trek for years but watched it A LOT when I was in middle school or so, I give this movie an emphatic live long and prosper sign.
-I'm really glad I went opening weekend, when there were plenty of Trekkies in the audience. Scottie said "I'm giving it all she's got, Captain!" and the audience clapped. McCoy said "Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a physicist!" and the audience went wild. When Nimoy!Spock gave Quinto!Spock the live long and prosper sign, there was more than one hand in the audience raised to give the same salute back. I do love the communal experience of seeing movies with a like-minded crowd.
-Leonard Nimoy is badass! When I heard that he was in the movie, I anticipated that it would just be a framing device, but he had an important role in the plot as not just the wise elder from the future but also the torch-wielding monster-fighter.
-Sulu carries his sword IN SPACE! Also, he forgot to take the technobabble equivalent of the parking break off the Enterprise. How adorkable! As a Doctor Who fan, I had a Christmas Invasion flashback as Sulu had a swordfight high above a planet. At least he didn't finish by yelling something about not messing with Vulcan because "It. Is. DEFENDED!" 'Cause, you know, that kinda didn't work. :( RIP, Vulcan.
-Speaking of Doctor Who connections, I think the Doctor and Spock could have a great conversation about losing one's planet.
-I know it's true to original series canon, but really, why do all the women in Star Fleet wear such ridiculously tiny miniskirts?
-Kirk and Spock sure spend a lot of time standing rather closer to each other than they really need to in order to have their arguments and male bonding moments, gazing intently into each other's faces. Like characters in many a romance movie, they start out hating each other but end up realizing that they need each other. Phasers on slash!
-Despite my enjoyment of the K/S subtext, I also appreciate the hotness that was Spock/Uhura in this film. They have gorgeous eyebrows and phenomenal brains. My favorite moment of the movie may have been when Kirk was forced to stand around awkwardly while Spock and Uhura engaged in some heavy-duty PDAs on the transporter pad. Take that, Captain! The elevator scene where Spock let his control slip just enough to bury his face in her neck was really touching too.
-It was an action-adventure flick without a lot of the Star Trek brain candy and metaphors for contemporary moral issues. I always liked that aspect of Trek when it wasn't too heavy-handed (as it often was), but this movie sure did the action thing well. Besides, it's not like it was a brainless movie.
-I'm confused about why Star Fleet decided to crew a brand new vessel going on an important mission with a whole bunch of people either just out of or still enrolled in the academy. Really, Star Fleet, is everybody qualified off doing other things and unable to change their plans?
-Before the movie, I was concerned that Zachary Quinto's previous role as Sylar would distract me too much. While there were a few moments early on when the resemblance bothered me (the scene with Spock and his mom had me looking out for snowglobes), overall between the makeup and Quinto's acting I was able to stop worrying about Spock slicing open somebody's head. Quinto gives a rather awesome performance in a role that requires a lot of subtlety.
-The scene where Scottie accidentally got transported into the strangely convoluted network of pipes had me thinking a bit of the room with all the stompy things in Galaxyquest. Really, why was that necessary? Oh well. Then Scottie had to ask for a towel. Man, that frood doesn't even know where his towel's at.
-Much love for Bones and adorable baby!Chekov as well. The guy playing McCoy did a really good job of chanelling Deforest Kelley. (Let me take this opportunity to point out the HIGHLY RELEVANT fact that Deforest Kelley and I went to the same high school. Not at the same time, however.)
-Kirk sure spends a lot of time dangling over ledges. I can think of three incidents off the top of my head, and I think there was at least one more.
-Overall, I thought the movie did a very nice job of keeping enough to make fans happy but still making Star Trek its own. The time travel changing the future was a clever way of ensuring that they can make more movies with this cast if they want to (please?) and not worry about whether events match established Trek history.
-I'm really glad I went opening weekend, when there were plenty of Trekkies in the audience. Scottie said "I'm giving it all she's got, Captain!" and the audience clapped. McCoy said "Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a physicist!" and the audience went wild. When Nimoy!Spock gave Quinto!Spock the live long and prosper sign, there was more than one hand in the audience raised to give the same salute back. I do love the communal experience of seeing movies with a like-minded crowd.
-Leonard Nimoy is badass! When I heard that he was in the movie, I anticipated that it would just be a framing device, but he had an important role in the plot as not just the wise elder from the future but also the torch-wielding monster-fighter.
-Sulu carries his sword IN SPACE! Also, he forgot to take the technobabble equivalent of the parking break off the Enterprise. How adorkable! As a Doctor Who fan, I had a Christmas Invasion flashback as Sulu had a swordfight high above a planet. At least he didn't finish by yelling something about not messing with Vulcan because "It. Is. DEFENDED!" 'Cause, you know, that kinda didn't work. :( RIP, Vulcan.
-Speaking of Doctor Who connections, I think the Doctor and Spock could have a great conversation about losing one's planet.
-I know it's true to original series canon, but really, why do all the women in Star Fleet wear such ridiculously tiny miniskirts?
-Kirk and Spock sure spend a lot of time standing rather closer to each other than they really need to in order to have their arguments and male bonding moments, gazing intently into each other's faces. Like characters in many a romance movie, they start out hating each other but end up realizing that they need each other. Phasers on slash!
-Despite my enjoyment of the K/S subtext, I also appreciate the hotness that was Spock/Uhura in this film. They have gorgeous eyebrows and phenomenal brains. My favorite moment of the movie may have been when Kirk was forced to stand around awkwardly while Spock and Uhura engaged in some heavy-duty PDAs on the transporter pad. Take that, Captain! The elevator scene where Spock let his control slip just enough to bury his face in her neck was really touching too.
-It was an action-adventure flick without a lot of the Star Trek brain candy and metaphors for contemporary moral issues. I always liked that aspect of Trek when it wasn't too heavy-handed (as it often was), but this movie sure did the action thing well. Besides, it's not like it was a brainless movie.
-I'm confused about why Star Fleet decided to crew a brand new vessel going on an important mission with a whole bunch of people either just out of or still enrolled in the academy. Really, Star Fleet, is everybody qualified off doing other things and unable to change their plans?
-Before the movie, I was concerned that Zachary Quinto's previous role as Sylar would distract me too much. While there were a few moments early on when the resemblance bothered me (the scene with Spock and his mom had me looking out for snowglobes), overall between the makeup and Quinto's acting I was able to stop worrying about Spock slicing open somebody's head. Quinto gives a rather awesome performance in a role that requires a lot of subtlety.
-The scene where Scottie accidentally got transported into the strangely convoluted network of pipes had me thinking a bit of the room with all the stompy things in Galaxyquest. Really, why was that necessary? Oh well. Then Scottie had to ask for a towel. Man, that frood doesn't even know where his towel's at.
-Much love for Bones and adorable baby!Chekov as well. The guy playing McCoy did a really good job of chanelling Deforest Kelley. (Let me take this opportunity to point out the HIGHLY RELEVANT fact that Deforest Kelley and I went to the same high school. Not at the same time, however.)
-Kirk sure spends a lot of time dangling over ledges. I can think of three incidents off the top of my head, and I think there was at least one more.
-Overall, I thought the movie did a very nice job of keeping enough to make fans happy but still making Star Trek its own. The time travel changing the future was a clever way of ensuring that they can make more movies with this cast if they want to (please?) and not worry about whether events match established Trek history.