So ... I [finally] saw it.
Aaaaand it was awesome.
Yes, did you hear that? It had egregious scientific errors and logic gaps and whatever, but it was so much fun I didn't care.
1. All L.A. filmmakers (and actors) intending to make a film that features a frozen wasteland or, indeed, any severe wintry conditions should be required to spend a week in Winnipeg in January. Get a feel for what real cold is like. Familiarize yourself with how it slaps you in the face when you open a door. Learn how to breathe when you can feel every molecule of air freezing the inside of your nose. Wear a hat.
2. Sherlock Holmes quote! [high-five J.J. Abrams]
3. I think someone saw Treasure Planet and thought 'I could do way better than that.' I mean, not the whole thing, but Troubled Daredevil Young Jim and Let's Surf The Explosion From Inside the Black Hole are ... kind of ... familiar.
4. You know what I don't care about? Sound in space. I mean, I do care about it, and yes it was inconsistent in this movie, but every time the choice presented itself – sound or no sound – they went with the choice that would have the most dramatic impact. I respect that.
5. Stranding a 'Scott' on an ice planet ... I like it. Perhaps it was unintentional but I like it anyway.
6. CHARACTERS = YES. Except perhaps Uhura who seemed to be there mostly for the same reasons as Lupin in the last three books of the Harry Potter series: exposition, hugs, and giving other characters motivation. I might find this disappointing but there were so many other really great characters that I ... just ... really don't care. Nice casting, whoever was in charge of casting! (And I don't just say this because they cast Simon Pegg.) I didn't recognize many names, so I hope this movie launches all their careers.
7. A couple times I got distracted by my own thought process about last-minute changes on Frog (the sort of thing my brain can gnaw on for hours, uninterrupted) but the movie pulled me back in. That's how fun it was.
8. A thought occurred to me when I saw Star Wars for the first time, which occurred to me again tonight: I wonder how much a good score that takes itself seriously can counteract what might otherwise be perceived as hokeyness in a movie. Take away the John Williams score and Star Wars is, in many ways, just another corny mid-century scifi flick – if Star Trek did not have Michael Giacchino, would it have had the dramatic integrity that it did?
9. Okay okay okay, you know what's awesome? The new warp ... thing! The way they go 'neeeeooooowwwwww ... PK!' and they just GO! Like, with one or two frames favour just to let you know they're moving forward, but you can feel the force, it's so cool.
10. That little green dude with the wrinkly head could so have been the annoying-voiceover sidekick. But it WASN'T! Mr Abrams, I could kiss you! (... if I were Uhura. Which I am not.)
Aaaaand it was awesome.
Yes, did you hear that? It had egregious scientific errors and logic gaps and whatever, but it was so much fun I didn't care.
1. All L.A. filmmakers (and actors) intending to make a film that features a frozen wasteland or, indeed, any severe wintry conditions should be required to spend a week in Winnipeg in January. Get a feel for what real cold is like. Familiarize yourself with how it slaps you in the face when you open a door. Learn how to breathe when you can feel every molecule of air freezing the inside of your nose. Wear a hat.
2. Sherlock Holmes quote! [high-five J.J. Abrams]
3. I think someone saw Treasure Planet and thought 'I could do way better than that.' I mean, not the whole thing, but Troubled Daredevil Young Jim and Let's Surf The Explosion From Inside the Black Hole are ... kind of ... familiar.
4. You know what I don't care about? Sound in space. I mean, I do care about it, and yes it was inconsistent in this movie, but every time the choice presented itself – sound or no sound – they went with the choice that would have the most dramatic impact. I respect that.
5. Stranding a 'Scott' on an ice planet ... I like it. Perhaps it was unintentional but I like it anyway.
6. CHARACTERS = YES. Except perhaps Uhura who seemed to be there mostly for the same reasons as Lupin in the last three books of the Harry Potter series: exposition, hugs, and giving other characters motivation. I might find this disappointing but there were so many other really great characters that I ... just ... really don't care. Nice casting, whoever was in charge of casting! (And I don't just say this because they cast Simon Pegg.) I didn't recognize many names, so I hope this movie launches all their careers.
7. A couple times I got distracted by my own thought process about last-minute changes on Frog (the sort of thing my brain can gnaw on for hours, uninterrupted) but the movie pulled me back in. That's how fun it was.
8. A thought occurred to me when I saw Star Wars for the first time, which occurred to me again tonight: I wonder how much a good score that takes itself seriously can counteract what might otherwise be perceived as hokeyness in a movie. Take away the John Williams score and Star Wars is, in many ways, just another corny mid-century scifi flick – if Star Trek did not have Michael Giacchino, would it have had the dramatic integrity that it did?
9. Okay okay okay, you know what's awesome? The new warp ... thing! The way they go 'neeeeooooowwwwww ... PK!' and they just GO! Like, with one or two frames favour just to let you know they're moving forward, but you can feel the force, it's so cool.
10. That little green dude with the wrinkly head could so have been the annoying-voiceover sidekick. But it WASN'T! Mr Abrams, I could kiss you! (... if I were Uhura. Which I am not.)
Re: YAY FINALLY :D
Date: 2009-06-24 01:32 pm (UTC)About that - I was 100% behind the first kiss. But then, the making out before being transported? My first gut reaction was: "This is too much." But upon further analysis, I have decided that overwhelming flows of emotion would be a plausible given the extreme circumstances.
Yes, Chekov seemed to me to be the 2-d fanboy 'paste your face here' character. But very cute.
Re: YAY FINALLY :D
Date: 2009-06-24 02:54 pm (UTC)And the making-out on the transporter – I thought that was done mostly for Kirk's benefit. :) Thankfully it was very short, considering Hollywood precedent.