The first review I ever did for this blog was on Star Trek 2009. I didn’t like it and spent a lot of time
discussing the few pros and the laundry list of cons I thought that film had. So now that the sequel has finally arrived
what do I think of it? Well…let’s just
say there’s still a lot to talk about.
This review contains FULL SPOILERS for the film you have been warned.
With my last post about this film I asked the filmmakers to
give me the best they had and honestly when I left the theatre I was ready to
say that they had done just that. That
they had explored the new universe they created; that they did have a theme
this time, a character arc for Kirk, and some stylistic improvements over the
last film in terms of visuals. However, the
more I think about it and read discussions about in the fan community I’m
finding the same problem I had with Star Trek
2009 is still present here: giving this film any considerable thought
beyond it being a fun thrill ride causes the whole thing to fall apart.
Well, let me try to start this on a positive note
first. On second thought let’s not
because I don’t think the film started on a positive note. In fact with the opening scene I thought this
film was going to be just as bad as the last one. The Enterprise was hiding underwater and that
seemed needlessly complicated for observing a civilization that as Pike
describes has barely invented the wheel.
Why couldn’t the ship just stay in orbit? Also like the red matter/black hole mess we
had more science fail going on. Volcanos
are a natural phenomenon on Earth where tectonic plates meet and one of them
erupting does not end our civilization or the planet. Yes certain areas can be devastated, but
unless this civilization is severely localized one eruption won’t end it. Also I thought Spock in the volcano was just
an excuse to show off special effects and that his suit looked ugly as
hell. I nearly choked on my popcorn from
trying not to laugh at it. Spock using
the needs of the many line I thought was trite and stupid, and it seemed that
the writers still hadn’t learned that sticking in lines from better works does
not suddenly make your film as good as those were. We were off to a bad start.
The film did seem to pick up though with Kirk getting called
on his rash move to break the prime directive and his lack of humility. In thinking that the rules don’t apply to him
and that he can do what he wants and damn the consequences. It was something that needed to be address
last time and wasn’t so the dressing down from Pike was good. I have problems with the follow up but let’s
stick to positives for the moment. And
really I found that I actually liked Kirk in this film. We actually got to see him think on his feet multiple
times. He was questioning things,
delegating tasks to his crew in a mostly professional manner. He recognized when he skills weren’t needed
on the bridge and turned command over to Spock in the nice hallway scene before
he went over to Admiral Marcus’ ship with Khan; and he got half-way decent in a
fist fight. I could finally see some
glimpses of the strong professional man that Kirk Prime was reflected in this
Kirk and I really liked that. The
flirting thing was still an issue and his insulting Spock was too, along with
him mocking Spock’s and Uhura’s relationship on the bridge. That was completely uncalled for. So the character is still an asshole in many
respects, but I’ll concede that he was less of one this time around.
Now that I mentioned the Spock/Uhura relationship I have to
say that I still don’t care for it. I
don’t hate it like I did last time, because it’s not here for shock value it’s
just a carryover from something that was present in the storyline already. The problem I do have though is that it is
still utterly unprofessional and dragging both characters down instead of
enhancing them. The argument in the
shuttle is just embarrassing. The middle
of a mission is not the time to hash things out as a couple and they both
should know better. Uhura should also
know better than to think that because Spock would give up his life for the
prime directive that somehow means he doesn’t care. I’m sorry Uhura, but both of you made the
choice to have a career in which you may be asked to give up your lives for
others. Acting like Spock doing what
duty required of him is some big betrayal makes you look selfish and immature.
I did like Uhura’s speech to the Klingons though. However, I hate the looks of the Klingons. Why do they have random metal in their
ridges? Why do they have to wear
helmets? Well anyway hearing Uhura speak
about honour with the Klingons was good I just wish it hadn’t ended in yet
another firefight, with everyone in medium to close up shots. Seriously Abrams would it kill you to back
the camera up so we can have a master shot of the fight scene, just once? Using nice wide shots looked great when
Scotty Kirk and Khan were in the cargo bay of the admiral’s ship and I would
have liked to have seen even more variety in the composition of the film.
I liked Leonard Nimoy’s cameo even though it was only there
for fanservice. Although I don’t know why
he has mostly black hair again. Spock
Prime is obviously taking that rebuild the Vulcan race plan very seriously
indeed. Also I have found a uniform I
hate more than the Starfleet pyjamas in The
Motion Picture! I really don’t like
the grey uniforms with the hats I think everyone in them looks awful. Also McCoy’s medical tunic and whatever
get-up he’s is wearing when Kirk wakes up after being mostly dead just make me
cringe. McCoy already had a nice blue
medical tunic established in TOS why couldn’t we have that? Also at least in The Motion Picture Deforest Kelley looked good in the white doctor’s
uniform. Karl Urban does not.
I have to say that I initially really liked that the writers
were going more subtle with the references to old canon, needs of the many line
notwithstanding. I liked things like the
use of Doctor Daystrom. I like that
Carol’s mother’s last name is Wallace, likely a reference to Janice Wallace
Kirk Prime’s ex-girlfriend from ‘The Deadly Years’. I like that her haircut looked like Doctor
Dehner’s and that she and Kirk talk about being part of a family. A callback to the prime timeline in the genetic
family they share in their son David. I
like that they talk about Sulu liking command, obviously a callback to Captain
Sulu from Star Trek VI. The point at which the referencing all falls
to pieces though is the ending; where they try to remake Wrath of Khan and fail
miserable. Now the role reversal is
interesting, but I don’t care for it simply because the moment I saw the hand
clip in the trailers I called that twist.
I knew they would never be stupid enough to duplicate Spock’s death so I
figured Kirk was the one in peril and I was right. I also called the Kirk not dying part. With the poorly slotted in scene of McCoy
with the tribble I knew he wasn’t staying dead and all suspense and tension was
gone.
Also Spock’s Khan line doesn’t hold
a candle to Shatner’s. Guys that iconic moment
is never going to be duplicated please give it up. Also I find that didn’t like Quinto’s
performance as much as I did in the last film and I’m going to put that
entirely down to the writing. Yes I could
say that Leonard Nimoy’s performance is better and I do think it is, but Nimoy
also had the opportunity to establish Spock over a longer period. To show him as a quiet internalized character
that certainly had deep feelings, but the expression of them outwardly was rare
and so when it happened you knew it was a big deal. With this new universe Spock has expressed
rage and anger when he tried to kill Kirk on the bridge. He expressed revenge against Nero when he
didn’t want to save him. He expressed love
to Uhura with human customs and in public, twice. So his big blow up at the end means nothing
to me because it’s nothing new. Spock has
been expressing big emotions all over the place in these new movies, why am I
supposed to care that he wants to beat Khan to a pulp?
And speaking of the big ending we once again have gaping
plot holes just so we can have action scenes.
McCoy has 72 other superhuman blood donors right there in his
sickbay. There is no need for the big
bruiser fight with Khan at the end other than that we need an action scene. The Enterprise is shown fighting the ship that I don't remember the name of
out by the moon and then somehow getting low enough in Earth’s atmosphere to be
effected by gravity despite not moving from their original position, why? So Scotty and Kirk can look cool as they race
to the engine room. Also a lot of the
theme of the film and the plot of it are built around Starfleet becoming more
paranoid, more militaristic. That’s why
Khan was discovered earlier and unthawed.
But if this is all about making the borders safe and protecting
ourselves why the hell does no one notice the giant space battle taking place
right on Earth’s doorstep!?
Also the Khan thing doesn’t work for me. It was working when he described himself as a
peace group guy and was on Kirk’s side, because I thought great they said they
wanted to use the new timeline to take things in a different direction and they
are doing just that. Taking this big bad
from the original canon and having him be working side by side with Kirk? Good stuff.
Also changing Khan’s backstory would confirm once and for all that this
timeline is indeed completely separate from the prime timeline. It’s not just a branching off point from it,
but is totally separate and always was, because something was drastically
different before Nero appeared; and so all my continuity complaints from the
last film went away. But then, then they
had to go and ruin it by revealing Khan as a villain; and having the last
twenty minutes or so of this film be a line by line re-telling of a film that
doesn’t suck. You had it guys and you
lost it. Instead of making something your own you again created spectacle and action over proper substance, and the
only substance you have came from stealing it directly from a superior film. Seriously after four years the best you could
give us was a bad re-telling of Wrath of
Khan? You spend the whole last film
talking up the new timeline and how everyone’s destines were changed and
anything could happen, and then you just go over a storyline that was done perfectly
well enough thirty years ago. What the
hell is the matter with these filmmakers?
The last thing that really bothers me here is that I know
I’m being manipulated by this film, and not in a good way. I feel like the people making this were going
down a check list of all the criticisms they got on the last film and thought
that if they just paid lip service to them that was good enough. People complained about Uhura only being
Spock’s girlfriend we’ll have her shoot a phaser and be in fights that’ll fix
it. People think Kirk didn’t earn his
place in the captain’s chair. We’ll have
Pike say all of that, but we won’t back it up, because once again the film
shows that Kirk was right not to follow rules because Admiral Marcus is a war
monger. People complained about too few
women. We’ll bring in Carol Marcus and
have her do stuff, like undress in the shuttle for no reason other than to give
us a panty shot for the trailer. And
while we’re doing that we’ll have some bullshit conversation about Christine
Chapel. That character was played by
Majel Barrett the great first lady of Trek and you decided it was better to use
that character as a throw away Kirk conquest instead of letting her just be a
goddamned nurse! Fuck you writers your misogyny
is showing. I won’t put Gene
Roddernberry up on a pedestal as some great supporter of woman’s equality, but
why do we seem to be getting less progressive in this franchise as time goes
on?
To sum it all up what I was really looking for in this film
was the idea that this whole reboot concept could be viable. That they could work from their premise of
making an alternate universe so they could tell new stories without being
wrapped up in continuity. This was the
film that should have done that and they failed utterly and completely. These guys have shown me that they can’t do
anything new. They can just graft things
together from other better sources and call it a day. That had great potential in this premise and
they chucked it in the garbage. They
could have made something good and lasting and instead they settled on
rehashing and mediocrity. This film is
better than the last one, but that is not a worthy accomplishment in my eyes.
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