(no subject)
May. 14th, 2009 11:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tree_and_leafSaw Star Trek with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nineveh_uk, who I hope I didn't annoy unduly by being a squeeing fangirl (and my probably unfair irritation with Jim's parents; but that was an incredibly cheesy opening sequence, and somehow rather redolent of bad fanfic).
However, once we got into the story proper, I loved it, even if schoolboy! Spock reminded me horribly of the Time Tots in The Sound of Drums (was it? Though one must admit, it was better than whatever the hell they had Amanda wearing). Moreover, it's an incredibly clever conceit for a reboot; it manages to allow for alterations to canon that don't discard previous canon, because it is (as is helpfully pointed out by Kirk, Spock and Uhura) effectively an alternative reality, linked only by the older Spock who has, I suppose, ended up in the wrong leg of the trousers of time, but seems to be taking it with his usual philosophy.
Kirk was, on the whole, a total arsehole, though nevertheless an oddly sympathetic one much of the time (not all the time; when he picks a fight with Spock, there was a moment when I actually thought - which is a tribute to the actors, given that it would have been quite impossible - that Spock was going to kill him, and I wouldn't have altogether blamed him). Altogether Old! Spock is far too nice to Kirk, because he really isn't quite the Kirk he knew - though he has many of the same characteristics and talents (including deviousness and raging ambition) that are recognisable from the older reality. On the other hand, Older Spock's trust is a major factor in Kirk becoming much more his alternate awesome (if slightly smug) self; so, admittedly, is the number and variety of ways in which he is forced to admit that, even if he is going to end up as Captain, this is more a story about Spock than about him, whether it's the Romulan yelling "Spock! Spock! I want Spock dead", or the fact that, as he and Spock head off on their Daring Rescue Mission, it's Spock who gets thoroughly snogged by Uhura* (who Kirk has been making desperate attempts to pull throughout the film). Kirk does almost get his end away, incidentally, but that's turned into another occasion of humiliation.
Karl Urban as McCoy is brilliant; McCoy,indeed, is fantastic (and gets the early suspicion of Spock just right, because there are still moments when you can see why they'll be friends), and I take back my scepticism about Simon Pegg, who is pretty marvelous as an appropriately geeky Scotty† (though he doesn't look quite right, and it's rather weird to have a Scott who actually sounds Scots - though I'm not complaining about the latter)
Zach Quinto is absolutely fantastic as Spock (and there are moments where he really does look very much like Nimoy, mostly in side face). He's still not as sexy as Nimoy was in his salad days, but he's bloody good in the role; his body language in particular is very like Nimoy's (including the hand tucked behind his back) while looking natural, rather than an impression, and he's good, like Nimoy, at suggesting supressed emotion with very minimal signs.
Loved the various shout-outs to canon - Spock quoting Holmes; the fight sequence where Kirk is dangling off the precipice, which is very like ST III; Cpt Pike (who, poor soul, ends up in a wheelchair in this reality, too, though at least not locked-in and totally helpless); those horrible mental earwigs from Wrath of Khan; the revisiting of revenge themes and the parent-child stuff; the various catchphrases; Archer's beagle; "You lied?" "I ... implied"; and the final credits, where Nimoy reads the 'to boldly go' speech over the original music actually made me squeak with glee. And now we know why Spock never took the Kobayashi Maru test; it's because he wrote it (all the conversations about it, and problems with no solutions were, of course, full of irony). Loved Spock's rejection of admission to the Vulcan Science Academy, and the way Quinto managed to make "Live long and prosper" sound simultaneously emotionless and polite and like "Screw you".
Next time, it would be nice to have Uhura doing something more (though at least it was demonstrated that her language skills are genuinely awesome and that Spock thinks she's brilliant); though I really liked the Spock/ Uhura, rather more than I'd expected to.
Niggles: the science was spectacularly silly, even for Trek. Spock had one really, really bad line when summing up the destruction of Vulcan: "I am now a member of an endangered species". And while I don't mind the suggestion that 24th Century Earth is currently going through a very retro phase, the idea that Nokia is still functioning and still making mobile phones with that bloody awful ringtone is... somewhat boggling. And seriously, Budweiser? They've also given up on trying to make the interiors of, say, research stations look futuristic - breezeblocks, alarmed fire doors and loudspeakers prevail (not so much a niggle, more an observation). Though I did, mostly, like the ship interiors: they managed simultaneously (mostly thanks to the computer displays) to look believably advances, while still looking very grungy compared to the Enterprise as we later knew her. Though some of the engine room appeared to have wandered in from Galaxy Quest ("Whoever wrote this episode DESERVES TO DIE!")
I was cycling home and stopped at traffic lights when I heard a voice behind me saying "... of course he was made Commodore later" and then an explanation of the Kobayashi Maru test and its wider significance in Trek, the discussion continuing as Old Fan and New Fan cycled off up the road. It really was a splendid film; and if it sometimes felt like fan-fic, then in the best possible way.
In conclusion: NIMOY NIMOY NIMOY ZOMG! And, yeah, Zach Quinto and Karl Urban. More please?
* Oddly reminiscent of the moment in "Trials and Tribblations" where Dax comments on 'how much more attractive he is in the flesh than in pictures... those eyes!', and Sisko recalls Kirk's reputation as a ladies' man, only for Dax to reply, with withering contempt, 'Not him, Spock."
† Who, let's not forget, had to be practically ordered to take shore-leave in "Trouble with Tribbles" and, when it all went wrong and he had his shore-going privileges suspended, was quite pleased because he'd rather be reading journals anyway....
nineveh_uk, who I hope I didn't annoy unduly by being a squeeing fangirl (and my probably unfair irritation with Jim's parents; but that was an incredibly cheesy opening sequence, and somehow rather redolent of bad fanfic).However, once we got into the story proper, I loved it, even if schoolboy! Spock reminded me horribly of the Time Tots in The Sound of Drums (was it? Though one must admit, it was better than whatever the hell they had Amanda wearing). Moreover, it's an incredibly clever conceit for a reboot; it manages to allow for alterations to canon that don't discard previous canon, because it is (as is helpfully pointed out by Kirk, Spock and Uhura) effectively an alternative reality, linked only by the older Spock who has, I suppose, ended up in the wrong leg of the trousers of time, but seems to be taking it with his usual philosophy.
Kirk was, on the whole, a total arsehole, though nevertheless an oddly sympathetic one much of the time (not all the time; when he picks a fight with Spock, there was a moment when I actually thought - which is a tribute to the actors, given that it would have been quite impossible - that Spock was going to kill him, and I wouldn't have altogether blamed him). Altogether Old! Spock is far too nice to Kirk, because he really isn't quite the Kirk he knew - though he has many of the same characteristics and talents (including deviousness and raging ambition) that are recognisable from the older reality. On the other hand, Older Spock's trust is a major factor in Kirk becoming much more his alternate awesome (if slightly smug) self; so, admittedly, is the number and variety of ways in which he is forced to admit that, even if he is going to end up as Captain, this is more a story about Spock than about him, whether it's the Romulan yelling "Spock! Spock! I want Spock dead", or the fact that, as he and Spock head off on their Daring Rescue Mission, it's Spock who gets thoroughly snogged by Uhura* (who Kirk has been making desperate attempts to pull throughout the film). Kirk does almost get his end away, incidentally, but that's turned into another occasion of humiliation.
Karl Urban as McCoy is brilliant; McCoy,indeed, is fantastic (and gets the early suspicion of Spock just right, because there are still moments when you can see why they'll be friends), and I take back my scepticism about Simon Pegg, who is pretty marvelous as an appropriately geeky Scotty† (though he doesn't look quite right, and it's rather weird to have a Scott who actually sounds Scots - though I'm not complaining about the latter)
Zach Quinto is absolutely fantastic as Spock (and there are moments where he really does look very much like Nimoy, mostly in side face). He's still not as sexy as Nimoy was in his salad days, but he's bloody good in the role; his body language in particular is very like Nimoy's (including the hand tucked behind his back) while looking natural, rather than an impression, and he's good, like Nimoy, at suggesting supressed emotion with very minimal signs.
Loved the various shout-outs to canon - Spock quoting Holmes; the fight sequence where Kirk is dangling off the precipice, which is very like ST III; Cpt Pike (who, poor soul, ends up in a wheelchair in this reality, too, though at least not locked-in and totally helpless); those horrible mental earwigs from Wrath of Khan; the revisiting of revenge themes and the parent-child stuff; the various catchphrases; Archer's beagle; "You lied?" "I ... implied"; and the final credits, where Nimoy reads the 'to boldly go' speech over the original music actually made me squeak with glee. And now we know why Spock never took the Kobayashi Maru test; it's because he wrote it (all the conversations about it, and problems with no solutions were, of course, full of irony). Loved Spock's rejection of admission to the Vulcan Science Academy, and the way Quinto managed to make "Live long and prosper" sound simultaneously emotionless and polite and like "Screw you".
Next time, it would be nice to have Uhura doing something more (though at least it was demonstrated that her language skills are genuinely awesome and that Spock thinks she's brilliant); though I really liked the Spock/ Uhura, rather more than I'd expected to.
Niggles: the science was spectacularly silly, even for Trek. Spock had one really, really bad line when summing up the destruction of Vulcan: "I am now a member of an endangered species". And while I don't mind the suggestion that 24th Century Earth is currently going through a very retro phase, the idea that Nokia is still functioning and still making mobile phones with that bloody awful ringtone is... somewhat boggling. And seriously, Budweiser? They've also given up on trying to make the interiors of, say, research stations look futuristic - breezeblocks, alarmed fire doors and loudspeakers prevail (not so much a niggle, more an observation). Though I did, mostly, like the ship interiors: they managed simultaneously (mostly thanks to the computer displays) to look believably advances, while still looking very grungy compared to the Enterprise as we later knew her. Though some of the engine room appeared to have wandered in from Galaxy Quest ("Whoever wrote this episode DESERVES TO DIE!")
I was cycling home and stopped at traffic lights when I heard a voice behind me saying "... of course he was made Commodore later" and then an explanation of the Kobayashi Maru test and its wider significance in Trek, the discussion continuing as Old Fan and New Fan cycled off up the road. It really was a splendid film; and if it sometimes felt like fan-fic, then in the best possible way.
In conclusion: NIMOY NIMOY NIMOY ZOMG! And, yeah, Zach Quinto and Karl Urban. More please?
* Oddly reminiscent of the moment in "Trials and Tribblations" where Dax comments on 'how much more attractive he is in the flesh than in pictures... those eyes!', and Sisko recalls Kirk's reputation as a ladies' man, only for Dax to reply, with withering contempt, 'Not him, Spock."
† Who, let's not forget, had to be practically ordered to take shore-leave in "Trouble with Tribbles" and, when it all went wrong and he had his shore-going privileges suspended, was quite pleased because he'd rather be reading journals anyway....
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-14 11:57 pm (UTC)*cackles*
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-15 04:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-15 02:28 am (UTC)I'm glad to hear someone else feel that way, because I hadn't seen anyone else mention this yet, and it was the bit that was stopping me from getting into the movie at first. I think maybe if they had kept everything except for the labor, it might have been less cheesy while keeping the important bits, namely Daddy Kirk dying.
>Oddly reminiscent of the moment in "Trials and Tribblations" where Dax comments...<
I hadn't thought of that, but yes! This! *amused*
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-15 04:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-15 03:15 am (UTC)Very yes to the rest of your review, and "the wrong leg of the trousers of time" is an awesome way of putting it. :D
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-15 04:25 pm (UTC)"the wrong leg of the trousers of time" (c) Pratchett, as I'm sure you know...