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THAT was awesome
Just came back from seeing the Star Trek movie. Spoilers are below the cut. (And forgive the icon; it's the closest thing I have to something Star Trek-y.)
The movie was just incredible. Really, really incredible. I went in knowing nothing except that the movie dealt with the early days of Kirk, Spock, etc. So Leonard Nimoy showing up was a surprise, and the time travel thing was a surprise, and then they killed off Spock's mother and I'm like "wait -- but -- but -- Spock's mother has to still be around for that episode! You know, the one with Sarek and the Andorian!" And I'm just processing that when Vulcan gets destroyed! So then I think I've figured things out, and I'm enjoying the movie but waiting for the giant "reset" button at the end -- you know, the one where Amanda becomes alive again and Vulcan is around again and IT DOESN'T HAPPEN. AND THE ENTIRE MOVIE IS A GIANT "RESET" BUTTON FOR THE WHOLE OF THE STAR TREK FRANCHISE. Except possibly for "Enterprise," but no one cares about that show anyway.
Wow. Just . . . wow. Seriously, I'm speechless. And incredibly impressed.
Huge chunks of Star Trek never happened. "Amok Time" -- gone! That episode with Sarek and Amanda whose name I can't remember -- wiped out! All the scenes in the Star Trek movies that happened on Vulcan -- into the time vortex! And now we're left with a new blank slate -- but the same wonderful set of characters -- who are all set to go off on what could be completely different adventures.
The only thing I didn't absolutely love about this movie was that it took a long time before I figured out that the villain was a Romulan. He didn't look like a Romulan to me at all. (< gratuitous DS9 reference > Klingons? What Klingons? Those are Klingons?? < / gratuitous DS9 reference >)
I hate big-budget movies that fill the screen with explosions and special effects but don't spend effort on the plot, or the dialogue, as if those things are far less important when they actually are the movie, and I hate to say it but big science fiction franchises are often the worst offenders. To all of them, I say "guys -- THIS is how it's done." Just so good. All the characters were fully developed -- within the movie, without relying on previous knowledge -- and the plot was fantastic. And it was so lovingly written and directed, with so many nods to the old series. Those rocks on Vulcan that looked just like the rock in that episode where Kirk and the lizard-thing battle (forever immortalized in the movie "Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey"). Getting to see the Kobayashi Maru test. Captain Pike in a wheelchair! Sulu fencing! McCoy saying "Are you out of your Vulcan mind?" You could tell the old-time Trekkies in the audience by the applause. Oh, so good. So, so, so, so good.
Uhura. She was wonderful; just exactly what Nichelle Nichols could have been if allowed more freedom (and more screen time). We only got the hints back then, like in that episode where they went to the Spock-with-a-beard parallel universe (sorry, I keep forgetting the episode names), but her performance was honored by this script and this new actress' portrayal of the character. In fact, I loved all the new portrayals; there wasn't a false note in any of them. The actor who played McCoy was especially good -- he had DeForest Kelley's speech rhythms exactly. But really, they were all excellent, and believable as early versions of the characters I grew up watching.
In fact, I wouldn't mind seeing them again, in a new movie. Wouldn't mind that at all.
The movie was just incredible. Really, really incredible. I went in knowing nothing except that the movie dealt with the early days of Kirk, Spock, etc. So Leonard Nimoy showing up was a surprise, and the time travel thing was a surprise, and then they killed off Spock's mother and I'm like "wait -- but -- but -- Spock's mother has to still be around for that episode! You know, the one with Sarek and the Andorian!" And I'm just processing that when Vulcan gets destroyed! So then I think I've figured things out, and I'm enjoying the movie but waiting for the giant "reset" button at the end -- you know, the one where Amanda becomes alive again and Vulcan is around again and IT DOESN'T HAPPEN. AND THE ENTIRE MOVIE IS A GIANT "RESET" BUTTON FOR THE WHOLE OF THE STAR TREK FRANCHISE. Except possibly for "Enterprise," but no one cares about that show anyway.
Wow. Just . . . wow. Seriously, I'm speechless. And incredibly impressed.
Huge chunks of Star Trek never happened. "Amok Time" -- gone! That episode with Sarek and Amanda whose name I can't remember -- wiped out! All the scenes in the Star Trek movies that happened on Vulcan -- into the time vortex! And now we're left with a new blank slate -- but the same wonderful set of characters -- who are all set to go off on what could be completely different adventures.
The only thing I didn't absolutely love about this movie was that it took a long time before I figured out that the villain was a Romulan. He didn't look like a Romulan to me at all. (< gratuitous DS9 reference > Klingons? What Klingons? Those are Klingons?? < / gratuitous DS9 reference >)
I hate big-budget movies that fill the screen with explosions and special effects but don't spend effort on the plot, or the dialogue, as if those things are far less important when they actually are the movie, and I hate to say it but big science fiction franchises are often the worst offenders. To all of them, I say "guys -- THIS is how it's done." Just so good. All the characters were fully developed -- within the movie, without relying on previous knowledge -- and the plot was fantastic. And it was so lovingly written and directed, with so many nods to the old series. Those rocks on Vulcan that looked just like the rock in that episode where Kirk and the lizard-thing battle (forever immortalized in the movie "Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey"). Getting to see the Kobayashi Maru test. Captain Pike in a wheelchair! Sulu fencing! McCoy saying "Are you out of your Vulcan mind?" You could tell the old-time Trekkies in the audience by the applause. Oh, so good. So, so, so, so good.
Uhura. She was wonderful; just exactly what Nichelle Nichols could have been if allowed more freedom (and more screen time). We only got the hints back then, like in that episode where they went to the Spock-with-a-beard parallel universe (sorry, I keep forgetting the episode names), but her performance was honored by this script and this new actress' portrayal of the character. In fact, I loved all the new portrayals; there wasn't a false note in any of them. The actor who played McCoy was especially good -- he had DeForest Kelley's speech rhythms exactly. But really, they were all excellent, and believable as early versions of the characters I grew up watching.
In fact, I wouldn't mind seeing them again, in a new movie. Wouldn't mind that at all.