Escape to the Movies: Star Trek: Into Darkness

[K_Dub]

The reason you liked this film is because you're not a Trekkie. Only non-Trekkies could enjoy it because that's what Abrams wanted. You can't make money unless you pander to the larger audience and not a niche, and Abrams is a Jew after all.

Way to be randomly anti-semitic, jackass!

Ya well, if Shakespeare and South Park can do it then so can I. Historical stereotyping is great.

Yeah, but where Shakespeare and South Park use stereotyping in a comedic or dramatic sense, often to deliver a political point of some kind, you're just being mean and hateful with your comment.

Don't you dare attempt to justify your statement by comparing yourself to arguably history's greatest writers. Your comment wasn't funny, didn't feature any political satire that I could pick up on, and didn't add any weight to your overall opinion of the film.

It was a hateful remark, pure and simple. And as far as I'm concerned, you're a lesser human being for ever thinking it.

 

[invadergir]

I hardly paid attention to any of the news, and I still figured out what the surprise was once I learned that there is, indeed, a surprise.

Going to see it tonight, but I have a feeling Mr. Plinkett will have afield day with this movie.

Bet you anything Mike really liked this movie. He already gave a very positive review of the first JJ Abrams reboot. So no, Plinkett won't be reviewing Into Darkness.

 

[camazotz]

Saw it, loved it....but yeah, your adherence to Trek Lore as the deciding factor on whether a film is worthy or not will probably weigh heavily on your enjoyment here. For me, being someone who has grown up with TOS and been with Trek every step of the way, but who always thought that Trek's greatest burden was its own canonical adherence to what has come before....I was thinking about midway into the film, "This film shows that Trek still has life in it, all it needed was someone who was willing to take it somewhere new and interesting." And it was at that point that I decided that this movie may to date be the film that made me forgive Abrams for prior debacles (i.e. Super 8, Lost).

EDIT: I should point out though that just like the first one this movie had a weird mix of plot holes and some seriously bad science (and, even worse, horible pseudo-science!). Despite that, I enjoyed it....because let's face facts, real science has never been Trek's strong point.

When they called that bomb at the beginning a "cold fusion bomb," though I admit I felt like the script writers were mocking us. Jeez....way to make pseudoscientific babble, guys. Try hiring Okuda next time, at least he's good at the nonsense science words.

 

[MPerce]

I thought it was....okay. At the very least, it was a fun time at the theaters. But absolutely no character arcs(seriously, did any of the characters grow as people?) and story "twists" that made me wanna punch a baby. A big stupid, and loud movie.

If I had paid anymore than the matinee price of $4.50, I would've been very annoyed. As it stands, it was a nice distraction.

EDIT: Quick question about the ending...

Spoiler

Why did they need Khan's blood to revive Kirk? They had 72 other superhumans hanging out on the Enterprise. Use one of them, not the mad terrorist running around in decimated London.

I know I'm poking at plot-holes in an inherently stupid ending, but I was wanting to yell at the theater screen the entire time Spock and Khan were doing that shitty fight scene.

 

[camazotz]

I thought it was....okay. At the very least, it was a fun time at the theaters. But absolutely no character arcs(seriously, did any of the characters grow as people?) and story "twists" that made me wanna punch a baby. A big stupid, and loud movie.

If I had paid anymore than the matinee price of $4.50, I would've been very annoyed. As it stands, it was a nice distraction.

$4.50 matinee?!? Where do you live, so I can move there?

 

[MPerce]

I thought it was....okay. At the very least, it was a fun time at the theaters. But absolutely no character arcs(seriously, did any of the characters grow as people?) and story "twists" that made me wanna punch a baby. A big stupid, and loud movie.

If I had paid anymore than the matinee price of $4.50, I would've been very annoyed. As it stands, it was a nice distraction.

$4.50 matinee?!? Where do you live, so I can move there?

Oklahoma City. There's a decent theater next to the zoo that lost a lot of business because it was in a "bad" part of town (aka the rich white people from the nearby suburb are scared of black people), so they lowered their ticket prices a lot.

End result: cheap tickets in a theater that's hardly ever crowded. It's movie heaven.

 

[Frozengale]

It wasn't to bad. I enjoyed it.

I mean it telegraphs its plot points really hard but oh well. Also Cumberbatch was amazing, not sure why you thought his character was a bad character, I thought him to be at least believable. I actually think his character was the most believable and interesting out of all of them. Every other character just seems to go through the motions but Cumberbatch's character actually feels like he has a plan, and he actually seems to have emotion. Which as you point out not even Kirk seems to have much emotion.

 

[TheSchaef]

Seriously though, why does no one on Earth have a proper space navy? Or at least a dedicated, militarized force to protect the home system.

They do, it's just Orci and Kurtzmann keep obliterating them in the first act of their films - ships dispatched to Vulcan in the first film, Starfleet brass in this one. On the bright side, at least they make a half-hearted attempt to explain why the Enterprise is the only ship in the quadrant (which it always is on the old show/movies).

This doesn't split off an alternate universe, it just changes the future of the existent one and means events of TOS never happened/haven't happened yet.

Pretty sure the script refers to their reality as "alternate", and that Abrams et al also used that term to allow people who dislike the new Trek to retain the nostalgia of the original.

didn't Spock make a big point in the first one about keeping it a secret that he was from the future/alternate future?

Unfortunately, I have to credit the writers here, too. The only one old-Spock told this to was Kirk, and only in reference to new-Spock. Additionally, at the end of the film, he told new-Spock that yes, he could have explained the truth to everyone but he allowed events to unfold naturally so that new-Spock could understand how he and Kirk balance each other out, and will forge a friendship rather than continue their enmity. Cheesy, but not dropped down a hole.

 

[Frozengale]

*sigh* Maybe then I should go see the Wrath of Khan, then? Like Doctor Who, I've always wanted to get into this quintessential nerd franchise but I don't know a good starting point for it. Do I watch the original series, do I watch Next Generation, do I start with the movies? I just don't know...
...but, having stopped before I could get spoiled, I'll probably watch this one anyhow.

If you want to start light and easy then go with the Original Series.

If you want to start with a lot of information on the workings of the Trek Universe and have deeper story lines (albeit less action-y) then go with The Next Generation.

Don't start with Deep Space Nine, that would be a mistake.

If you want to have fairly deep stories, not as much info dumps, and a little more action then start with Voyager (though you won't get much info on the workings of the rest of the Star Trek universe, it's kind of it's own entity in that right)

If you want to start at the very beginning (chronologically within the Universe) and have a lot of convoluted story elements then you can start with Enterprise. I highly suggest that you do not start with Enterprise.

Also don't start with the movies, that would be a bad idea as well.

My personal opinion is start by watching the first season of Voyager and the first season of TNG. If you like the more action-y stuff then continue Voyager or switch to Original Series and go back to Voyager later. Follow it up with the Original Series movies, The Next Generation, The Next Generation Movies, Deep Space Nine, and finish with Enterprise.

If you prefer the more political and philosophical Next Generation then finish Next Generation. Then move on to the Next Generation movies, go to Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Original Series, Original Series movies, and finish with Enterprise.

All of them are good, and they all explore interesting ideas, themes, characters, etc. Personally I think TNG is the best and the Original is fairly meh.

 

[TheSchaef]

I risk incurring twofold wrath here, once for double-posting and again for what I am about to say in the presence of nerds and geeks.

Having seen Into Darkness a second time tonight (don't... say it. just don't.), I realize why this movie is both well-received by audiences and loathed by the likes of Bob. This actually, in disguise, is a movie we have all been waiting 15 years to see. THIS... was a very good STAR WARS movie.

Star Trek has always been - or tried to be - a brand of science fiction that delivers on two levels: it posits about what strange new worlds are out there, enticing new areas of scientific thought, and it serves as social commentary by having worlds that reflect our own in some way. A lot of great science fiction excels because it uses a unique perspective to examine the human condition.

Star Wars, by contrast, is a space fantasy. Often they dispense even with pseudo-scientific pretense and simply declare that a thing exists. Just as dragons and elves and wizards exist in a Tolkeinesque fantasy, Star Wars has the Force, and genocidal space stations, and lightsabers. And no attempt is made to explain any of this: lightsabers exist because laser swords are cooler than regular swords. Throw in a cast of lovable characters and some quotable lines, and you're set.

And that's what we have with Abrams-Trek. We can travel from Q'onos to Earth in 45 seconds; we can create a black hole out of a drop of goop; an entire starship can be operated efficiently by a single individual at the time the story demands it. Supernovas can threaten entire galaxies, and cutting the blue wire stops the bomb with three seconds left. And we love the characters and laugh when they make ear jokes.

So here's hoping that Abrams takes this formula and makes some Star Wars stuff we wanna see, and maybe get some science back into Star Trek and leave the laser swords and seedy bars in the proper franchise.

 

[ShadowHamster]

What I find amusing is so many people I knew wanted this to be Kahn. I'm probably going to have to see it, I love Benedict Cumberbatch enough to accept him as Kahn, plus that is PRETTY close to what they advertised. I don't even know why they made this a big deal since everyone thought the next movie would just be Kahn.

My friends walked out of the first one saying "So...Kahn next then, I guess?" It is the logical next move, and it's a move that, in theory, pays homage to fans(which is being written off here as fanservice by people ready to hate this)while allowing you to say where you are in the story, which is somewhat important when we are tossed into this alternate timeline without warning. The whole film could have significance off that alone. This is where Kirk faces Kahn.

I'm glad that the real twist, on whether or not they kill a major character, and whether or not that major character will be Spock, is not spoken of. I respect you Bob for not liking J.J. much(honestly I agree that Super 8 is just a terrible movie, Lost wasn't very good, and I've mostly enjoyed him as a producer more often than a director), but I'm willing to give this a go despite the warning. If I give my money to a terrible movie, then so be it. I will post my thoughts on...Tuesday I guess, don't have the weekend off.

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

The reason you liked this film is because you're not a Trekkie. Only non-Trekkies could enjoy it because that's what Abrams wanted. You can't make money unless you pander to the larger audience and not a niche, and Abrams is a Jew after all.

Way to be randomly anti-semitic, jackass!

Ya well, if Shakespeare and South Park can do it then so can I. Historical stereotyping is great.

Yeah, but where Shakespeare and South Park use stereotyping in a comedic or dramatic sense, often to deliver a political point of some kind, you're just being mean and hateful with your comment.

Don't you dare attempt to justify your statement by comparing yourself to arguably history's greatest writers. Your comment wasn't funny, didn't feature any political satire that I could pick up on, and didn't add any weight to your overall opinion of the film.

It was a hateful remark, pure and simple. And as far as I'm concerned, you're a lesser human being for ever thinking it.

You're kidding, right? Hateful? Am I hateful for thinking black people are better at sprinting? Because they generally are. It's a stereotype but that doesn't make it wrong and it certainly doesn't make it hateful. People with jewish heritage are known for their business acumen. It's a cultural and familial trait that stretches back to biblical times.

 

[JellyBabe02]

I actually really liked this movie.
I haven't seen Wrath of Khan, so that probably means that it's hard for me to compare the two, but my parents (who are Trekkies) really liked it as well. They said it wasn't as good, but it was still enjoyable. I think Movie Bob is being just a tad harsh.

 

[ShadowHamster]

wow bob whined about the fan service girl....

he must really have missed recardo's open shirt look after all.

Because why make genuine arguments when you can just make gay jokes, right?!

I...didn't take this as a gay joke, but rather as a reference to just HOW freaking cheesy the original Kahn was. He was in fact extremely manly, and not affeminate, but he also wore a wardrobe fitting of, like, Neil Diamond or something.

 

[Markunator]

Oh no, Star Trek Into Darkness has a hamfisted political message which makes it bad and it doesn't quite live up to the best Star Trek movie ever. And yet, Bob will fellate the hell out of The Avengers which is about as politically minded as a six year old knocking over lego and lives up to its premise only by not being absolutely terrible.

I think I'm done with this show.

Why would you even compare this to The Avengers? They're two completely different franchises!