Getting a bit uncertain about Star Trek 12
Apparently, a couple different sources close to the movie's production have leaked the identity of the role Benedict Cumberbatch is playing in New Formula Trek 2...
Cumberbatch is supposed to be playing Khan Noonien Signh. Which kind of makes this movie the Retroactive Preemptive Wrath of Khan that didn't actually happen that way the first time. (Don't you just love time travel?)
Anyway, this doesn't strike me as a good idea. I understand the producers are likely to mine the original series for material for the movies the same way the original filmmakers did. But we've already covered Khan brilliantly in Star Trek II, and this feels way too much like a rehash on too many levels.
The filmmakers seem to argue Khan was this big adversary for Kirk, comparing him to Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight's reinvention of the Joker. Honestly I don't think he really was. I was under the impression the biggest reason for bringing back Khan in the second movie was due to Ricardo Montalban being at the height of his career in the early 80's thanks to Fantasy Island. I think the movie retroactively made the episode Space Seed a lot more significant. It was one of the better episodes, but without the awareness of the movie I don't see any particular greatness about the episode.
Personally, if they are going to give us semi-remakes of some of the episodes, then at least do something they haven't tried before. I think Day of the Dove would be utterly awesome as a movie. Feds and Klingons fighting hand-to-hand through the broken remains of a starship while the psychic vampires are using the anger and strong emotions all around. If they went with something more character focused and less effects heavy, they might have a good idea. But JJ Abrams and the studio want bigger explosions and more massive story lines with galactic consequences, which really never worked that well for Trek.
Cumberbatch is supposed to be playing Khan Noonien Signh. Which kind of makes this movie the Retroactive Preemptive Wrath of Khan that didn't actually happen that way the first time. (Don't you just love time travel?)
Anyway, this doesn't strike me as a good idea. I understand the producers are likely to mine the original series for material for the movies the same way the original filmmakers did. But we've already covered Khan brilliantly in Star Trek II, and this feels way too much like a rehash on too many levels.
The filmmakers seem to argue Khan was this big adversary for Kirk, comparing him to Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight's reinvention of the Joker. Honestly I don't think he really was. I was under the impression the biggest reason for bringing back Khan in the second movie was due to Ricardo Montalban being at the height of his career in the early 80's thanks to Fantasy Island. I think the movie retroactively made the episode Space Seed a lot more significant. It was one of the better episodes, but without the awareness of the movie I don't see any particular greatness about the episode.
Personally, if they are going to give us semi-remakes of some of the episodes, then at least do something they haven't tried before. I think Day of the Dove would be utterly awesome as a movie. Feds and Klingons fighting hand-to-hand through the broken remains of a starship while the psychic vampires are using the anger and strong emotions all around. If they went with something more character focused and less effects heavy, they might have a good idea. But JJ Abrams and the studio want bigger explosions and more massive story lines with galactic consequences, which really never worked that well for Trek.