star trek into darkness (spoilers)
Saw Star Trek Into Darkness last night as part of an AMC fan sneak peek screening (miraculously got tickets 2 months ago!). BIG SPOILERS under the cut.
Yeah, I've been sitting on the fact that Benedict Cumberbatch is playing Khan for the past week or so now and it still fucking annoys me to no end.
That's the problem, for me. The movie was cool! It wasn't without its faults. I love the crew. I enjoyed the twists on familiar moments (even if it's basically fan-service). What I did not love is the fact that a white man is playing a character originally conceived as a PoC. Yes, Ricardo Montalban is not Indian but he was not white, for one thing. Also, I had to read enough apologist posts on Tumblr about Montalban's background that I want to punch things. "But he has Spanish ancestry! He's white!" He certainly did not identify him as white nor do I think casting agents at the time thought to look up his ancestry on first glance. Latinos and Latinas come in a whole spectrum of colors -- I'm a little on the pale side but I identify as Latina, thank you very much. ARGH.
I'm just gonna leave this link here from Racebending because it fucking pisses me off that we have to keep doing this shit, and keep seeing comments like, "oh stop making a big deal." Yeah, let's stop making a big deal for this one and that one and every damn movie that comes out. I'll just shut up and keep watching all the movies that DON'T have PoC in them. When can we make a big deal so it will enact any change? >:( Why do they have to cover up the fact that he's Khan until the movie's released so no one can protest? ARGHHH.
Now that I think about it, the theater also had a free screening of the new Fast and The Furious movie and hey! Those have PoC! I should watch those. Sigh.
….that said, other than that thing? The movie was very good, although I think my opinion may go down on re-watches when I start thinking of plot holes. The last half-hour felt super rushed to me. Like they spun the death but resolving it so quickly just sort of cheapened it a bit. (Granted, we don't want to remake ST:III because that was terrible but it had its moments and the big journey of bringing Spock back!). Tribble of Foreshadowing to save the day!
Spock was the best fucking thing about this movie and I love him to bits. I loved all the Kirk/Spock moments. Kirk was great as well! Oh Pine, stop making crap other movies -- fucking This Means War-- so I don't always have to be surprised by how well you can act! And UHURA oh maaaan, love her. Scotty and Bones were hilarious.
Carol Marcus was kind of lame, though. She was so much better in the original film. She had shit to do and didn't take Kirk's shit. Here, it was… eh. (Guess more material had to go to Daddy Robocop or something.)
io9 has a review up here and I agree with a lot of it (as well as this review on Collider), though maybe I can turn my brain off and enjoy it another time.
I'll probably edit this if I think of further things but yeah, there it is.
The next one better have whales in it, damn it.
Yeah, I've been sitting on the fact that Benedict Cumberbatch is playing Khan for the past week or so now and it still fucking annoys me to no end.
That's the problem, for me. The movie was cool! It wasn't without its faults. I love the crew. I enjoyed the twists on familiar moments (even if it's basically fan-service). What I did not love is the fact that a white man is playing a character originally conceived as a PoC. Yes, Ricardo Montalban is not Indian but he was not white, for one thing. Also, I had to read enough apologist posts on Tumblr about Montalban's background that I want to punch things. "But he has Spanish ancestry! He's white!" He certainly did not identify him as white nor do I think casting agents at the time thought to look up his ancestry on first glance. Latinos and Latinas come in a whole spectrum of colors -- I'm a little on the pale side but I identify as Latina, thank you very much. ARGH.
I'm just gonna leave this link here from Racebending because it fucking pisses me off that we have to keep doing this shit, and keep seeing comments like, "oh stop making a big deal." Yeah, let's stop making a big deal for this one and that one and every damn movie that comes out. I'll just shut up and keep watching all the movies that DON'T have PoC in them. When can we make a big deal so it will enact any change? >:( Why do they have to cover up the fact that he's Khan until the movie's released so no one can protest? ARGHHH.
Now that I think about it, the theater also had a free screening of the new Fast and The Furious movie and hey! Those have PoC! I should watch those. Sigh.
….that said, other than that thing? The movie was very good, although I think my opinion may go down on re-watches when I start thinking of plot holes. The last half-hour felt super rushed to me. Like they spun the death but resolving it so quickly just sort of cheapened it a bit. (Granted, we don't want to remake ST:III because that was terrible but it had its moments and the big journey of bringing Spock back!). Tribble of Foreshadowing to save the day!
Spock was the best fucking thing about this movie and I love him to bits. I loved all the Kirk/Spock moments. Kirk was great as well! Oh Pine, stop making crap other movies -- fucking This Means War-- so I don't always have to be surprised by how well you can act! And UHURA oh maaaan, love her. Scotty and Bones were hilarious.
Carol Marcus was kind of lame, though. She was so much better in the original film. She had shit to do and didn't take Kirk's shit. Here, it was… eh. (Guess more material had to go to Daddy Robocop or something.)
io9 has a review up here and I agree with a lot of it (as well as this review on Collider), though maybe I can turn my brain off and enjoy it another time.
I'll probably edit this if I think of further things but yeah, there it is.
The next one better have whales in it, damn it.