Obligatory Star Trek 09/ STXI / STR Post
This is where I babble incoherently and link to things....
Disclaimer: I'm not a hard-core trekkie by any means, but I'm pretty familiar with a lot of the canon in a general sort of way. My parents love Trek and I've seen all of the movies and caught a lot of the television shows, although never in order and never on purpose (like, watching it when it's on or when someone else is watching it.) I've been slowly working my way through the Original Series because I was so hyped up about this movie and I'm going to continue that... but I'm by no means a purist and I've never really dabbled in this fandom either. But... the last part looks like it's changing because I'm obsessing over this film like crazy!
I took my Mum for Mother's Day and then saw it on Imax with a friend the other day. And I really want to see it again.... I NEED an icon stat! Oh the pain of having to give up one of my old icons...
Anyway, onto the squee!
FIRST!! Things I just unabashedly liked about this film (spoilers for the film, obviously)
1. Gratuitous shots of the Enterprise. Made me so happy. Like, heart swelling in my chest happy. Like, reminding me of seeing Serenity in Serenity after the abuse of canceling Firefly happy. So awesome. I really liked the look of the ship! Lots of hail-to-the-retro meets modern functionality. I kind of like the engine room looking like an engine room. And the bridge looked like a bridge (still a Trek bridge) and less like a stage for talking, which was kind of neat.
2. Kirk!!!
In all the excitement I had for this movie (I was anticipating it like whoa and spoiled myself for most of the movie) I was excepting to love Spock (which I did, btw) but I was NOT expecting to love Christopher Pine's Kirk quite as much as I did. I think he really outdid himself. I was mad impressed. I sort of love him. Wow, yeah. It was a really nice take on the character that is fundamentally the same and still different from Kirk!Prime. So, LOVE IT. Love that he didn't get the girl, that he got beat up all the freakin' time, had to get saved and rescued a bunch, had to get smuggled onto the Enterprise by McCoy, was a cocky smart-mouthed bastard most of the time who was still humble enough to appreciate the beauty of seeing Enterprise for the first time, and was ALWAYS right. It's almost too much for me.
3. So while the plot was... eh, not so much, I really liked that this was an ensemble show. The emotional heart and soul were Kirk & Spock, but the supporting cast just nailed it. They all had their moments to shine and they all were awesome. Uhura with her linguistic skills and general awesomeness giving Kirk the info he needed to make the connections he did, Chekov saving Kirk & Sulu at the transporter and then coming up with the plan to mask the Enterprise with the rings of Saturn, Sulu with his delayed start at the beginning that probably saved them all from being pulverized upon arriving at Vulcan and then later with his awesome fencing skills, saving Kirk from falling to his doom, and his awesome piloting at the end of the movie, Scotty with his ideas and energy and general awesomeness. Ok, so I really like the cast and the characters.
4. McCoy!!! I loved Karl Urban's performance. He just nailed it. It just WORKED. Most of the other characters took their own takes on the scripts and the characters, Urban was the really the only one who went for the original performance. And it worked, I really liked it. I kind of adore him and wish we'd seen him more. His one-liners were just great. That said, I hope they don't always pepper his stuff with nods to the original and let the character evolve and be original again. More McCoy!!!
5. The background stuff. I liked the outfits, the hair styles, the men and women working, the diverse cast, especially at all ranks and jobs, the aliens, and the bits of old sounds and old looks mixed with new. So much eye candy.
6. The reboot. I'm so glad they did this and that they did it in a way that respects the original canon and original performances and then just completely takes the core of Trek and pushes it in a new direction.
I love that things are different now, that Kirk was the fatherless reckless boy, the smartest repeat offender ever as Pike says, and he never really apologizes for that either. And that Spock now has the loss of Vulcan and a romantic relationship to explore his human side with. And then there are differences in where this universe can go! Vulcan is gone! It just changes a lot. So much potential to explore brand new stuff and not be bogged down by adhering to a lot of canon. It's perfect for keeping the essence and just really bringing it to life again for a new generation. So cool.
SECOND! The 'ship that I never knew I wanted
I admit, I was spoiled for Spock/Uhura and I knew that Nimoy and Quinto and Urban were all for it. I didn't feel any anger over breaking from the old, I mostly felt ambivalent and that it was a move made just for the sake of shaking things up.
But then I saw the movie. And WOW. SO MUCH LOVE.
They are so in LURVE. It's so awesome. I love the gentleness and the affection and the obviously (to me anyway) established nature of their relationship. So much potential for fanfic and squeeing and I'm really excited.
And also, Kirk/Spock/Uhura? Definitely my new OT3.
THIRD The female character I never knew I wanted!
I adore this character. I love Zoe's portrayal of her and I love the direction they decided to take her character in and I'm glad they gave her something to do, even though I wish she could have done more.
I have to say, she's all I didn't even know I wanted in an awesome female character. She's wicked competent and she knows it, she doesn't take any shit, not from anyone, and she's warm and compassionate and loving and has empathy and she's still sassy on top of that. She's just too cool for words really. And she rocked that mini skirt and the boots.
And some links to cool things in this emerging/born again fandom:
The comprehensive news comm: trek_news
The shipper comm: spock_uhura
The kink!Meme that is awesome: st_xi_kink and a list of recs for Spock/Uhura form the meme.
And my newest OT3 obsession can be blamed on these two porny ficlets: first is here and the sequel
READ this post if you're concerned at all about the portrayal Uhura. This post is awesome for all sorts of reason, but mostly because I'm fascinated by analysis of gender and gender portrayals in science fiction and she goes there and is way more eloquent and well-spoken than I could hope to be on the subject.
Disclaimer: I'm not a hard-core trekkie by any means, but I'm pretty familiar with a lot of the canon in a general sort of way. My parents love Trek and I've seen all of the movies and caught a lot of the television shows, although never in order and never on purpose (like, watching it when it's on or when someone else is watching it.) I've been slowly working my way through the Original Series because I was so hyped up about this movie and I'm going to continue that... but I'm by no means a purist and I've never really dabbled in this fandom either. But... the last part looks like it's changing because I'm obsessing over this film like crazy!
I took my Mum for Mother's Day and then saw it on Imax with a friend the other day. And I really want to see it again.... I NEED an icon stat! Oh the pain of having to give up one of my old icons...
Anyway, onto the squee!
FIRST!! Things I just unabashedly liked about this film (spoilers for the film, obviously)
1. Gratuitous shots of the Enterprise. Made me so happy. Like, heart swelling in my chest happy. Like, reminding me of seeing Serenity in Serenity after the abuse of canceling Firefly happy. So awesome. I really liked the look of the ship! Lots of hail-to-the-retro meets modern functionality. I kind of like the engine room looking like an engine room. And the bridge looked like a bridge (still a Trek bridge) and less like a stage for talking, which was kind of neat.
2. Kirk!!!
In all the excitement I had for this movie (I was anticipating it like whoa and spoiled myself for most of the movie) I was excepting to love Spock (which I did, btw) but I was NOT expecting to love Christopher Pine's Kirk quite as much as I did. I think he really outdid himself. I was mad impressed. I sort of love him. Wow, yeah. It was a really nice take on the character that is fundamentally the same and still different from Kirk!Prime. So, LOVE IT. Love that he didn't get the girl, that he got beat up all the freakin' time, had to get saved and rescued a bunch, had to get smuggled onto the Enterprise by McCoy, was a cocky smart-mouthed bastard most of the time who was still humble enough to appreciate the beauty of seeing Enterprise for the first time, and was ALWAYS right. It's almost too much for me.
3. So while the plot was... eh, not so much, I really liked that this was an ensemble show. The emotional heart and soul were Kirk & Spock, but the supporting cast just nailed it. They all had their moments to shine and they all were awesome. Uhura with her linguistic skills and general awesomeness giving Kirk the info he needed to make the connections he did, Chekov saving Kirk & Sulu at the transporter and then coming up with the plan to mask the Enterprise with the rings of Saturn, Sulu with his delayed start at the beginning that probably saved them all from being pulverized upon arriving at Vulcan and then later with his awesome fencing skills, saving Kirk from falling to his doom, and his awesome piloting at the end of the movie, Scotty with his ideas and energy and general awesomeness. Ok, so I really like the cast and the characters.
4. McCoy!!! I loved Karl Urban's performance. He just nailed it. It just WORKED. Most of the other characters took their own takes on the scripts and the characters, Urban was the really the only one who went for the original performance. And it worked, I really liked it. I kind of adore him and wish we'd seen him more. His one-liners were just great. That said, I hope they don't always pepper his stuff with nods to the original and let the character evolve and be original again. More McCoy!!!
5. The background stuff. I liked the outfits, the hair styles, the men and women working, the diverse cast, especially at all ranks and jobs, the aliens, and the bits of old sounds and old looks mixed with new. So much eye candy.
6. The reboot. I'm so glad they did this and that they did it in a way that respects the original canon and original performances and then just completely takes the core of Trek and pushes it in a new direction.
I love that things are different now, that Kirk was the fatherless reckless boy, the smartest repeat offender ever as Pike says, and he never really apologizes for that either. And that Spock now has the loss of Vulcan and a romantic relationship to explore his human side with. And then there are differences in where this universe can go! Vulcan is gone! It just changes a lot. So much potential to explore brand new stuff and not be bogged down by adhering to a lot of canon. It's perfect for keeping the essence and just really bringing it to life again for a new generation. So cool.
SECOND! The 'ship that I never knew I wanted
I admit, I was spoiled for Spock/Uhura and I knew that Nimoy and Quinto and Urban were all for it. I didn't feel any anger over breaking from the old, I mostly felt ambivalent and that it was a move made just for the sake of shaking things up.
But then I saw the movie. And WOW. SO MUCH LOVE.
They are so in LURVE. It's so awesome. I love the gentleness and the affection and the obviously (to me anyway) established nature of their relationship. So much potential for fanfic and squeeing and I'm really excited.
And also, Kirk/Spock/Uhura? Definitely my new OT3.
THIRD The female character I never knew I wanted!
I adore this character. I love Zoe's portrayal of her and I love the direction they decided to take her character in and I'm glad they gave her something to do, even though I wish she could have done more.
I have to say, she's all I didn't even know I wanted in an awesome female character. She's wicked competent and she knows it, she doesn't take any shit, not from anyone, and she's warm and compassionate and loving and has empathy and she's still sassy on top of that. She's just too cool for words really. And she rocked that mini skirt and the boots.
And some links to cool things in this emerging/born again fandom:
The comprehensive news comm: trek_news
The shipper comm: spock_uhura
The kink!Meme that is awesome: st_xi_kink and a list of recs for Spock/Uhura form the meme.
And my newest OT3 obsession can be blamed on these two porny ficlets: first is here and the sequel
READ this post if you're concerned at all about the portrayal Uhura. This post is awesome for all sorts of reason, but mostly because I'm fascinated by analysis of gender and gender portrayals in science fiction and she goes there and is way more eloquent and well-spoken than I could hope to be on the subject.