Star Trek
We went to see the new Star Trek movie last night, and I loved it!
I thought the casting was fantastic - Zachary Quinto was a perfect Spock, and Chris Pine was amazing as Kirk. I don't know if he watched the original series or what, but he even seemed to have some of Shatner's mannerisms down, just enough to make the portrayal believeable but not a parody (one small complaint - very small: Jim Kirk has hazel eyes. Chris Pine's are blue. Gorgeous blue, but blue nonetheless). I ADORED Simon Pegg as Scotty, and Bones, and Uhuru, Chekov, and Sulu - they were all perfect.
And they had a reasonable, believeable premise for the canon-screwing: alternate history due to time travel. It was great action, nicely fast-paced. I actually didn't expect it to be as funny as it was, but it wasn't distracting or weird, just seemed appropriate as a break from all the action.
I loved catching all the shout-outs to the original series: Captain Pike, and all the various lines, and how Bones liked Spock at first and then started muttering about "green-blooded hobgoblin". I wonder if they meant for Delta Vega, where Kirk gets dumped by Spock, to be a shout-out, too. That was the planet where Kirk buried Gary Mitchell, his first officer before Spock, in episode three: "Where No Man Has Gone Before". Embarrasingly, I know this because I wrote about half a fanfic when I was in seventh grade where they returned to that planet and Mitchell was still alive (titled, not very originally, "Return to Delta Vega"). I also have all the original James Blish books of the episodes, courtesy of romanyg.
I demonstrated my Trekkie cred at dinner afterwards by reciting from memory the lyrics Gene Roddenberry wrote for the main theme. I think I've been a Trekkie almost as long as I've been alive. I know my grandfather watched it during its first run, and I was probably there when he did - I had just been born in 1966, and we moved in with them in 1968 - but what I remember is watching it with him during syndication.
All in all, very satisfying. My friends and I burst out in applause at the end, and it's been YEARS since I've done that in a movie. J.J. Abrams can come reboot my canon anytime.
I thought the casting was fantastic - Zachary Quinto was a perfect Spock, and Chris Pine was amazing as Kirk. I don't know if he watched the original series or what, but he even seemed to have some of Shatner's mannerisms down, just enough to make the portrayal believeable but not a parody (one small complaint - very small: Jim Kirk has hazel eyes. Chris Pine's are blue. Gorgeous blue, but blue nonetheless). I ADORED Simon Pegg as Scotty, and Bones, and Uhuru, Chekov, and Sulu - they were all perfect.
And they had a reasonable, believeable premise for the canon-screwing: alternate history due to time travel. It was great action, nicely fast-paced. I actually didn't expect it to be as funny as it was, but it wasn't distracting or weird, just seemed appropriate as a break from all the action.
I loved catching all the shout-outs to the original series: Captain Pike, and all the various lines, and how Bones liked Spock at first and then started muttering about "green-blooded hobgoblin". I wonder if they meant for Delta Vega, where Kirk gets dumped by Spock, to be a shout-out, too. That was the planet where Kirk buried Gary Mitchell, his first officer before Spock, in episode three: "Where No Man Has Gone Before". Embarrasingly, I know this because I wrote about half a fanfic when I was in seventh grade where they returned to that planet and Mitchell was still alive (titled, not very originally, "Return to Delta Vega"). I also have all the original James Blish books of the episodes, courtesy of romanyg.
I demonstrated my Trekkie cred at dinner afterwards by reciting from memory the lyrics Gene Roddenberry wrote for the main theme. I think I've been a Trekkie almost as long as I've been alive. I know my grandfather watched it during its first run, and I was probably there when he did - I had just been born in 1966, and we moved in with them in 1968 - but what I remember is watching it with him during syndication.
All in all, very satisfying. My friends and I burst out in applause at the end, and it's been YEARS since I've done that in a movie. J.J. Abrams can come reboot my canon anytime.