Star Trek: Into Darkness
Yesterday being the boy's birthday, a big group of us of course had to see the movie last night.
So yes, a lot of the movie was a direct rewrite of Wrath of Khan, including wholesale lifting of dialogue and a little bit of role reversal in who dies in the end--I didn't really have a problem with that, oddly enough. This is where my geekiness differs from the boy's: it pissed him off a lot that they couldn't be more creative than that, whereas I was just geeking out over recognizing stuff and bits. (Hell, he didn't even recognize Carol Marcus until after I said something after the credits.) What I found somewhat hilarious about the situation is that of the group of us who went together--8 or so, I think?--he and I were the only actual Star Trek fans. So he and I stuck it out in the theater in case there was an end scene (I was pretty sure there wouldn't be, but he wanted to be entirely sure, and it did give us the opportunity to start breaking down the movie) while everyone else wandered outside to wait. We weren't the only ones who waited out the credits, but I'm pretty sure I was the only woman left in the room, and I haven't felt like that in a few years, having spent so much of my fannish life surrounded by women. The boy and I got up to leave, and there was a small group of guys standing around just behind us, eyeing me a bit--or so it felt like--and I just walked my way through and hurried out. And when we got out there, the boy was ranting to the rest of our group about how they stole whole scenes and dialogue from the original movie, and they were all nodding patiently and going, "Well, I enjoyed it," and I couldn't help laughing even as I tried to stop myself from rushing in to fill in his gap's.
So, that was rather novel, in that I haven't felt that like that kind of geek in years. Years and years. Usually, again, I'm surrounded by fans about as invested as I am, or at least who know the source. But then again, I'm starting to show the boy Doctor Who finally, starting with 2005 forward because that's easier to get a hold of on Netflix, and his reaction to the movie is pretty much exactly my reactions when DW restarted. So. Yeah. Huh. I've always been more invested in DW than in ST?
What I really disliked about the movie, this one and the first reboot, is the despair factor. It started with the previews, which were full of movies about dystopian futures in which EVERYTHING IS ROONED CIVILIZATION IS GONE WE'RE ALL FUCKED MKAY?, and I'm getting tired of these movies in part because they seem to be getting closer to reality and it's about fucking time we changed reality if that's the case. But in the ST movie itself, as they ruthlessly take out the Enterprise, take out Admiral Marcus' ship, ruthlessly beat the shit out of each other and eject people into space, crash the ship into San Francisco and Starfleet HQ--emotional and physical beating after beating after beating--I was tired of it. I turned away a lot, ducked my head to get a sip from my drink, closed my eyes, whatever. I didn't want to witness all of that wretched fear and violence.
This is really typical of pretty much all media these days, right? DOOM AND GLOOM EVERYTHING'S ROONED WE'RE FUCKED MKAY, right? And every movie has to do it bigger and better and more prettily violently than the last, right? I didn't want it in my Star Trek. If you're going to reboot original Trek, the least you could do is try to find a little of that hope too. Yeah, the 1960s show had a lot of problems with various social issues, but at least it didn't also make you feel like maybe all the pain and suffering isn't worth it after all. Not even the original version of Wrath of Khan, leaving Spock dead, has that same tone and feeling to it.
So I have pretty mixed feelings about the movie. Scotty and Bones were awesome as always, Pavel is my new hero (well, again), and Chris Pine has amazing blue eyes. Also, NOEL CLARKE HUZZAH, even if he only had two whole lines and then died. There you have it.
Okay, I have friends coming next weekend, I slept far too late, I need to get some housecleaning done and buy some groceries. Wah.
So yes, a lot of the movie was a direct rewrite of Wrath of Khan, including wholesale lifting of dialogue and a little bit of role reversal in who dies in the end--I didn't really have a problem with that, oddly enough. This is where my geekiness differs from the boy's: it pissed him off a lot that they couldn't be more creative than that, whereas I was just geeking out over recognizing stuff and bits. (Hell, he didn't even recognize Carol Marcus until after I said something after the credits.) What I found somewhat hilarious about the situation is that of the group of us who went together--8 or so, I think?--he and I were the only actual Star Trek fans. So he and I stuck it out in the theater in case there was an end scene (I was pretty sure there wouldn't be, but he wanted to be entirely sure, and it did give us the opportunity to start breaking down the movie) while everyone else wandered outside to wait. We weren't the only ones who waited out the credits, but I'm pretty sure I was the only woman left in the room, and I haven't felt like that in a few years, having spent so much of my fannish life surrounded by women. The boy and I got up to leave, and there was a small group of guys standing around just behind us, eyeing me a bit--or so it felt like--and I just walked my way through and hurried out. And when we got out there, the boy was ranting to the rest of our group about how they stole whole scenes and dialogue from the original movie, and they were all nodding patiently and going, "Well, I enjoyed it," and I couldn't help laughing even as I tried to stop myself from rushing in to fill in his gap's.
So, that was rather novel, in that I haven't felt that like that kind of geek in years. Years and years. Usually, again, I'm surrounded by fans about as invested as I am, or at least who know the source. But then again, I'm starting to show the boy Doctor Who finally, starting with 2005 forward because that's easier to get a hold of on Netflix, and his reaction to the movie is pretty much exactly my reactions when DW restarted. So. Yeah. Huh. I've always been more invested in DW than in ST?
What I really disliked about the movie, this one and the first reboot, is the despair factor. It started with the previews, which were full of movies about dystopian futures in which EVERYTHING IS ROONED CIVILIZATION IS GONE WE'RE ALL FUCKED MKAY?, and I'm getting tired of these movies in part because they seem to be getting closer to reality and it's about fucking time we changed reality if that's the case. But in the ST movie itself, as they ruthlessly take out the Enterprise, take out Admiral Marcus' ship, ruthlessly beat the shit out of each other and eject people into space, crash the ship into San Francisco and Starfleet HQ--emotional and physical beating after beating after beating--I was tired of it. I turned away a lot, ducked my head to get a sip from my drink, closed my eyes, whatever. I didn't want to witness all of that wretched fear and violence.
This is really typical of pretty much all media these days, right? DOOM AND GLOOM EVERYTHING'S ROONED WE'RE FUCKED MKAY, right? And every movie has to do it bigger and better and more prettily violently than the last, right? I didn't want it in my Star Trek. If you're going to reboot original Trek, the least you could do is try to find a little of that hope too. Yeah, the 1960s show had a lot of problems with various social issues, but at least it didn't also make you feel like maybe all the pain and suffering isn't worth it after all. Not even the original version of Wrath of Khan, leaving Spock dead, has that same tone and feeling to it.
So I have pretty mixed feelings about the movie. Scotty and Bones were awesome as always, Pavel is my new hero (well, again), and Chris Pine has amazing blue eyes. Also, NOEL CLARKE HUZZAH, even if he only had two whole lines and then died. There you have it.
Okay, I have friends coming next weekend, I slept far too late, I need to get some housecleaning done and buy some groceries. Wah.