Star Trek, Yay!

[przed]

Finally got to see Star Trek. Had an huge grin on my face the entire time. They manage to quote nicely from the original without getting too bogged down in keeping things the same.

Not that I don't have issues.

There's the action scenes for a start. They're all handheld, wobbly, jumpy, poorly cut messes and they make me angry. I enjoy my action scenes. I like to savour them and enjoy the choreography and the mastery of the performers and the crew. If everything's cut into 20 frame bits, you can't tell what the heck is going on and it's all so much visual noise.

This all started with the Hong Kong directors in the late '80s/early '90s, but those guys could do fast cut editing and still have it all make sense. Someone needs to put all the current Hollywood guys in a room, and make them watch Swordsman and Drunken Master over and over until they freaking get it. Okay, I feel better now.

Back to Star Trek. I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about the Spock/Uhura relationship. It's sort of sweet, but wayyy unprofessional, and clearly put there to short circuit the Kirk/Spock slash. Plus, it does take Uhura from being the strong, super smart character she is at the start of the film to being just "the girlfriend" by the end. Which is a bit irksome. Sigh.

On the other hand, Simon Pegg is genius as Scotty. (My worry there was entirely unjustified.) John Cho is great as Sulu, and they worked the fencing in nicely. And Chekov! Chekov was freaking adorable! Though not as adorable as McCoy...

Karl Urban was completely perfect as McCoy. He was channeling DeForest Kelley, without mimicking him, and he did a genius job. And wow, if they were consciously trying to avoid the Kirk/Spock slash (and I think it likely they were) they definitely let the Kirk/McCoy slash slip under the wire. Given Urban and Chris Pine, I'm totally leaning toward the K/M pairing. And I've been a Kirk/Spock (or at least Kirk&Spock) gal practically from infancy. Hmmm.

Even without the Kirk/Spock vibe, though, I really like the new versions of my two favourite characters. And I didn't think I would. In photos, Chris Pine looks like a generic pretty boy, and I already pretty much hated Zachary Quinto from my limited viewing of Heroes. (I am, shall we say, not a fan of Heroes.) But they're both perfect. Pine is much rougher on the screen than he looks, and that grittier quality really helps him make the role of Kirk his own. And Quinto really was born to play Spock. He's got a lovely surface calm that you just know hides enormous depths of emotion. And they can both act.

I can't wait to see it again. I'm totally dragging the Sweetie to see it, kicking and screaming if I have to. (He is definitely not a Trekkie. Though he is completely a Spock/McCoy fan. Go figure.)

Comments

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

Oooh now I'm encouraged. I've been debating whether to see it or not.

I'm not a fan of Heroes either. Hell, I couldn't even watch it when Christopher Eccleston was on there and believe me I tried... Yes, usually I can manage shallow, thanks for asking. :D

I'm going to assume that you've seen Killa's great pon farr vid and the funny Monty Python one else I'd be doing the linky thing right now. :D

[przed.livejournal.com]

I'd say you should definitely give it a shot. (If you're worrying about it damaging your love of the original show, I actually found it made me fonder than ever of classic Trek.)

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who can't abide Heroes. I gave that show 5 episodes, which is 4 more than I give most shows, but man! It moves at a snail's pace. And I hated pretty much all the characters. Except Hiro. And maybe Claire.

I have indeed seen Killa's pon farr vid, but not the Monty Python one, so feel free to do the linky thing. *g*

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

I'm a bit of a plot fiend anyway but I found Heroes both boring and totally predicatable. I recorded the episodes when Christopher Eccleston was on there and found myself just fast forwarding to his scenes... and then I couldn't even cut that. *g*

The linky as promised...

[przed.livejournal.com]

Heroes was boring and predictable. And sloooooow. I did watch Eccleston's bits on YouTube, but even he couldn't save it for me.

As for the linky, awesome! (And dear god, TOC could be goofy.) As an antidote, I'm going to go home and watch Amok Time.)

[siskiou.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to hear you liked it!

ST:TOS was my first real fandom, and I loved it for the friendship between the 3 main characters.
I wasn't impressed with the stills I've seen, particularly of Kirk!

My husband wants us to go and see the movie for our upcoming wedding anniversary and I'm of two minds.
On one hand I really want to see it, on the other I worry about his ruining ST:TOS for me.
And now I hear a lot about the Spock/Uhura romance, which sounds a little like: "Ha! You are not getting this one, Kirk!" to me (meaning they did it because of the Tomcat!Kirk criticism, but how does this fit with the character of Spock as we know him?).

[przed.livejournal.com]

I also wasn't impressed with the still, particularly of Kirk, but wow, he really works in the role. As does Quinto as Spock. They're not quite the TOS versions, but they're really interesting characters in their own right. Which is awesome.

I wouldn't worry about it ruining TOS for you. All three of us who saw it last night came out not only loving the movie, but wanting to go home and immediately watch all the old episodes and movies. It actually seems to enhance the TOS love. Which is great.

And yeah, I think they were definitely trying to undercut Tomcat!Kirk (and also K/S slash). It ends up creating a very different version of Kirk and Spock, which like I said above, is pretty darn groovy.

[ealgylden.livejournal.com]

And wow, if they were consciously trying to avoid the Kirk/Spock slash (and I think it likely they were) they definitely let the Kirk/McCoy slash slip under the wire.

They so did. And yet! I see post after post cheering the Kirk/McCoy slashiness, and post after post of people being surprised at how much they like Spock/Uhura, and yet the fic is still 99.9% Kirk/Spock. If everyone sees K/Mc and likes K/Mc, where's the fic?!

Sigh. The (tongue-in-cheek) bitterness of the non-dominant pairing slasher, woe, alas. (Nothing against K/S, of course. They're awesome, as always. Just... share! *g*)

[przed.livejournal.com]

If it makes you feel any better, if I ever write this version of ST, I'm totally writing K/Mc. (Don't hold your breath. I don't have a whole lot of time, these days. And yet...)

I'm curious how my Sweetie, with his Spock/McCoy loving ways is going to view the movie. (The S/Mc is definitely there too, though you have to squint really hard to see it.)

I totally need a Karl Urban McCoy icon. *g*

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

Still not convinced. *g* I'll probably see it when it comes to HBO, or something (though I've certainly read enough to feel like I've already seen it!) While they saved enough of the original to automatically get a lot of the original fans' money, too much has changed (the whole thing with Uhura, for one, the fact that Kirk doesn't earn the captaincy but pretty much gets it by default, which is a major change in his charater, imo, for another) for, as they themselves admit, it to be "your father's Trek." That's my generation they're talking about. They're right, it's not my Trek.

But mostly I'm concerned about the fandom. There's already been fic written based on the movie, fic where everything that was, is no longer. Abrams use of the time-travel plot devise (with some pretty big plot holes to go along with it,) effectively destroyed the original "universe." It's as if they made movie where they took Bodie and Doyle and changed many of those large and small characterizations and physical qualities that make them who they are for you. Doyle no longer was an honest cop who had the courage to turn in the bad apples but maybe was one of those bad apples who wasn't quite bad enough to be accused of anything. Maybe Bodie's background is all changed around so that his mystery is blunted. He wasn't a mercenary, he was a missionary. Oh, and they're not partners except for in the movie. It would probably be a great AU, but as their new reality?

[przed.livejournal.com]

Ya know, it's the alternate universe, spinning off an entirely new timeline that saves it for me. Because I *love* original Trek with a deep and abiding passion. I grew up on it. It got me through crappy grade school angst and broody high school angst and made me friends in university. If they'd pretended that they were going back and doing a definitive version of that Spock and that Kirk, I probably would have ended up very, very angry about the whole thing.

But spin it off, pretty much from the start, take the same characters in very different, if still orbiting, directions and see what happens? Suddenly I'm okay with it. Because they haven't destroyed my Trek, but they've created a whole new sandbox to play in. A sandbox with interesting new configurations and implications. And if that means that Kirk is a juvenile offender and Spock clocked a kid in grade school, that's fine. It is an AU, though an official one, and it means everyone can play happily, side by side. (Well, okay, fandom being fandom, people probably won't play happily. But a girl can dream, can't she. *g*)

Definitely need a McCoy icon.

[pxr5.livejournal.com]

I adored Karl Urban. For me, he really made the film. Plus, I found the humor to be a good addition. (It helps to know that I'm *not* and never have been a trek fan.)

Chekov was a bit too Wesley Crusher for my tastes, but was good otherwise. I didn't like the new Sulu. Quinto, for me, was only so-so, as I find the way he was acting Spock was too similar to Sylar, and I kept expecting him to rip Kirk's head off :-)

I liked Pine more than I ever have Shatner. ...and Pegg was good, but he should have been in more of it, rather than waiting for not!Hoth.

My bigger problem came in the movie!physics, which were ridiculous to completely implausible, but hey...that's hollywood.

Otherwise, I thought it was good! I'm a nitpicker born, but I definitely hope they do another one.

(So what did you think of Eric Bana?)

[przed.livejournal.com]

Karl Urban is what really put me over the top on it. He's awesome. (Still need a McCoy icon.)

Chekov was old enough not to set off Wesley alarms for me. And his bounciness was adorable. And I knew guys like that in undergrad. (I was in specialist astrophysics for three years.) And I lurved him.

Pine was an unexpected awesome surprise. I quite liked Quinto. And yeah, Pegg should have been in way more of it.

Surprisingly, given the three years of specialist astrophysics thing, I can ignore bad movie physics. And I appreciated the fact that they pretended they were doing these ridiculous things using equations and calculations and stuff. I take more issue with the bad cinematography and editing in the action scenes. But then that's what I really care about.

As for Eric Bana, I generally quite like him, but for all that he's the big bad villain, I thought he didn't have nearly enough to do.

[phantomas.livejournal.com]

I am definitely encouraged to go and see it now :D

*peeks ears* what is Swordman and Drunken Master, precious, what is it?

*g*

[przed.livejournal.com]

Swordsman and Swordsman II are two fab Hong Kong Jet Li films from the early '90s. The story line is crazy, the editing is insane, but somehow it all manages to make sense. Plus, Jet Li is lovely in it.

Drunken Master was Jackie Chan's first big hit back in the late '70s, though I really meant Drunken Master 2, which was directed by master Lau Kar Leung. Jackie's at the height of his powers, the film is full of cameos by HK film royalty (Andy Lau! Ti Lung! Anita Mui!), and the fight scenes are wonderful.

And those are only a few example of the wonderful stuff HK managed to produce. There's tons more. (Legend of New Shaolin. Once Upon a Time in China. The Blade... and on and on) And all of them have tons better fight choreography, cinematography and editing than the Hollywood hacks who stole from them.

[norfolkdumpling.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to work out a time to go see this with another friend who works shifts (not an easy feat!) but your review has made me even more determined to get to it. I LOVE Simon Pegg anyway so Scotty was on to a winner from the off with me, but I'm muchly intrigued by the K/M. Sounds promising...

Thanks for the balanced review - I'm looking forward to it now!

[przed.livejournal.com]

I also LOVE Simon Pegg, though I wasn't convinced he was a good fit for Scotty. I was so very wrong.

I wasn't expecting the K/M at all, but it's definitely there. As are hints of the S/M.

I hope you enjoy it when you see it. I'm still riding a contact high from it a day later. It's not perfect, but it's fun!

[sooguy.livejournal.com]

I am still trying to find to go see this!

[przed.livejournal.com]

You definitely need to see it. (I'm trying to convince Don to go, since I totally want to see it again.)

[caffyolay.livejournal.com]

I didn't see the Spock/Uhuru pairing as an attempt to foil the Kirk/Spock people, although you could well be right. To me it seemed more of an attempt to give Star Trek an ongoing mature adult relationship because, let's face it, Trek as a whole isn't exactly famous for them. I bet they won't be able to resist a few slashy moments in upcoming films... just to keep *everyone* interested. Plus, slashers don't really need canon to write good fic do we? ;-) I'm hoping they won't relegate Uhuru to the role of 'just' a girlfriend because my impression was that they plan to do things a bit differently this time around. And I'm so excited about a Spock who has decided to accept that he has feelings!

I gave up on Heroes after 2 seasons so was not at all thrilled to see that ZQ had been cast as Spock. How wrong I was - he's a revelation! As you said, a very sensitive performance.

And yes, I loved Karl Urban too, and Simon Pegg's Scotty which is played much more for laughs... so I suppose that would appeal to me. I wasn't sure about Kirk. I like the actor but Kirk was *so* gung ho to the point of immature in this movie and that was shock, as the old Kirk did have a certain presence about him. Early days yet, I suppose.

I can't wait to see it again either and plan to drag my OH back to the cinema within a couple of weeks if poss.

[przed.livejournal.com]

I'd be less suspicious of the Spock/Uhura relationship if they hadn't displaced most of Spock's emotional connection from Kirk to Uhura. (The movie kept telling me Kirk and Spock were destined to be great friends, but I wasn't seeing it that much. That said, if they can prevent Uhura from just being the girlfriend, it's going to add an interesting dimension to Trek lore. (They also need a much better balance between female and male characters, but that's another axe to grind.)

I didn't see Scotty as that out of line with the original. Scotty frequently was played for laughs in TOS. And weirdly, I didn't have too much trouble with Kirk's gung ho-ness. Kirk always was a cocky bastard, but here we're seeing him before he's been seasoned by experience.

The Sweetie saw it on his own last night and thought it was "all right." Ah well, I knew going in that he wasn't really a Trekkie.

[st-crispins.livejournal.com]

Yoo hoooo!

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