przed: (kirk spock)
przed ([personal profile] przed) wrote2009-05-11 10:44 pm
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Star Trek, Yay!

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.)

[identity profile] ealgylden.livejournal.com 2009-05-12 05:35 am (UTC)(link)
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*)

[identity profile] przed.livejournal.com 2009-05-12 10:14 am (UTC)(link)
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*