So here we go, actually reviewing a movie that’s come out into theaters. Star Trek Into Darkness. Except it’s been out for a week. So odds are if you wanted to see this you have, and I don’t think my review is gonna change much of your opinion. Still, I call myself a reviewer, so I guess I’ll still review it for you all, try to go a little more than just talking about about how good it looks, or how exciting it is, since you can watch a TV spot of it and have it tell you that. So here we go, my review/musings/criticisms on the latest voyage of the Starship Enterprise. Or the re-voyage as it were.
Reviewer: HoD Mark
So I think my biggest problem, excluding the whole set up for the movie, the twists that they try to create, and the fact the screenwriters seem to think that just throwing in references and redoing already done scenes from the older films excuses them from making anything actually original for their “new” star trek universe, is that none of the characters have any kind of growth or arcs. Now yes, I did just name a bunch of things that irritated me in this movie, but I’d like to focus on the thing that doesn’t just focus on the new vs. old argument. The screenwriters have the chance to add to these characters through their act of creating a new timeline, dimension, plot convenient story writing, whatever the fuck you want to call it. But even though they did in the first film, what with having a much more headstrong Kirk, a new kinda love relation for Spock, and really that’s it, they only do a retread with this movie. Kirk still has serious command issues, and he shows his growth into a smarter captain, making better decisions and really caring for his crew over himself. Like the first fucking movie. Spock has issues with his emotions, being that he’s half-human and half-Vulcan. These problems fall over into his relationship with Uhura, and you watch as this kinda sorta doesn’t grow. Just like the first fucking movie. No one has a decent arc. At all. Either people have a bit more screen time or they get launched to the fucking bench. Chekov gets sidelined to engineering after Scotty leaves and stays there until he comes in to do one fucking thing towards the end. And yes, Scotty leaves at one point. Whoops spoiler. But come on, it’s a washed down, audience friendly summer blockbuster, he comes back and helps to save the day when he’s proved right and blah blah blah. And you know, I was wrong, one character has a bit of an arc, and that’s Sulu. For a brief while he becomes the captain and you see how strong he actually is. His resolve is remarkable and interesting. And then Kirk comes back and Sulu is back to being normal.
Before I move on, Bones is always fun. Yes, he’s a walking reference, and entertainingly they acknowledge this, actually asking him to stop. But he’s always done so well by Karl Urban. And Benedict Cumberbach is, as always, great. Unfortunately I can’t talk much to his overall character since he’s the crux of the rather weak story. But he’s great. Another thing is just that’s there is a whole backstory to that character that would put things into perspective, but it’s never addressed. He gives a half-assed explanation to who he is but nothing more of why he exists. It comes up for a second towards the end, but in such a way that seems cheap, like they forgot to put it in there in the first place. Really most of the film is just a really good looking, and well directed, action adventure story that just throws reference after reference at you, hoping something sticks. So the story itself is incredibly straightforward with a few twists that Abrams can’t seem to keep himself from giving away in his directing. Seriously, the guy is a good director with great flair and control, but he’s as subtle as a freight train on fire. That’s carrying something that’s also on fire.
And I thought I was gonna be proven wrong right at the beginning. It’s a beautifully shot chase sequence. Kirk and crew are trying to save a planet from destruction without going against the Prime Directive. (Which, to all people who don’t know, is that they must only observe but not be observed, which would then fuck up the natural progression of evolution on said planet) This world is covered by bright red trees, the indigenous people have yellow markings, Kirk and Bones are in blue, and it comes together so well. It never becomes difficult to tell what’s going on and it flows really well. And it’s what I want to see, the adventures of the Enterprise. Would have been great if this was still just a TV show. But no, this just sets up the characters for their already established characteristics that go nowhere, and then away we go.
So there’s a top level and a second level to this movie. Depends on how invested you are in the overall universe. If you want an entertaining action movie, with great special effects, interesting action scenes, and a rather brilliant score by Michael Giacchino, then this will do for you. If you want a more fleshed out look into a new Star Trek universe, then you can keep looking. It delves into it, it tries, and I can see that. But all it does is find itself reusing old story elements and changing it only slightly. I know, I know, I’ve been yelled at by some people that that’s the point of a reboot. But it’s not! You want to take the old and create something new that uses the existing story as a basis to jump from. To go boldly into something unknown. Just taking things and redoing them by switching characters or having someone else say something is not the way to do a reboot. It’s a chance to recreate characters, but they didn’t. They used them as they have always been used. And when the characters had to ask old Spock about how he handled a similar crisis, that’s when I gave up. Come on now. I mean, this movie, on the level of it’s place in the Star Trek universe, is just an entertaining fan service. And it does a poor job at that.
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Was I a bit too harsh? Maybe. And yeah, it was a little heavy on the criticism. But I kinda felt I had to for this. It's my opinion on the movie, so feel free to take it or leave it. Hell, prove me wrong in the comments. I'd love to discuss the finer points of the movie. Am I pandering? Maybe. This was a good movie, just clouded by so many poor story elements failing to do anything for the story and the overall universe. The movie ends with them again going out into space, on a voyage, and maybe this will let them find new, original stories for this Star Trek to face. I can hope.
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