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Now we will squee - in WARP DRIVE!
.
Just came from seeing Star Trek.
YAY! How cool is this movie? WAY COOL! I had a great time, far more than I expected. It's definitely a yummy way to start the summer.
(What follows is a little spoilery, but only a little.)
It's NOT a prequel. I know, I know - that's what all the promos and reviewers are calling it, but don't believe them. (Those reviewers are obviously not ST fans, because anyone even a little familiar with Star Trek will spot the inconsistencies almost immediately, starting with the death at the beginning of the story.) Abrams hasn't "invented a back story", as some are saying, since the backstory of ST has been well-established for decades. I started going "Nuh-UH! No way!" about ten minutes into it, and I didn't shake that off until about two-thirds of the way in, when I suddenly got just what the story was doing, and then it all fell into place and made sense. What cleared it up for me? Why, Spock's explanation, of course.
(Without spoiling it, I can say that anyone who knows ST well, and knows the conventions of science fiction, can deduce the basic idea by going to the film's IMDB page and looking at the list of characters.)
What Abrams has done here is figure out a story rationale for messing with the characters and their histories. Clearly, Abrams wants to make more ST films, and also clearly, the ST history already established didn't suit him. So by using the conventions of the ST universe, he's managed to change things around. Some of the changes are small, some quite big, some quite surprising, but none of them dreadful or enraging (at least, not to me), just...interesting. It's quite clever, but definitely NOT the history of the ST universe. It's something else, but it has a reason for being something else, and that reason works (if you swallow the basic premise, which I'm happy to do because hey, this is Star Trek.)
It's a wonderful film, no doubt about it. (40-year ST fan talking here.) The casting is great. Example: At first I thought Zach Quinto resembled the original Spock, but after a while I realized he didn't - but he has that...look. And that's all he needs. (And before you ask, YES, Karl Urban rocks as McCoy!) The ship is hot, the uniforms are classic (yay!), and the story is nimble and well-thought out. Setting aside the issue of the Enterprise - the finest vessel ever commissioned by Starfleet - apparently having crappy sensors and no brig, it's just as cool and fun and fast and cheerful as I'd hoped.
And that's what I always loved about Star Trek, and so many other fans do. It's cheerful. It looks at the future with optimism and hope and confidence in humanity's ability to overcome problems. (In that manner, it's perfect for the new political landscape in America. This was the best time Abrams could have chosen to re-tool and -launch the Enterprise.) And best of all, in the Star Trek universe, the most difficult and challenging of those problems lie not in big technical geekery (of which this film has plenty *hugs Simon Pegg*) but in the hearts and minds of the people out there, exploring the galaxy. That they always rose to the challenge, or were willing to try, made us love them all.
ETA: See below for some more observations. :)
ETA Junior: Ahaha. Apparently some people have trouble finding their balls. Clearly you don't know me, so allow me to enlighten you: Coming here to drop pissy anon comments and then run away will NOT work. I will just delete them (as I already have). If you want to play in this sandbox, you'll have to wear your name tag.
Capice?
Just came from seeing Star Trek.
YAY! How cool is this movie? WAY COOL! I had a great time, far more than I expected. It's definitely a yummy way to start the summer.
(What follows is a little spoilery, but only a little.)
It's NOT a prequel. I know, I know - that's what all the promos and reviewers are calling it, but don't believe them. (Those reviewers are obviously not ST fans, because anyone even a little familiar with Star Trek will spot the inconsistencies almost immediately, starting with the death at the beginning of the story.) Abrams hasn't "invented a back story", as some are saying, since the backstory of ST has been well-established for decades. I started going "Nuh-UH! No way!" about ten minutes into it, and I didn't shake that off until about two-thirds of the way in, when I suddenly got just what the story was doing, and then it all fell into place and made sense. What cleared it up for me? Why, Spock's explanation, of course.
(Without spoiling it, I can say that anyone who knows ST well, and knows the conventions of science fiction, can deduce the basic idea by going to the film's IMDB page and looking at the list of characters.)
What Abrams has done here is figure out a story rationale for messing with the characters and their histories. Clearly, Abrams wants to make more ST films, and also clearly, the ST history already established didn't suit him. So by using the conventions of the ST universe, he's managed to change things around. Some of the changes are small, some quite big, some quite surprising, but none of them dreadful or enraging (at least, not to me), just...interesting. It's quite clever, but definitely NOT the history of the ST universe. It's something else, but it has a reason for being something else, and that reason works (if you swallow the basic premise, which I'm happy to do because hey, this is Star Trek.)
It's a wonderful film, no doubt about it. (40-year ST fan talking here.) The casting is great. Example: At first I thought Zach Quinto resembled the original Spock, but after a while I realized he didn't - but he has that...look. And that's all he needs. (And before you ask, YES, Karl Urban rocks as McCoy!) The ship is hot, the uniforms are classic (yay!), and the story is nimble and well-thought out. Setting aside the issue of the Enterprise - the finest vessel ever commissioned by Starfleet - apparently having crappy sensors and no brig, it's just as cool and fun and fast and cheerful as I'd hoped.
And that's what I always loved about Star Trek, and so many other fans do. It's cheerful. It looks at the future with optimism and hope and confidence in humanity's ability to overcome problems. (In that manner, it's perfect for the new political landscape in America. This was the best time Abrams could have chosen to re-tool and -launch the Enterprise.) And best of all, in the Star Trek universe, the most difficult and challenging of those problems lie not in big technical geekery (of which this film has plenty *hugs Simon Pegg*) but in the hearts and minds of the people out there, exploring the galaxy. That they always rose to the challenge, or were willing to try, made us love them all.
ETA: See below for some more observations. :)
ETA Junior: Ahaha. Apparently some people have trouble finding their balls. Clearly you don't know me, so allow me to enlighten you: Coming here to drop pissy anon comments and then run away will NOT work. I will just delete them (as I already have). If you want to play in this sandbox, you'll have to wear your name tag.
Capice?
SPOILERS HERE
That was my basic problem. I'm so used to the conventions of time travel stories, i.e., you either can't fuck up history because the world goes boom, or else you can't fuck up history because it isn't possible since everything that you do back in time is part of how history evolved anyway. I didn't realize until way into the picture that it isn't a usual time travel story, and that they meant to fuck up history and leave it that way. That we've left ST Prime and we're going to continue in a changed universe. Despite my wanting to remain unspoiled, I kinda wish I'd known that, as it might have saved me all the energy I spent being confused and (somewhat) resistant to the changes.
Now I want to see how the slashers are going to deal with Uhura. Can't exactly turn HER into an evil keep-them-apart female, can they?
Re: SPOILERS HERE
Yes - on first viewing I was twitching. I was liking what I saw & felt but it was sure messing with my mind. UNTIL the big reveal about halfway through. Then it was relax & enjoy the ride. After that, I couldn't wait to see it again so I could just fill up on the whole concept & admire how it was accomplished.
Am still actually tingling! LOL
Re: SPOILERS HERE
Yes! When George first appears, I thought, "Hey, is that Sam?" And I was trying to remember if the situation sounded like Sam's death, and I was confused, and then they said it was Kirk's dad and...WHAT? It was very frustrating. The film was SO HOT and yet I really didn't want the world messed with "just because". When it turned out it wasn't so, I were Big Happy.
Heehee, only the fact of my family's get-together in two hours is keeping me from RUSHING to the theater for another go! But I'm going back tomorrow. *bounces up and down*