Star Trek Into Darkness Review
May. 27th, 2013 12:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaI found myself coming out of the movie disappointed overall. That's not to say I hated it because I didn't. There was a lot I liked and I loved seeing these characters again. I just didn't love the movie like I was hoping and expecting to and I had a lot of issues with it.
* I feel like the movie left a serious dangling character thread. At least for me. At the beginning of the movie Kirk breaks the prime directive, lies on his report to Starfleet about it and is then stripped of his command. Near the end of the movie Kirk gives Spock command of the Enterprise and tells him that Spock is a better captain than him - and indeed we see Spock doing very well in the chair. Kirk meanwhile sacrifices himself to save his ship and crew. But - how exactly does Kirk sacrificing himself make him a better captain? This movie was about his growth - him not killing Khan for instance, and not handing him over to Marcus - but at the same time I ended the film wondering why exactly he was made captain again over Spock. Is self-sacrifice really the most important thing about being a captain?
* I haven't actually seen the TOS movies so the casting there - beyond the race issues - didn't bother nor did the portrayal of the character. I have no idea how it compares to the original but I quite liked this version of Khan. I thought Benedict Cumberbatch did a great job (also I love his voice) and I loved the Khan/Kirk interactions. That said I see no reason he had to be Khan specifically and they should have made him one of the random super soldiers instead.
* I continue to adore Uhura/Spock. They were excellent.
* I'm of two minds about the shuttle fight (when on their way to Kronos). On one hand, it made Uhura very unprofessional and passive-agressive (at first). But on the other, I really loved the interplay between the three characters (like, Kirk's "don't involve me... but she has a point") and Spock opening up to them. It was a great scene.
* I really loved the interplay, what little we had, between Kirk and Uhura. I actually got the sense in this movie that they were friends now. I loved their elevator scene.
* One of my big issues with this movie was that I did love those two above scenes so much and I really didn't feel like there were enough of them. I wanted more character moments. It was so much action and running around and I just wanted to watch these characters interacting.
* Kirk's death scene was for the most part well done. My only issue was Spock's tear - I didn't buy that. Okay, and also Spock's screamed 'Khan!' didn't really work for me. It was silly.
* Spock was very snarky. I liked it.
* Chekov taking over engineering really bothered me. Even if Keenser was Scotty's second there is this thing called a chain of command and you would think there would be a third person ready to take over.
- What would have been awesome is if they hadn't killed off Gaila and after Scotty and Keenser left she popped up as the next one in the chain of command in engineering.
* I loved everything with Scotty - his resigning, his reaction when Kirk accepted his resignation, him helping Kirk out later and saving the ship.
* I was really bothered by the mission to Kronos, specifically them parking 'at the edge of the neutral zone' which apparently is... in the same solar system as the Klingon's home world what? Did the Klingon's not notice them there? And how the hell did they not notice the ship our heroes flew onto the planet? They should have been confronted before they even got close.
* I didn't love the short appearance of the Klingons. They were basically there to get their asses kicked. Also why were they wearing helmets/masks?
* While I loved Uhura speaking to the Klingons, and loved her demeanor despite how scared she was, I hate that it ended with her needing to be rescued. How much more amazing would it have been if she'd actually been getting somewhere? Simply cutting out the lead Klingon grabbing her by the throat would have made a big difference. Instead of Khan saving Uhura from a situation out of her control it could have been Khan interfering in Uhura turning the situation to their advantage.
* That random Carol Marcus in her underwear scene was so unnecessary and stupid and ugh. I hate it. Also it made Kirk look like an asshole.
* Kirk not talking with Spock before they sent in their reports about the opening mission was just dumb. Of course Spock wouldn't lie on his report! Why would Kirk think he would?
* I was amused by the way it was Kirk who got progressively worse not Khan during Kirk's beating of him. That said I have a hard time believing that Spock and Uhura would let it go on that long.
* The opening sequence didn't really make that much sense. The shuttle not being able to handle the heat from the volcano doesn't make sense considering it can withstand the heat of re-entry (I assume). Why was it necessary for Spock to go into the volcano to put the bomb in it? Why the hell was the Enterprise on the ocean floor?
* I feel like the movie left a serious dangling character thread. At least for me. At the beginning of the movie Kirk breaks the prime directive, lies on his report to Starfleet about it and is then stripped of his command. Near the end of the movie Kirk gives Spock command of the Enterprise and tells him that Spock is a better captain than him - and indeed we see Spock doing very well in the chair. Kirk meanwhile sacrifices himself to save his ship and crew. But - how exactly does Kirk sacrificing himself make him a better captain? This movie was about his growth - him not killing Khan for instance, and not handing him over to Marcus - but at the same time I ended the film wondering why exactly he was made captain again over Spock. Is self-sacrifice really the most important thing about being a captain?
* I haven't actually seen the TOS movies so the casting there - beyond the race issues - didn't bother nor did the portrayal of the character. I have no idea how it compares to the original but I quite liked this version of Khan. I thought Benedict Cumberbatch did a great job (also I love his voice) and I loved the Khan/Kirk interactions. That said I see no reason he had to be Khan specifically and they should have made him one of the random super soldiers instead.
* I continue to adore Uhura/Spock. They were excellent.
* I'm of two minds about the shuttle fight (when on their way to Kronos). On one hand, it made Uhura very unprofessional and passive-agressive (at first). But on the other, I really loved the interplay between the three characters (like, Kirk's "don't involve me... but she has a point") and Spock opening up to them. It was a great scene.
* I really loved the interplay, what little we had, between Kirk and Uhura. I actually got the sense in this movie that they were friends now. I loved their elevator scene.
* One of my big issues with this movie was that I did love those two above scenes so much and I really didn't feel like there were enough of them. I wanted more character moments. It was so much action and running around and I just wanted to watch these characters interacting.
* Kirk's death scene was for the most part well done. My only issue was Spock's tear - I didn't buy that. Okay, and also Spock's screamed 'Khan!' didn't really work for me. It was silly.
* Spock was very snarky. I liked it.
* Chekov taking over engineering really bothered me. Even if Keenser was Scotty's second there is this thing called a chain of command and you would think there would be a third person ready to take over.
- What would have been awesome is if they hadn't killed off Gaila and after Scotty and Keenser left she popped up as the next one in the chain of command in engineering.
* I loved everything with Scotty - his resigning, his reaction when Kirk accepted his resignation, him helping Kirk out later and saving the ship.
* I was really bothered by the mission to Kronos, specifically them parking 'at the edge of the neutral zone' which apparently is... in the same solar system as the Klingon's home world what? Did the Klingon's not notice them there? And how the hell did they not notice the ship our heroes flew onto the planet? They should have been confronted before they even got close.
* I didn't love the short appearance of the Klingons. They were basically there to get their asses kicked. Also why were they wearing helmets/masks?
* While I loved Uhura speaking to the Klingons, and loved her demeanor despite how scared she was, I hate that it ended with her needing to be rescued. How much more amazing would it have been if she'd actually been getting somewhere? Simply cutting out the lead Klingon grabbing her by the throat would have made a big difference. Instead of Khan saving Uhura from a situation out of her control it could have been Khan interfering in Uhura turning the situation to their advantage.
* That random Carol Marcus in her underwear scene was so unnecessary and stupid and ugh. I hate it. Also it made Kirk look like an asshole.
* Kirk not talking with Spock before they sent in their reports about the opening mission was just dumb. Of course Spock wouldn't lie on his report! Why would Kirk think he would?
* I was amused by the way it was Kirk who got progressively worse not Khan during Kirk's beating of him. That said I have a hard time believing that Spock and Uhura would let it go on that long.
* The opening sequence didn't really make that much sense. The shuttle not being able to handle the heat from the volcano doesn't make sense considering it can withstand the heat of re-entry (I assume). Why was it necessary for Spock to go into the volcano to put the bomb in it? Why the hell was the Enterprise on the ocean floor?
