Active Users:441 Time:22/12/2024 02:54:31 PM
I couldn't agree more Isaac Send a noteboard - 10/06/2013 05:52:52 PM

View original postIn Wrath of Khan, we have a villain who's pretty believable. We actually feel sympathy for Khan. In Into Darkness, we have a Khan who (although played brilliantly) is an obvious "bad guy" from the start, and the only item of sympathy we have for him--that he misses his crew--is wiped away when Spock reveals that they're all genocidal maniacs.

Cumberbatch played the role well, but the role was not emotional complex. They do achieve some anti-hero flavor, he's not 100% unsympathetic villain, but he comes close and having his entire crew be auto-evil like that was a serious cop-out.


View original postThe best parts of the film were the homages, I think. Everything else felt empty. If you changed the names, it would have been a fairly ho-hum science fiction movie. It's really just riding on the coattails of better films at this point. It's becoming increasingly obvious that Abrams is too shallow to direct Star Trek films. There's no attempt at exploring what it means to be human, which even lackluster Star Trek films like Nemesis tried to do. It's just explosions and needless undressing.

The problem was homages worked well in the first film, as did minimal bad-guy-development, because everyone wanted and expected it from a reboot. You had to jam in their character intro, new universe intro, 'avengers assemble', and a plot, plus "yes, this is Trek, remember this?" homages and 'Explosions!!! Lots of fucking explosions!'.

That just doesn't work for a second move, the connection to the old series is firmly established, the characters are known, their deviation from the old is known, give us plot.

Now I'm an uber-geek so a homage is never going to bother me, I get the reference and approve of the hat-tip to the original, I think many are lost on newer audiences though and while this film avoided it you can go beyond homage into the zone where you're wondering why C3PO and R2D2 are in the damn film and so obviously shoehorned in.

The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.
- Albert Einstein

King of Cairhien 20-7-2
Chancellor of the Landsraad, Archduke of Is'Mod
This message last edited by Isaac on 10/06/2013 at 05:54:30 PM
Reply to message
Star Trek Into Darkness - 09/05/2013 11:21:06 PM 2139 Views
Thanks for the review! Looking forward to this movie big-time. - 10/05/2013 03:43:37 AM 873 Views
You really love getting spoiled, don't you? - 10/05/2013 02:37:39 PM 877 Views
I do like spoilers! - 10/05/2013 03:36:00 PM 831 Views
Re: You really love getting spoiled, don't you? - 11/05/2013 11:38:06 PM 1448 Views
This review really has my fingers itching - 11/05/2013 06:33:58 PM 884 Views
I could write a reply with lots of spoilers, I suppose - 11/05/2013 08:30:06 PM 857 Views
Alright, let's talk massive Spoilers. You really shouldn't...until you've seen it. - 15/05/2013 03:27:41 PM 966 Views
is it wrong I was lauging my ass off when ... ((SPOILER)) - 17/05/2013 07:38:09 PM 902 Views
I think, as a fan of the original story, this was very well-done. - 18/05/2013 02:04:22 AM 1155 Views
Amazing...I completely agree with Cannoli's post. - 30/05/2013 04:58:39 PM 863 Views
It's because I like movies... - 31/05/2013 04:02:38 PM 884 Views
I think you just like summer Hollywood blockbusters. *NM* - 10/06/2013 05:16:55 PM 486 Views
How is David Marcus of "Wrath of Khan" such a pussy when he's the grandson of Thor & Robocop? - 18/05/2013 01:30:24 AM 1053 Views
Starfleet's militarization - 18/05/2013 06:12:44 PM 1031 Views
I found that to be 90 percent of a fun movie. (spoilers) - 18/05/2013 10:58:30 PM 885 Views
Quick thoughts on a couple of your complaints. - 19/05/2013 12:57:28 AM 1172 Views
Re: Quick thoughts on a couple of your complaints. - 19/05/2013 01:13:08 AM 1026 Views
Re: Quick thoughts on a couple of your complaints. - 19/05/2013 08:25:36 AM 1129 Views
The film was an acceptable, but unremarkable addition to the franchise - 19/05/2013 04:01:41 PM 1016 Views
Loved the homage to Wrath of Khan..... - 22/05/2013 04:26:07 AM 834 Views
It was more humorous than serious, came off wrong to me - 22/05/2013 05:01:56 AM 909 Views
To me it came off as a nice homage, but that was precisely my problem with the film. - 10/06/2013 05:12:13 PM 1021 Views
I couldn't agree more - 10/06/2013 05:52:52 PM 904 Views
I thought the same. *NM* - 06/06/2013 10:11:43 PM 399 Views
Just saw it.....one of the best Star Trek movies ever! - 22/05/2013 04:20:22 AM 842 Views
Definitely. Even though competition isn't that big - 22/05/2013 04:05:19 PM 987 Views

Reply to Message