Media Wednesday
May. 13th, 2009 06:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icepixieSo, Star Trek. I went to see it in iMax today (which, as far as I can tell, was not significantly different from watching it on a regular screen--perhaps it was a bit more "high def," since I'm not sure you could see, like, chicken pox scars on people's faces on a regular screen, but it wasn't worth the extra money, IMO). Despite it being all over my flist, I haven't really been paying attention to the publicity or the buzz about the film, so I went in unsure what to expect--I'd seen the trailer when it came out, categorized it as "teen action flick," and went about my business until it came out and I heard murmurings that it was actually good. My history with the Trek franchise skips rather prominently over TOS; I've seen all of TNG, most of DS9, and most of Voyager, although I've been trying to block out much of that last one (Janeway's holoboyfriend for the LOSE). I have, however, seen enough bits and pieces of TOS (and been exposed to it through cultural seepage) to figure out the majority of the jokes and references in the film. Although I was embarrassingly fannish about TNG, DS9, and VOY for a time in middle and high school, I haven't seen an episode or anything for something like a decade now.
I found that the key to enjoying this movie was to rewrite it in my head a bit, and then sit back and enjoy the explosions. The rewriting? Starfleet is not anything resembling a professional military organization. That allowed me to handwave Kirk going from enlisted cadet to captain in the space of what appeared to be maybe forty-eight hours. And what appeared to be Uhura's magical promotion as well. And that incredibly random Spock/Uhura thing where they ended up making out all over the ship, despite being, I don't know, on duty (and him being her instructor. ACK ACK NO BAD VERY BAD ACK). Was that supposed to be some kind of O HAI, KIRK AND SPOCK ARE NOT GAY proactive fandom defense thing? Because they're fighting some forty-odd years of history there. I don't think they'll win.
Alas, it did not allow me to handwave the incredibly numerous violations of the laws of physics, which seemed more blatant than usual. The bit where Kirk, Sulu, and Random Australian Redshirt parachuted onto a planet from space without burning into crispy fritters was particularly egregious. Of course, after I thought that, I realized this was J.J. "Of course Sydney Bristow can dive from a ten-story building into a swimming pool and not break any bones!" Abrams, and was pleased that it hadn't been worse. (Not touching the black hole stuff. Noooot touching it.)
And...the villains were supposed to be Romulans? Really? Because neither the characters nor their ship looked like any Romulan I've ever seen. Oh, well. (They didn't look like that in TOS, did they? I remember them looking pretty much Vulcan in TNG and the other series. And their ships were bird-shaped, as I recall.) I really, really hate time travel stories, but this one was worth it for Leonard Nimoy. Hooray! (We'll ignore the fact that the rest of the plot was hard to follow in places, and shallow in others. Leonard Nimoy!)
But anyway. I adored Bones and Scotty, and Sulu and Checkov to slightly lesser extents. I really liked that they gave Uhura an actual scientific specialty and reason for being on the freakin' bridge besides as telephone operator in the stars--although I wish they'd been RDM's kind of gutsy and given us another major female character or three, even if it meant some gender-swapping. (And yeah, I *headdesked* at the miniskirts.) They managed to make Kirk the EXACT same kind of arrogant jackass that he was in the movies and episodes of TOS that I've seen, so...congrats? Even though I hate that character? Whatever. It was all about Bones for me. *hearts Bones* *and Scotty* *is pretty sure she would be Bones if she were on a starship, all curmudgeonly and mistrustful of technology*
*
Castle, on the other hand, was unambivalently good. The cliffhanger was compelling without being melodramatic, Robert Picardo was excellent, I liked the interaction between Castle, Beckett, and Sorensen ("Monkey comes with me"), Castle dealing with Alexis's first prom was wonderful, and I unabashedly loved Martha turning down the flamboyance and speaking frankly about body image and friendship and secrets. Please renew this show!
*
Soooo...Rob Thomas is attempting to hit every imaginable cliche before the show gets killed? I can get down with that. Of course Trevor called in Claire as babysitting reinforcement. And of course the computer dating machine matched them up. And of course he figured it out. BWAH! (Although, ah, Claire had more chemistry with the statistician. And I don't quite understand why she dumped him, or more accurately why the blonde woman came into the coffee shop and slapped him. Any idea who she was?)
I found that the key to enjoying this movie was to rewrite it in my head a bit, and then sit back and enjoy the explosions. The rewriting? Starfleet is not anything resembling a professional military organization. That allowed me to handwave Kirk going from enlisted cadet to captain in the space of what appeared to be maybe forty-eight hours. And what appeared to be Uhura's magical promotion as well. And that incredibly random Spock/Uhura thing where they ended up making out all over the ship, despite being, I don't know, on duty (and him being her instructor. ACK ACK NO BAD VERY BAD ACK). Was that supposed to be some kind of O HAI, KIRK AND SPOCK ARE NOT GAY proactive fandom defense thing? Because they're fighting some forty-odd years of history there. I don't think they'll win.
Alas, it did not allow me to handwave the incredibly numerous violations of the laws of physics, which seemed more blatant than usual. The bit where Kirk, Sulu, and Random Australian Redshirt parachuted onto a planet from space without burning into crispy fritters was particularly egregious. Of course, after I thought that, I realized this was J.J. "Of course Sydney Bristow can dive from a ten-story building into a swimming pool and not break any bones!" Abrams, and was pleased that it hadn't been worse. (Not touching the black hole stuff. Noooot touching it.)
And...the villains were supposed to be Romulans? Really? Because neither the characters nor their ship looked like any Romulan I've ever seen. Oh, well. (They didn't look like that in TOS, did they? I remember them looking pretty much Vulcan in TNG and the other series. And their ships were bird-shaped, as I recall.) I really, really hate time travel stories, but this one was worth it for Leonard Nimoy. Hooray! (We'll ignore the fact that the rest of the plot was hard to follow in places, and shallow in others. Leonard Nimoy!)
But anyway. I adored Bones and Scotty, and Sulu and Checkov to slightly lesser extents. I really liked that they gave Uhura an actual scientific specialty and reason for being on the freakin' bridge besides as telephone operator in the stars--although I wish they'd been RDM's kind of gutsy and given us another major female character or three, even if it meant some gender-swapping. (And yeah, I *headdesked* at the miniskirts.) They managed to make Kirk the EXACT same kind of arrogant jackass that he was in the movies and episodes of TOS that I've seen, so...congrats? Even though I hate that character? Whatever. It was all about Bones for me. *hearts Bones* *and Scotty* *is pretty sure she would be Bones if she were on a starship, all curmudgeonly and mistrustful of technology*
*
Castle, on the other hand, was unambivalently good. The cliffhanger was compelling without being melodramatic, Robert Picardo was excellent, I liked the interaction between Castle, Beckett, and Sorensen ("Monkey comes with me"), Castle dealing with Alexis's first prom was wonderful, and I unabashedly loved Martha turning down the flamboyance and speaking frankly about body image and friendship and secrets. Please renew this show!
*
Soooo...Rob Thomas is attempting to hit every imaginable cliche before the show gets killed? I can get down with that. Of course Trevor called in Claire as babysitting reinforcement. And of course the computer dating machine matched them up. And of course he figured it out. BWAH! (Although, ah, Claire had more chemistry with the statistician. And I don't quite understand why she dumped him, or more accurately why the blonde woman came into the coffee shop and slapped him. Any idea who she was?)
no subject
Date: 2009-05-14 06:57 am (UTC)