As has been pointed out by many this film is more of the same from JJ Abrams and my original thought for his first Trek movie holds true here. Good Flick, Bad Trek... but it was better than the first go around. Mostly because there was no time travel and red matter shenanigans. Before I get started I would like to say most of what I am going on about should not in any way be misconstrued as me not liking the movie. I thought it was damned sharp and entertaining. What I am going on about is the lack of something... the something that most seem to think is the reason why the original series was so loved that people dress up and go to conventions etc... This movie does not really have any real connection with the substance that drove that fanatical fan base. What it has is a leveraged character set that drives a really good action flick... branded adrenaline fare if you will.
I think we have here a new kind of Parody. Instead of Space Balls what we have here is a caricature of the original with the intent to improve? No, that isn't it, I think to concentrate? Yes... to concentrate specific elements. Typical parodies exaggerate aspects of their subject matter for comedic affect... IE calling attention to flaws etc. However here I think we are capturing elements and honing them for a different reason and the result is as I mentioned... Good flick bad Trek. That said it is going to make money and anything that kicks some life into the corpse of the Trek franchise at least gives us a good chance that sooner or later we will get a deeper look that is not all desert and no meal. Abrams has the chops to give us something a bit more meaty than these two action flicks and perhaps he will now have the freedom to do so.
So what is the problem? In the series debates about things like the Prime Directive had some substance... here it is the butt of a joke. The opening sequence has Kirk placed in the crucible of Prime Directive decision making with regards to the life of Spock and not violating the directive. Obviously, it being the opening sequence, he chooses Spock's life. While Kirks actions breaking the prime directive have consequences they are wiped out before they even have a chance to settle in. I mean he literally loses his command and is busted all the way back to Cadet at the Academy, in the next scene is re-promoted to first officer of the Enterprise under re-instated Captain Pike and in the next scene (haven't even returned to the Enterprise) Pike is killed and Kirk re-elevated to Captain and sent on a mission that is the antithesis of the vision of Gene Rodenberry's Federation. If possible this is an even more absurd sequence of events than the one that put him in the Enterprises captains chair in the first place. The only saving grace in this whole mess (with regards to it being an actual Trek story) is that Kirk does not blindly follow through on this mission. But a major opportunity to explore this issue of vengeance, of pre-emptive strikes, is left on the table and largely un-explored. Similarly the whole issue of Kahn and his genetic super men team and the issue of intentional genetic manipulation is completely ignored... reduced to a devine intervention device for saving dead or almost dead people.
So I hate to 'cast stones' and not at least attempt to make a suggestion for how it might have worked differently. The slow in depth review of the issues is not something that would work in the blockbuster movie format. I accept that. But I do think there is some middle ground here.
Missed opportunity #1. The debate about the prime directive. I like the opening sequence even with the unexplained reason they are leaving with an artifact in the first place. Hijinks, something went awry and we pick up in the middle of it. Kirk is going to save Spock so continue on through. In fact follow through the whole sequence up to the leader of the white 'natives' (nice touch I thought) drawing the figure of the enterprise on the ground for them to start worshiping. Now going forward do not go to Pike's office for a surprise dressing down. Go in front of StarFleet high command (similar to scenes in earlier movies) and turn it into a rapid fire 'court/inquiry' scene exploring the issue of the Prime Directive vs an issue like allowing a new form of life to be wiped out by the random eruption of a super volcano when possessing the technology to save them and whether or not it was right to do so at the expense of exposing them to ideas they may not be ready for. The script wrongly makes this an issue of the life of the captains friend and lying to cover it up (or not as the case may be with Spock) where it could have had two warring ideological issues AND the choice of which is 'right' for the circumstances deciding the fate of a crew members life.. Classic Trek. You have a lot of the same comedic foils with regards to Spock and Kirk as Kirk would fall to the side of saving the civilization at the expense of the Prime Directive (and save his Friend as a side benefit) and Spock could have fallen to the side of the Prime Directive and the whole saw about the needs of the many vs the one etc.... This could have been a grown up version of the whole Kobayashi Maru debate in the first film (best part of that movie by far... and it was cut short). And to cap it off you still have the whole issue of whether or not Kirk was doing something right, or just justifying saving the life of his friend.
Missed opportunity #2. The ridiculous demotion back to the academy with an instant 'just kidding' sequence. The result of the hearing in front of the Star Fleet high command suggested above should have been the demotion of Kirk to first officer and placed him back under Pike with some time to have it sink in he suffered a major blow for his decision and show that there is a level of debate among the Federation of how best to proceed out into the unknown. IE you threaten him with out right court marshal (or whatever equivalent) and settle on the demotion to 1st officer. This could have set the stage for the whole debate hinted at regarding whether or not the Federation needed to militarize or remain focused on peaceful exploration.
That sets the stage for the main plot of this movie. The terrorist attack (or was it?), the response - Pre-emptive strike. Assassination. Revenge. Versus the concept of rule of law, Justice, Fair Trial. And you do it with Pike at the Helm. Perhaps he is someone who cannot make the adjustment to questioning the actions/orders of Admiral Marcus. Think Crimson Tide (Denzel vs Gene Hackman) and you have the idea. Ultimately Kirk leads what is either Mutiny or a Heroic overthrow of Pike/Marcus to maintain the integrity of the Federation. At the end you would be left with a Kirk who had actually earned his chair... unlike the lucky kid from the first movie.
Missed opportunity #3. Cumberbatch does a fantastic job with what he was given... and he was given far to little. Hopefully in the next or another future movie he will be given much more ample opportunity to stretch his legs in the magnificent character vehicle that is Kahn Noonian Sung. Where was the debate regarding genetic superiority? The beliefe one race is suprerior to the other is very different from the possibility of an indisputably superior (from a physical/mental stand point at least) form of being through intentional genetic manipulation. You can approach it from the issue of superiority. You can approach it from the idea of inteligent design... ie conscious evolutionary choices. So many possibilities here. In this alternative timeline you could have pitted Kahn vs Kirk as who makes a better captain of a star ship. You could have had Kahn under Marcus serving as the forefront of a coalition to militarize star fleet with Kirk under Pike supporting the alternative peaceful exploration mission and then kick off the series of orders Pike cannot come to question and Kirk having to Relieve him of command (or some alternative of that). A fight for the future of the federation and what its place will be in the universe. Pike can end up dead, disgraced, or even promoted to Admiral in place of Marcus when he is exposed/defeated etc...
Missed opportunity #4. Uhura's chance to shine. They should have written her to succeed. Not to end up getting saved by guys with blasters. That would have been a proper way to uphold the legacy of Nichelle Nichols and Gene Roddenberry. Instead she is undercut in her one moment and otherwise placed in a role of 'harpy girlfriend'. One of the few things I found very distasteful even as I laughed my ass off at the 'Vulcan Boyfriend' harping.
What kills me is I think you could have done some combination of the above without killing the pace of the film. You could have had a whirlwind ride full of action AND serious ideas lending even more weight to the importance of their actions\decisions. I did think for just a moment when the Enterprise burst out of the ocean and we are left with the scene of the natives sketching out the space ship in the dirt that we might get such a rare combination of entertainment and deep thought... only to have that hope crushed by the insane demotion/promotion shuffle of Kirk.
And a final set of niggles. The falling enterprise would not have exhibited gravity on the occupants. As the ship was falling to earth with no artificial gravity field the crew would have been experiencing micro-g. Instead it acts like many might expect it to with gravity pulling the crew towards the earth regardless of the orientation of the ship. That only happens if the ship is actively resisting the pull of the earth. Instead they were all (ship and crew) falling at the same rate. The other one was something I found really idiotic. They shoot Kahn and Kirk out of the airlock into correctly silent space. Then immediately cut to them with rushing air sounds. Abrams had a chance here to do correct soundless action sequence that essentially stood Kubrick's iconic 2001 space station sequence docking on its head.
I do want to leave on a positive note. The cinematography is outstanding. The sequences of seeing the enterprise in action are memorable and all fans could ever have dreamed of back when special effects were so laughable. Finally that vision of the power and majesty of an interstellar vessel really made it to the big screen with no need for apologies .. and all you idiots screaming lens flare can go take a long walk off a very short pier. Considering the realities of Blockbuster film making I do think this movie does more good than harm. And as I said it is immensely entertaining.
So I hate to 'cast stones' and not at least attempt to make a suggestion for how it might have worked differently. The slow in depth review of the issues is not something that would work in the blockbuster movie format. I accept that. But I do think there is some middle ground here.
Missed opportunity #1. The debate about the prime directive. I like the opening sequence even with the unexplained reason they are leaving with an artifact in the first place. Hijinks, something went awry and we pick up in the middle of it. Kirk is going to save Spock so continue on through. In fact follow through the whole sequence up to the leader of the white 'natives' (nice touch I thought) drawing the figure of the enterprise on the ground for them to start worshiping. Now going forward do not go to Pike's office for a surprise dressing down. Go in front of StarFleet high command (similar to scenes in earlier movies) and turn it into a rapid fire 'court/inquiry' scene exploring the issue of the Prime Directive vs an issue like allowing a new form of life to be wiped out by the random eruption of a super volcano when possessing the technology to save them and whether or not it was right to do so at the expense of exposing them to ideas they may not be ready for. The script wrongly makes this an issue of the life of the captains friend and lying to cover it up (or not as the case may be with Spock) where it could have had two warring ideological issues AND the choice of which is 'right' for the circumstances deciding the fate of a crew members life.. Classic Trek. You have a lot of the same comedic foils with regards to Spock and Kirk as Kirk would fall to the side of saving the civilization at the expense of the Prime Directive (and save his Friend as a side benefit) and Spock could have fallen to the side of the Prime Directive and the whole saw about the needs of the many vs the one etc.... This could have been a grown up version of the whole Kobayashi Maru debate in the first film (best part of that movie by far... and it was cut short). And to cap it off you still have the whole issue of whether or not Kirk was doing something right, or just justifying saving the life of his friend.
Missed opportunity #2. The ridiculous demotion back to the academy with an instant 'just kidding' sequence. The result of the hearing in front of the Star Fleet high command suggested above should have been the demotion of Kirk to first officer and placed him back under Pike with some time to have it sink in he suffered a major blow for his decision and show that there is a level of debate among the Federation of how best to proceed out into the unknown. IE you threaten him with out right court marshal (or whatever equivalent) and settle on the demotion to 1st officer. This could have set the stage for the whole debate hinted at regarding whether or not the Federation needed to militarize or remain focused on peaceful exploration.
That sets the stage for the main plot of this movie. The terrorist attack (or was it?), the response - Pre-emptive strike. Assassination. Revenge. Versus the concept of rule of law, Justice, Fair Trial. And you do it with Pike at the Helm. Perhaps he is someone who cannot make the adjustment to questioning the actions/orders of Admiral Marcus. Think Crimson Tide (Denzel vs Gene Hackman) and you have the idea. Ultimately Kirk leads what is either Mutiny or a Heroic overthrow of Pike/Marcus to maintain the integrity of the Federation. At the end you would be left with a Kirk who had actually earned his chair... unlike the lucky kid from the first movie.
Missed opportunity #3. Cumberbatch does a fantastic job with what he was given... and he was given far to little. Hopefully in the next or another future movie he will be given much more ample opportunity to stretch his legs in the magnificent character vehicle that is Kahn Noonian Sung. Where was the debate regarding genetic superiority? The beliefe one race is suprerior to the other is very different from the possibility of an indisputably superior (from a physical/mental stand point at least) form of being through intentional genetic manipulation. You can approach it from the issue of superiority. You can approach it from the idea of inteligent design... ie conscious evolutionary choices. So many possibilities here. In this alternative timeline you could have pitted Kahn vs Kirk as who makes a better captain of a star ship. You could have had Kahn under Marcus serving as the forefront of a coalition to militarize star fleet with Kirk under Pike supporting the alternative peaceful exploration mission and then kick off the series of orders Pike cannot come to question and Kirk having to Relieve him of command (or some alternative of that). A fight for the future of the federation and what its place will be in the universe. Pike can end up dead, disgraced, or even promoted to Admiral in place of Marcus when he is exposed/defeated etc...
Missed opportunity #4. Uhura's chance to shine. They should have written her to succeed. Not to end up getting saved by guys with blasters. That would have been a proper way to uphold the legacy of Nichelle Nichols and Gene Roddenberry. Instead she is undercut in her one moment and otherwise placed in a role of 'harpy girlfriend'. One of the few things I found very distasteful even as I laughed my ass off at the 'Vulcan Boyfriend' harping.
What kills me is I think you could have done some combination of the above without killing the pace of the film. You could have had a whirlwind ride full of action AND serious ideas lending even more weight to the importance of their actions\decisions. I did think for just a moment when the Enterprise burst out of the ocean and we are left with the scene of the natives sketching out the space ship in the dirt that we might get such a rare combination of entertainment and deep thought... only to have that hope crushed by the insane demotion/promotion shuffle of Kirk.
And a final set of niggles. The falling enterprise would not have exhibited gravity on the occupants. As the ship was falling to earth with no artificial gravity field the crew would have been experiencing micro-g. Instead it acts like many might expect it to with gravity pulling the crew towards the earth regardless of the orientation of the ship. That only happens if the ship is actively resisting the pull of the earth. Instead they were all (ship and crew) falling at the same rate. The other one was something I found really idiotic. They shoot Kahn and Kirk out of the airlock into correctly silent space. Then immediately cut to them with rushing air sounds. Abrams had a chance here to do correct soundless action sequence that essentially stood Kubrick's iconic 2001 space station sequence docking on its head.
I do want to leave on a positive note. The cinematography is outstanding. The sequences of seeing the enterprise in action are memorable and all fans could ever have dreamed of back when special effects were so laughable. Finally that vision of the power and majesty of an interstellar vessel really made it to the big screen with no need for apologies .. and all you idiots screaming lens flare can go take a long walk off a very short pier. Considering the realities of Blockbuster film making I do think this movie does more good than harm. And as I said it is immensely entertaining.
1 comment:
Dang Hugh...you never cease to amaze me with your insites :)
Loved this review and the suggestions you had for it! Any was to get this to the director?
Thanks for some good reading!
Cat
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