Movie Reviews 2.0
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Babel-17
Veteran
Just finished watching Star Trek: Into Darkness on blu-ray. Had blueberry pie to go along with it, too. Home-made, no less.
JOLLY GOOD ROMP OF A MOVIE, in my opinion. Not high-brow, certainly. In fact, nowhere near even semi-intelligent, plot-wise (what little it had in the way of that). In fact I'm sure it had entire fleets of plot holes large enough to drive a 915 meter long alternate-reality USS Enterprise through, but seen just as an action movie it works really well, I think. Some action scenes are a bit ridiculous, but that's true of pretty much any action movie these days when visual effects are practically unrestrained in scale and grandeur.
What carries this movie, despite whatever shortcomings it has in the writing, is the excellent casting, IMO. They really nailed all the characters I think, and this is what saved the first movie, that and the excellent visual design. There's less lens flares this time - too bad I think! JJ should have stuck to the formula he created in the first installment, damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead. Oh well. At least it'll be fewer nagging memes this time. Too bad also much of the crew get so little screen time, but that's the nature of feature movies I guess, it doesn't seem possible to avoid. There's still a lot of great rapport between the crew members, and Kirk getting chewed out by Christopher Pike is also a really memorable scene.
I loved the bad guys in this movie. This is the second time Peter Weller does a star trek, and he does it SO WELL. I loved it, and I love Peter Weller. Well, not in THAT way, but as an actor. Sillys!badguyWhatsiscalled Cumberbatch was also pretty great. Perhaps not as enigmatic and charismatic as Richardo Montalban was originally, but certainly more psychotic, and modern action movie formula makes him a much more physically threatening villain. I do miss the wild mane of hair, though...
And: KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNN!!!
Heh.
8/10
PS: JJ, next movie, can you please make the Enterprise kick ass in a firefight instead of just getting shot up to pieces all the time? That'd be great, thanks. -The Internet.
Peter Weller had a guest appearance on the TV show Fringe that was amazing. It can easily be watched as a stand alone episode. IIRC it's called White Tulip.
The new Khan is such a kick-ass supersoldier that he's invulnerable to gunfire! I was amused when he was standing on top of a platform in full view of dozens of attacking klingons, shooting them with a gigantic gun for a couple of minutes (to save Kirk & Co), yet not one of them manages to even wing him when shooting back.
Of course, this is probably more down to the usual ST trope that any of the warrior races tend to be rubbish at fighting and frequently have their arses handed to them in combat by an assorted mixture of Federation Engineers and Doctors... :smile:
Of course, this is probably more down to the usual ST trope that any of the warrior races tend to be rubbish at fighting and frequently have their arses handed to them in combat by an assorted mixture of Federation Engineers and Doctors... :smile:
LOL! Yeah, well, it's more like the usual action TV/movie trope that main characters in particular have script invulnerability against anything really bad (unless attacked by a giant pit of tar.........*ahem*, better watch out for that, Kirk...)
Ah, my teenage self still feels sad about the meaningless death of Tasha Yar...
Sigfried1977
Legend
Just finished watching Star Trek: Into Darkness on blu-ray. Had blueberry pie to go along with it, too. Home-made, no less.
JOLLY GOOD ROMP OF A MOVIE, in my opinion. Not high-brow, certainly. In fact, nowhere near even semi-intelligent, plot-wise (what little it had in the way of that). In fact I'm sure it had entire fleets of plot holes large enough to drive a 915 meter long alternate-reality USS Enterprise through, but seen just as an action movie it works really well, I think. Some action scenes are a bit ridiculous, but that's true of pretty much any action movie these days when visual effects are practically unrestrained in scale and grandeur.
What carries this movie, despite whatever shortcomings it has in the writing, is the excellent casting, IMO. They really nailed all the characters I think, and this is what saved the first movie, that and the excellent visual design. There's less lens flares this time - too bad I think! JJ should have stuck to the formula he created in the first installment, damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead. Oh well. At least it'll be fewer nagging memes this time. Too bad also much of the crew get so little screen time, but that's the nature of feature movies I guess, it doesn't seem possible to avoid. There's still a lot of great rapport between the crew members, and Kirk getting chewed out by Christopher Pike is also a really memorable scene.
I loved the bad guys in this movie. This is the second time Peter Weller does a star trek, and he does it SO WELL. I loved it, and I love Peter Weller. Well, not in THAT way, but as an actor. Sillys!badguy
And: KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNN!!!
Heh.
8/10
PS: JJ, next movie, can you please make the Enterprise kick ass in a firefight instead of just getting shot up to pieces all the time? That'd be great, thanks. -The Internet.
Agreed. As for the plot holes. I think there aren't nearly as many as people claim there are. That's mostly due to the misuse of the term plot hole, though. Unconvincing or even bad writing doesn't equal plot hole.
I dunno what others have said as I haven't read any reviews or talk about the movie; I couldn't afford seeing it when it originally screened in theatres so I stayed far, far away from anything that might spoil the experience until I could buy the blu-ray instead, but off the cuff there's probably a couple I could think of. Largely deus ex machina-type plot holes, like the super ice cube Spock used to freeze a world-threatening volcano that fits in a briefcase, or portable transporters that send a guy across interstellar space, or blood platelets that resurrect tribbles and human beings alike. Or Enterprise warping to the very edge of Federation space seemingly in the space of a few hours at most.
I totally 'get' why those plot devices were used though, and I'm not complaining. It's an action movie, not a friggin drama documentary. Good, fast-paced action movies require their own style of movie logic or else you can't fit the story you want to tell. There wouldn't be time to explain or justify everything we see happening on-screen all the time, or use alternative, perhaps more realistic explanations.
In my opinion, Into Darkness is a considerably better movie than its predecessor. It has a better plot, with a much better main villain, and way less of the wacky pseudoscience that marred the first installment ("red matter" (paint? lol), artificial black holes, time travel, stuff of that sort.)
Yeah, I'd agree that there were fewer plot holes in this one than the first.
My issue with the first one was that a lot of the nonsensical plot points could easily have been dealt with with simply by changing a couple of lines or by adding a short scene here and there. Easily done and with a budget of God knows how much for special FX, quite affordable.
Oh well, you're really barking up the wrong tree if you are expecting too much in the way of plot coherence from the creator of Lost...
My issue with the first one was that a lot of the nonsensical plot points could easily have been dealt with with simply by changing a couple of lines or by adding a short scene here and there. Easily done and with a budget of God knows how much for special FX, quite affordable.
Oh well, you're really barking up the wrong tree if you are expecting too much in the way of plot coherence from the creator of Lost...
My biggest complaint was that Abrams can't do Star Trek space battles. There's no logic at all, it's just like in Galaxy Quest: shoot them with the blue things, then shoot them with the green things. No maneuvering, no tactics, no shields, no nothing. Removes any chance of the crew to win by superior intelligence or such.
Thankfully, Star Wars doesn't need any of that, so he'll do just fine there
Thankfully, Star Wars doesn't need any of that, so he'll do just fine there
Sigfried1977
Legend
Isn't that how Star Trek, or at least the ST movies, always operated? Unless we're dealing with convenient tension generators like the odd cloaked Bird of Prey every now and then, the biggest guns usually win.
The shields on these space ships do seem rather pontless though. Is there anything that doesn't punch through them right away?
The shields on these space ships do seem rather pontless though. Is there anything that doesn't punch through them right away?
Star Trek: Nemesis had a good, long space battle. I liked that movie a lot.
There isn't enough capital ship space battles in movies though, there was a bit in SW:Ep3, but it was mostly just background for the silly car chase with Anakin and Obi-Wan. I'd love to see a Warhammer 40K movie involving their capital ships; kilometers-long, cast-iron victorian/gothic cathedrals with piles of fusion drive tubes at the back, great big rams at the front, crews of tens of thousands and gun batteries everywhere, shooting each other to bits. Damn, that'd rock so much visually.
There isn't enough capital ship space battles in movies though, there was a bit in SW:Ep3, but it was mostly just background for the silly car chase with Anakin and Obi-Wan. I'd love to see a Warhammer 40K movie involving their capital ships; kilometers-long, cast-iron victorian/gothic cathedrals with piles of fusion drive tubes at the back, great big rams at the front, crews of tens of thousands and gun batteries everywhere, shooting each other to bits. Damn, that'd rock so much visually.
I've always thought that a WH40K movie could be very good. Dark, brooding, lots of flexibility with the storyline due to the breadth of the universe.
However, not to be, I suppose. I recently found that a low-budget 'Ultramarines' film was made but I've not seen it and doubt it will be up to much.
A pity, really, especially when we've now had 3 Riddick movies, only the first of which was any good at all. You'd think a better movie could be made with better source material, but knowing the movie industry, perhaps not!
However, not to be, I suppose. I recently found that a low-budget 'Ultramarines' film was made but I've not seen it and doubt it will be up to much.
A pity, really, especially when we've now had 3 Riddick movies, only the first of which was any good at all. You'd think a better movie could be made with better source material, but knowing the movie industry, perhaps not!
I agree!
JJ should play EVE Online for a year or two to get a feeling how proper space battle should look like and recreate it for big screen in next ST movie (if he gets it).
Just to illustrate a short EVE trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrrVDV_NsNo
Who played this game knows how important teamwork and strategy is to be successful in any space battle, be it 3vs10 ships or 632vs480 ships
Well, except that in real life, any space combat would take place with the opponents thousands of miles apart - lots of long-range weapons in use including torpedos/missiles operating at very high G, kinetic weaponry, beam weapons (if they exist), etc etc.
Of course, this doesn't really map well with the Star Wars view of things where the capital ships are a few miles apart when in combat and the smaller craft are within a gnat's whisker of each other. It also doesn't work in the Star Trek view where large ships move around slowly quite close to each other, barely manouevring, despite the evasive programmes the captains keep telling their helmsmen to use!
Of course, this doesn't really map well with the Star Wars view of things where the capital ships are a few miles apart when in combat and the smaller craft are within a gnat's whisker of each other. It also doesn't work in the Star Trek view where large ships move around slowly quite close to each other, barely manouevring, despite the evasive programmes the captains keep telling their helmsmen to use!
tongue_of_colicab
Veteran
A couple of movies I recently watched;
Iron man 3: Sucks. Don't bother watching it, even if you have nothing better to do. Rewatch 1 or 2 instead. This movie suffers from the same whining that made batman 3 suck as well.
A good day to die harder: Now this movie surprised me. Didn't think it would be very good but it was awesome. Don't bother watching for the story but it's great action all the time. I don't think there is even one minute without something blowing up or flying through the air in the first 50 minutes
The nameless gangster: This is a Korean movie. I really like Korean movies. Production values are generally pretty good and story wise they often manage to come up with something interesting. This movie pretty much is your basic gangster story but there are enough twists in the story to keep things going at a good pace and the action is nice as well.
My sassy girl: Another Korean movie. WARNING: There is an incredibly shitty American remake as well. Don't go anywhere near that POS.
Anyway, this movie is awesome. Don't be fooled by the romantic comedy keywords, just watch this movie. I guarantee you'll laugh all the way. Even my brothers liked this movie and they hate Asian movies.
It's about a crazy chick (Not too far from your average Korean girl judging by the few Korean girls I know) and her aspiring spineless boyfriend. First they hate each other and then blablabla. The usual. But you really have to watch this movie to understand as though the story might follow a fairly standard path, it's really good and fun to watch.
All I can say is this movie makes me regret I moved to Japan and not Korea. That country is full of cool crazy chicks that punch you and probably outdrink you as well. Instead I'm stuck with spineless, opinion less girls that are wasted after one sip of beer. That is if they even drink beer...
Anway, watch it
Iron man 3: Sucks. Don't bother watching it, even if you have nothing better to do. Rewatch 1 or 2 instead. This movie suffers from the same whining that made batman 3 suck as well.
A good day to die harder: Now this movie surprised me. Didn't think it would be very good but it was awesome. Don't bother watching for the story but it's great action all the time. I don't think there is even one minute without something blowing up or flying through the air in the first 50 minutes
The nameless gangster: This is a Korean movie. I really like Korean movies. Production values are generally pretty good and story wise they often manage to come up with something interesting. This movie pretty much is your basic gangster story but there are enough twists in the story to keep things going at a good pace and the action is nice as well.
My sassy girl: Another Korean movie. WARNING: There is an incredibly shitty American remake as well. Don't go anywhere near that POS.
Anyway, this movie is awesome. Don't be fooled by the romantic comedy keywords, just watch this movie. I guarantee you'll laugh all the way. Even my brothers liked this movie and they hate Asian movies.
It's about a crazy chick (Not too far from your average Korean girl judging by the few Korean girls I know) and her aspiring spineless boyfriend. First they hate each other and then blablabla. The usual. But you really have to watch this movie to understand as though the story might follow a fairly standard path, it's really good and fun to watch.
All I can say is this movie makes me regret I moved to Japan and not Korea. That country is full of cool crazy chicks that punch you and probably outdrink you as well. Instead I'm stuck with spineless, opinion less girls that are wasted after one sip of beer. That is if they even drink beer...
Anway, watch it
DuckThor Evil
Legend
I agree that Iron Man 3 was terrible, yes worse than the second, but are you trying to imply that Dark Knight Rises was as bad? In any case Batman 3 was very good imo.
The new Wolverine was worse than I expected, but I was still entertained.
Pacific Rim was better than I expected. A weird movie a bit. Others have mentioned that it was just like an anime with live actors and I agree, somewhat surreal in places. The fighting was and CGI was well done and the movie didn't have much extra forced comical or other type of nonsense, except the annoying science team. At the end of the day the movie was still only ok imo.
tongue_of_colicab
Veteran
Exactly what was good about it? Because as I recall I spent 3 hours watching Batman being a crybaby, wooo I can't get out of bed... woooo we had such a bad childhood blabla. Also Bane is the worst villain ever. He's just some guy with a stupid mask. I watched the whole movie hoping that at some point it would pick up but instead it just dragged on for 3 hours.
DuckThor Evil
Legend
Well It didn't drag for me. I thought there was something interesting going on at most times. I had also no problems with Bane. Granted my memory is a bit fuzzy regarding that movie, but I seem to remember that Batman was only a crybaby for about 1/3 of the movie
Billy Idol
Legend
I fully agree. I had the exact same issues and was very disappointed...and yes, same goes for Iron Man 3.
I mean...what did they had in their mind making those characters so whiny?? Making them 'deep' and super 'intellectual'?? What's next? Hulk cries because he is green? Wants to be blue instead...
DuckThor Evil
Legend
I think you guys should apologize to Batman.
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