Pandering fan service, obvious political messages, dumb action, and faulty and broken lore? Sounds like every other Star Trek show and movie ever. This guy takes Star Trek way too seriously.
Escape to the Movies: Star Trek: Into Darkness
- Thread starter MovieBob
- Start date
I understand your frustraion Bob. I've seen but one episode of Star Trek, so this movie didn't mean much to me, but having put up with three seasons of Lost worth of abuse before I wised up, I absolutely understand your frustration. I'm sick of Abrams and his ilk putting so much work into the hype then forgetting to actually pay it off, like the hype itself is the art, is the reward. It's so... enamored with surface.
Bob, you seem to be getting kinda bitter. JJ Abrams isn't going away. No matter how bad you want him to disappear, the guy is currently in charge of 3 of the biggest things in nerd culture. And you know what? He's doing a fine job. I thought this was fantastic and at this point, you even seem to be in the minority of critics.
Granted, the movie has a few problems, but on the whole its an incredibly enjoyable, well acted, very FUN film.
Your 2 biggest complaints seem to be the advertising and the fan service. The advertising doesn't matter to me in the slightest. Its like when people got pissy because ME3 didn't live up to the obscene amounts of hype it was getting.
I get the complaint about the fan service though. I know a lot of people hate it. I loved every second of it. JJ can service this fan any time he wants. Yeah, it's lazy and pandering and silly, but that's what's awesome about it. I was grinning ear to ear throughout the entire role reversed WOK scene. I squee'd like a little girl at Spock's big scene a moment later. Every scene I was watching for and eagerly anticipating the next bit of fanservice. This was a movie for me and those like me. I'm very sorry you felt how you did.
Granted, the movie has a few problems, but on the whole its an incredibly enjoyable, well acted, very FUN film.
Your 2 biggest complaints seem to be the advertising and the fan service. The advertising doesn't matter to me in the slightest. Its like when people got pissy because ME3 didn't live up to the obscene amounts of hype it was getting.
I get the complaint about the fan service though. I know a lot of people hate it. I loved every second of it. JJ can service this fan any time he wants. Yeah, it's lazy and pandering and silly, but that's what's awesome about it. I was grinning ear to ear throughout the entire role reversed WOK scene. I squee'd like a little girl at Spock's big scene a moment later. Every scene I was watching for and eagerly anticipating the next bit of fanservice. This was a movie for me and those like me. I'm very sorry you felt how you did.
I'm a die hard fan of the TOS and I've literally been watching this show and this franchise since I was an infant. Wrath of Khan is my favorite movie of all time and I feel that the death of Spock is one of the most iconic moments in all of science fiction.
That being said, I disagree with nearly everything you say in this review and I absolutely loved this movie, even the twist and the death scene.
You see, I feel like these movies NEED to retread the old series. It's a universe in which the cosmic forces are constantly trying to bring the altered universe back on track, said by Spock Prime in a deleted scene from Star Trek 2009. In fact, my father and I (Has been a fan of ST since the sixties), were actually discussing what episodes of TOS would make good "Reboot Movies" This is a fresh start and I love how these movies have established the new universe and how similar it is to the old one. I mean seriously, out of all the changes made to this universe, all of these major characters end up on the same ship? That's a stretch. But this is a universe constantly in flux, trying to redirect the flow back to the original timeline, so that's why everything seems so similar. I love that the death scene mirrored the one in Wrath of Khan. It shows, not only a stark dedication to the original lore, but it also shows that the writers actually DO "get it." So, as we continue, we need a movie version of Balance of Terror, The Ultimate Computer, or City on the Edge of Forever. Seriously, it's about time for this Kirk to get his time travel libido up and running.
I am highly of the belief that you judged this movie primarily on your hatred for Abrams. We get it, you don't like him. Can you continue being a movie critic again?
That being said, I disagree with nearly everything you say in this review and I absolutely loved this movie, even the twist and the death scene.
You see, I feel like these movies NEED to retread the old series. It's a universe in which the cosmic forces are constantly trying to bring the altered universe back on track, said by Spock Prime in a deleted scene from Star Trek 2009. In fact, my father and I (Has been a fan of ST since the sixties), were actually discussing what episodes of TOS would make good "Reboot Movies" This is a fresh start and I love how these movies have established the new universe and how similar it is to the old one. I mean seriously, out of all the changes made to this universe, all of these major characters end up on the same ship? That's a stretch. But this is a universe constantly in flux, trying to redirect the flow back to the original timeline, so that's why everything seems so similar. I love that the death scene mirrored the one in Wrath of Khan. It shows, not only a stark dedication to the original lore, but it also shows that the writers actually DO "get it." So, as we continue, we need a movie version of Balance of Terror, The Ultimate Computer, or City on the Edge of Forever. Seriously, it's about time for this Kirk to get his time travel libido up and running.
I am highly of the belief that you judged this movie primarily on your hatred for Abrams. We get it, you don't like him. Can you continue being a movie critic again?
(SPOILER) Finally found time to watch Bob's review. You know...I liked the movie. But I don't disagree with Bob, not one bit. I just wasn't as distraught (or bothered) by what the movie did as Bob was, but they really could have made this movie their own by leaving the entire Khan connection out of it.
Here's the thing I find interesting about your post. I agree with you. the action was really good, if a little drawn out in places. I thought the special effects were amazing as well. I also thought that the cast, even Chris Pine, were all rather good in their roles. I even thought the movie was quite a bit of fun. The problem is that none of those things have anything to do with why the movie sucks. The movie is bad because it spends more time on exposition than on character development. Khan is the very definition of one dimensional. He has only one defining characteristic. The fact that the ending was emotionally vapid. All of the meaning behind the scene between Spock and Kirk when it was done in Wrath of Khan mean't something because we understand the deep friendship that both of those two characters had. We also had no reason to think that Spock was going to magically be brought back to life. That movie ended with Spock actually being dead. I know they essentially wrote him coming back to life on in the third movie, but it had no bearing on the second. Another thing as Bob points out is that none of the characters go through any character arcs that weren't already done in the 2009 film. I could go on, but I don't want to be here all night.AldUK said:
At least now Moviebob gets why a bait and switch can be disappointing... Iron Man 3 anyone? Regardless, movie was a heap of dung. Abrams is a hack. Seriously, the guy makes Felicity (?!) and directs the pilot for Lost and he's king of TV? (Lost was actually sitting in ABC's archives since the 70's.) And apparently the world's no.1 choice for science fiction director too?!! I don't know how this happened. His whole back catalogue is sketchy enough for actual quality and experience. Bad Robot is a talented company, but a dipstick is in charge...
There's literally every director in Hollywood before you get to this guy. He must be one heck of a salesman. What are the odds some folk at Disney are getting cold feet?
Portal & Half Life are gonna basically be expensive Uwe Boll movies.
There's literally every director in Hollywood before you get to this guy. He must be one heck of a salesman. What are the odds some folk at Disney are getting cold feet?
Portal & Half Life are gonna basically be expensive Uwe Boll movies.
Haha, yeah, that was hilarious. The trailer had to include the two seconds of fanservice from the film (which was the entire duration of the actual scene in the film) to get people to watch it. Obviously the producers and marketing department were aware the film was not good enough to sell on its own merits.Strife2GFAQs said:
I'm on the other side of the fence. I think Bob gave this movie far more credit than I would have. I haven't seen Iron man 3 yet but for that movie to be worse than this one, Iron man would have to be a blank screen with a picture of a robot, drawn by a five year old, affixed to it by duct tape.Calibanbutcher said:
To give credit where it's due, the score was very good. I also thought the banter was fun and believable. Anytime the movie pushed the actors beyond "witty" though... The scene between Pine and Cumberbatch, the one shown partially in the trailers, is painful. Which is especially terrible because we all know Cumberbatch is a capable actor.
The plot is a mangled mess, with holes large enough for a semi to drive through. Even the action was lacking. Why did Khan pick Spock up and throw him onto the moving vehicle? He could have just kicked him off. Why did he watch him climb up the next time. In fact, why was Khan not shot by the Klingons? He was standing still, on top of what looked like a packing crate. The light effect they used for a lot of these shots was also really annoying. Not sure what it's actually called, but you know when it's really bright and the sun makes those beams of colored spots, why were those in most of the action shots?
The worst thing about this whole affair is that it is boring and predictable. About 15 minutes in, a little girl is saved. The method employed to do so saps any anticipation out of the rest of the film. Even Kirk's last hurrah is meaningless since we know he's in no actual danger.
Over all it was awful. Not trolls 2 awful, so congrats to it I guess.
Oh wait! Where's the diplomacy? It's a Star Trek movie, it is suppose to be in there. Kind of like Batman not showing up to a Batman movie.
(Notices the mention to "The Hangover part 3" at the end of the video)
In Other News: There are trailers for "Anchor-man 2" floating around... HAVE FUN~
In Other News: There are trailers for "Anchor-man 2" floating around... HAVE FUN~
Well this came off as very unprofessional. You're supposed to be a movie reviewer Bob, not a movie complainer. I want to see a review that tells me whether or not to see a film based on the coherence of the story, quality of the action / direction and the effort of the actors etc. I DON'T want to see a review that vilifies a film just because the director played loose with the source material. Look at how loose Iron Man 3 was, yet that warranted a review AND a Big Picture episode to tell us how you loved that twist.
We all know that Bob is a fanboy, but its gone beyond the point of being a little bit biased to just being:
"Don't go see this film! The asshole director changed a thing that I hold sacred! I don't care if you've never ever seen ANY Star Trek, it will ruin EVERYTHING for you!"
And letting that fanboyism into your reviews is like I said, very unprofessional. I'll be going elsewhere for my movie reviews from now on, although I expect this video will still get views if only from people want to listen to Bob jumping around the monkey cage.
Oh and just in case it wasn't clear, I enjoyed Into Darkness, rather a lot, particularly the radiation airlock sequence, very clever.
We all know that Bob is a fanboy, but its gone beyond the point of being a little bit biased to just being:
"Don't go see this film! The asshole director changed a thing that I hold sacred! I don't care if you've never ever seen ANY Star Trek, it will ruin EVERYTHING for you!"
And letting that fanboyism into your reviews is like I said, very unprofessional. I'll be going elsewhere for my movie reviews from now on, although I expect this video will still get views if only from people want to listen to Bob jumping around the monkey cage.
Oh and just in case it wasn't clear, I enjoyed Into Darkness, rather a lot, particularly the radiation airlock sequence, very clever.
Technological superiority doesn't mean a superior understanding of people and how to deal with them. Otherwise you'd see a million less 'friendzone' threads on here. Imagine if the same brain that lets you put together a computer also lets you fully understand the desired sex.Raesvelg said:
And I don't see Khan's girlfriend anywhere nearby.
Khan's an interpersonal and political genius too. He really is better at "everything". Still has weaknesses, of course, but it remains a plot hole.Thyunda said:
As for girlfriends... in TOS, Khan seduces one of the Enterprise crew so thoroughly in a scant handful of hours that she follows him into permanent exile at the end of the episode. So yeah. Khan's got game.
Even leaving out material from TOS, however, it's pretty clear that Khan knew he'd be betrayed by Kirk, whom he'd only known for a few minutes. Yet for some reason he can't discern the motivations of the Admiral that he's known for years.
Lazy writing.
The part where he hid on Kronos. We've been over this.Thyunda said:
If he understood that the Admiral wanted a war with the Klingons, then hiding out on Kronos is stupid.
If he didn't understand that the Admiral wanted a war with the Klingons, then Khan is stupid.
Since we can be fairly certain that Khan is not stupid, we must assume that the writers are stupid. As evidenced by the fact that the instant he's confronted with the situation, Khan has either worked it all out in advance, or he worked it out in ten seconds in the middle of a firefight.
It's a plot hole. Just accept it and move on with your life, it needn't interfere with your enjoyment of the film.
No character development? Is Bob just so Anti-JJ Abrams that he refuses to see whats in front of him?
There is more character development in this one film that all 3 seasons of TOS. Yeah it does not top the Character development the 2nd 3rd and 4th Star Trek Films had, but that is 3 movies telling a bigger story than each film's smaller adventure can hope to carry.
And Bob get off your High Horse.
the space cowboy Capt Kirk learns responsibility, Spock learns how with his duality how to deal with humans emotions without betraying his Vulcan side. Nyota Uhura learns that just because Spoke does not express how he feels does not mean he does not care, Scotty learns to say "Fuck the rules" and trust Kirk, And McCoy hes is slightly more tolerant of space travel.
There is more character development in this one film that all 3 seasons of TOS. Yeah it does not top the Character development the 2nd 3rd and 4th Star Trek Films had, but that is 3 movies telling a bigger story than each film's smaller adventure can hope to carry.
And Bob get off your High Horse.
Ok, now that I saw it and know the spoilers, I will say this:
It was good. It was not as bad as you made it sound. I was prepared to have a long rant ready, but I realized that what I said before was spot-on. You don't like Abrams. You hate Abrams and the new Star Trek for doing stuff that your nostalgia tells you the old one didn't. You think all of the stuff is retread, tired, and worn out, and went in knowing you weren't going to like it. It's not a surprise to me that you didn't. Worst kept secret or not, I personally enjoyed it, loved the use of Benedict Cumberbatch and enjoyed the whole thing. It was a good popcorn movie, a great movie to continue the series with, and did well with the material. It's not Wrath, but it's a good second movie.
It was good. It was not as bad as you made it sound. I was prepared to have a long rant ready, but I realized that what I said before was spot-on. You don't like Abrams. You hate Abrams and the new Star Trek for doing stuff that your nostalgia tells you the old one didn't. You think all of the stuff is retread, tired, and worn out, and went in knowing you weren't going to like it. It's not a surprise to me that you didn't. Worst kept secret or not, I personally enjoyed it, loved the use of Benedict Cumberbatch and enjoyed the whole thing. It was a good popcorn movie, a great movie to continue the series with, and did well with the material. It's not Wrath, but it's a good second movie.