Star Trek!….Warning: There Be Spoilers Ahead
So I tend to try to avoid any spoilers when I write my little blurbs but I really don’t think I can avoid it here so be warned, spoilers are included.
First, let me say this was a damn good Star Trek movie. Let me just get this out now and be done with it…..Khaaaaannnn! I totally knew it! Okay kinda knew it but whatever. Someone else really knew it too, because that person in the theater yelled out ‘I knew it’!’ Too funny. Anyway, yes, the villain was the infamous character Khan and Benedict Cumberbatch was great, so awesome, fantabulous etc., etc. Not enough words can describe how well he did in crafting his own spin to such an iconic character; he was both frightening and at times able to invoke sympathy from the audience. Major kudos dude. The other actors and actresses did a wonderful job as well and I totally teared up a couple of times, especially in a scene between Kirk and Spock, portrayed, of course, by Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto. The movie did a nice job of showing the great, growing friendship between the two characters. As with the first movie, each crew member had their moments which was nice to see, though it did seem as if their scenes were a little shorter than in the 2009 Star Trek, even Zoe Saldana as Uhura. Trailers made it seem as if she would have a bigger role and perhaps she did to a certain extent but honestly it wasn’t that noticeable. That is not to say though that her parts weren’t awesome, ‘cause they were and I loved seeing Uhura get to speak Klingon! Yes people we get a brief glimpse of the Klingons!….I did say there would be spoilers, but honestly I think this is probably all out in the open by now. And we got to see brief moments of Spock and Uhura, everyone say awwwww! What? I can’t help it if I like a little romantic stuff.
The visuals were great (especially in IMAX) and the story was well paced. I was on the edge of my seat for practically the whole time! As mentioned, Khan was the main villain but there were a little surprises in the ’bad guy’ territory other than him which I won’t go more into it than that, but to say the story was a little more than just Khan causing all the ruckus, though he had the bulk of it. It was a good, nicely done story that put a little flip to the original second movie Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan….And this is where I insert a but. I know, I know a but how could I?! I am sad there is a but, but there is. Side note: now I can’t stop thinking about butts.
Anywho…a little rant ahead.
I did have a little peeve about the whole thing and peeve is probably not a good word, more like a concern for future films. It is supposed to be a new timeline right? I get that just because it is a new timeline, reality, whatever, it doesn’t mean there won’t be characters and events from the ‘other’ era but Khan was essentially still Khan which means he was a bad guy, not much of that changed if I am not mistaken. The main differences seem more to do with where and how characters like Kirk and Spock react more than anything; essentially it is the little things that changed. Like instead of….well I don’t want to spoil it too much but there were some little flips flops going on. Don’t get me wrong, I thought the film was great and I loved it. Truly. I don’t think the whole reboot of Star Trek could have been successful without, at the very least, a mention of Khan, but again the whole point of the first film was to set up for alternate events, yes? With new stories and all that where things are altered and steered down another path, much like the first outing where the planet Vulcan is destroyed, now that was a major change. And things like that should have a ripple effect, no? Am I just getting too technical here? Maybe…okay probably. Yet, given that the plot in the first film made such an effort to establish itself as creating this whole other reality, well so far with the recent movie, much seems the same.
Take for instance, the Klingons. With the brief glimpse of these dudes the idea was introduced that they will have an antagonistic role, much like before. War with Klingons? The storyline seemed to be setting up for that and while that is not necessarily a bad thing, it’s not the greatest either. Will this be the future of the Star Trek films, a rehash of all the major plotlines with a little twist? For me personally, I would like to see something totally off. Throw something new at the crew that the members of the old timeline didn’t have to deal with. Am I making sense here?
Now I probably seemed a little contradictory given that I said I loved the new Trek movie but I was a little peeved and…there is no hope for that. Yes, I acknowledge the contradiction. I tried to get help for it but none was to be found. Just know that it was a well crafted film and very enjoyable. For any potential sequels though, I would like to see something brand spankin’ new. Just throwing this out there but you know Kirk and company never did go up against the Borg…hahaha…I couldn’t help myself.
And by golly, it should be written in next time that when Scotty doesn’t like something, well perhaps Kirk should listen to the man!
The X-Files: Season 10 #1
