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May. 10th, 2009 12:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mrockwellWriting
Got my royalty statements for Legacy of Wolves yesterday. I'm supposed to get them every quarter, but somebody dropped the ball and I got all of them from June 2008 to March 2009 all at once. Some day, I might actually even be able to make heads or tails out of them, but not today, heh.
Everything Else
First of all, Happy Mother's Day!
My Mother's Day gift was getting to go see Star Trek yesterday with my hubby. I've been looking forward to this movie for a LONG time, having followed it on AICN from script to director to cast to filming. Overall, I'd give the movie a qualified A, but I'll have to admit I left the theater disappointed.
First, time travel. Yes, it's a Star Trek trope, but I hate it. Always have, always will. IMO, the only one who ever did it right was Bradbury. That said, they handled it pretty well, so if that were my only complaint, I'd still have given the movie high marks. Unfortunately, it's not.
newUhura/newSpock. Okay, I'm not a purist; I'm willing to accept this relationship is possible if they can convince me. But they never even tried -- it was just there, already established. Which would be fine, I guess, if it fit newSpock's character, but it doesn't, not really. I'll grant that he's more overtly human than oldSpock, but he's still (in the beginning) a stickler for regulations and somehow fraternizing with a subordinate and engaging in PDAs don't strike me as "performing admirably," even if such behavior is allowed by Starfleet (which I'm assuming it must be, since he's doing it all over the transporter pad). And why those two, anyway? It feels contrived to me -- like they said to themselves, "We've got to hook Uhura up with someone, and it can't be Kirk, since that's been done already, so who would be the most unlikely partner for her...ooooh, I know -- Spock!" Only it doesn't come across as particularly original or daring or any of the things they were going for. It's actually pretty predictable, once you eliminate newKirk as a contender. They should have done something really fresh and made her a strong character in her own right who didn't need to be involved with one of the main characters in order to justify her existence. They made newSulu, newCheckov and newScotty all cooler and more vital to the cast and all they did for her was shorten her skirt and make her dependent on a guy. Nice blow for equality there, J.J.
But even that I could forgive, if it weren't for the thing that really killed the movie for me. The ending.
I get that this is a reboot, and I can accept that some characters will behave in ways that their predecessors likely would not have -- that comes with the territory. BUT they should still remain fundamentally the same people. They should not act in ways that are inherently not in their natures. The hero should not suddenly become the anti-hero.
There was no reason for newKirk to open fire on Nero's ship after he refused aid. The black hole was already destroying the Romulan ship -- Nero was a dead man walking. It was unnecessary and, more importantly, it wasn't Kirk. Yes, oldKirk was impetuous and arrogant -- but he was NEVER dishonorable. newKirk, unloading photon torpedos on a doomed man with a smile on his face? That was not honorable. That was not Kirk. That was not Star Trek.
I hope it was just a one-time thing -- newKirk's vengeance for his father's death, newSpock's vengeance for his mother's and his planet's. Because, if this is the direction they want to take these characters in? Well, then these aren't characters I want to watch again. Ever.
It was a fun movie, and it did a lot of things right. The ending was not one of them. With any luck, they'll realize their mistake and never repeat it again. Otherwise, I don't think this reboot will be anywhere near as popular as the original. And deservedly so, IMO.
Got my royalty statements for Legacy of Wolves yesterday. I'm supposed to get them every quarter, but somebody dropped the ball and I got all of them from June 2008 to March 2009 all at once. Some day, I might actually even be able to make heads or tails out of them, but not today, heh.
Everything Else
First of all, Happy Mother's Day!
My Mother's Day gift was getting to go see Star Trek yesterday with my hubby. I've been looking forward to this movie for a LONG time, having followed it on AICN from script to director to cast to filming. Overall, I'd give the movie a qualified A, but I'll have to admit I left the theater disappointed.
First, time travel. Yes, it's a Star Trek trope, but I hate it. Always have, always will. IMO, the only one who ever did it right was Bradbury. That said, they handled it pretty well, so if that were my only complaint, I'd still have given the movie high marks. Unfortunately, it's not.
newUhura/newSpock. Okay, I'm not a purist; I'm willing to accept this relationship is possible if they can convince me. But they never even tried -- it was just there, already established. Which would be fine, I guess, if it fit newSpock's character, but it doesn't, not really. I'll grant that he's more overtly human than oldSpock, but he's still (in the beginning) a stickler for regulations and somehow fraternizing with a subordinate and engaging in PDAs don't strike me as "performing admirably," even if such behavior is allowed by Starfleet (which I'm assuming it must be, since he's doing it all over the transporter pad). And why those two, anyway? It feels contrived to me -- like they said to themselves, "We've got to hook Uhura up with someone, and it can't be Kirk, since that's been done already, so who would be the most unlikely partner for her...ooooh, I know -- Spock!" Only it doesn't come across as particularly original or daring or any of the things they were going for. It's actually pretty predictable, once you eliminate newKirk as a contender. They should have done something really fresh and made her a strong character in her own right who didn't need to be involved with one of the main characters in order to justify her existence. They made newSulu, newCheckov and newScotty all cooler and more vital to the cast and all they did for her was shorten her skirt and make her dependent on a guy. Nice blow for equality there, J.J.
But even that I could forgive, if it weren't for the thing that really killed the movie for me. The ending.
I get that this is a reboot, and I can accept that some characters will behave in ways that their predecessors likely would not have -- that comes with the territory. BUT they should still remain fundamentally the same people. They should not act in ways that are inherently not in their natures. The hero should not suddenly become the anti-hero.
There was no reason for newKirk to open fire on Nero's ship after he refused aid. The black hole was already destroying the Romulan ship -- Nero was a dead man walking. It was unnecessary and, more importantly, it wasn't Kirk. Yes, oldKirk was impetuous and arrogant -- but he was NEVER dishonorable. newKirk, unloading photon torpedos on a doomed man with a smile on his face? That was not honorable. That was not Kirk. That was not Star Trek.
I hope it was just a one-time thing -- newKirk's vengeance for his father's death, newSpock's vengeance for his mother's and his planet's. Because, if this is the direction they want to take these characters in? Well, then these aren't characters I want to watch again. Ever.
It was a fun movie, and it did a lot of things right. The ending was not one of them. With any luck, they'll realize their mistake and never repeat it again. Otherwise, I don't think this reboot will be anywhere near as popular as the original. And deservedly so, IMO.
