Boldly Going Pt 13 (Star Trek Beyond, 2016)

After Into Darkness, Trek lost Abrams to Wars. Simon Pegg stepped up as a screenwriter with Doug Jung to try and get the Kelvin timeline back on track. The studio also decided to try out an action director, Justin Lin, who had success with the Fast and the Furious franchise.

I have already reviewed this, and one of my early criticisms was that the film is a bit slow going at the open. But after repeat viewings, I found that I really am not sure what I would do to speed things up.

After a fun little bit that sets up the film’s macguffin, the film focuses on where the characters are at. They pick up about half way through their five year mission, which finds Kirk feeling lost and unsure. In a clever bit of dialog, he comments that their mission has begun to feel “episodic”. Spock receives word of the passing of his future self (as Nimoy had passed away by this point) and questions whether he should stay with Starfleet or focus on the survival of the Vulcan race.

But after a mysterious pilot arrives at the space station where the Enterprise is docked, the Enterprise and her crew head to help the pilot’s disabled ship on the other side of a nebula. After they are attacked and the Enterprise is destroyed (the second time in this timeline!) Kirk and the team find themselves trapped on a planet with aggressive aliens bent on getting the piece of a weapon that the Enterprise had.

Beyond is pretty much a 180 degree turn from Into Darkness. It is fun, Elba plays a solid villain with a twist. Sophia Boutella is a highly entertaining character named Jaylah who is befriended by Scotty and Kirk. There is some solid character stuff with McCoy and Spock.

This is an action packed film that I find myself enjoying more each time I watch it. It makes me wish a follow-up in the Kelvin timeline were a lock instead of so uncertain. Of the timeline, I have really enjoyed two of the films, so I am definitely open to more.

June 18, 2020 0

Going Boldly Pt 12 (Star Trek Into Darkness, 2013)

After a pretty successful first outing, the whole team came back. So, my hopes were riding high for another exciting Star Trek film.

But early on I saw a danger sign. They were basically doing a Man of Steel. It was clear that they were going to use Khan. The film makers denied this aggressively, especially after Benicio Del Toro left and was replaced by Benedict Cumberbatch.

When the film begins, it starts out okay, I guess…I mean, they still have not started their five year mission yet, and I have no idea why this could not have been set within that…but Kirk and crew save a primitive civilization from extinction and this gets Kirk demoted. But when a terrorist named John Harrison attacks Star Fleet headquarters killing Captain Pike, the Enterprise crew is sent to kill Harrison on the command of Admiral Marcus.

When they find Harrison, Kirk gives into his conscience and takes Harrison Prisoner. As they speak with him, they discover is is actually leader of a genetic super community. His advanced intellect is being used by dark areas of the Federation called Section 31…this knowledge puts the Enterprise in danger and they must work with Khan.

Clearly, Abrams, Orci and Kurtzman thought using Khan would excite fans, after all, we all loved Wrath of Khan, right?

Except, Khan and his vengeance had tremendous weight because Kirk and Khan had a history dating back to the original series. This creates a tension that this film cannot recreate, quite simply because they do not know who Khan is. In fact, they have to reach out to Old Spock to have him give the rundown, because Khan is not even famous historically here.

They also try and flip the Wrath of Khan’s ending by having Kirk Sacrifice himself and send Spock to capture Khan. Except, when Spock gave his life in the Wrath of Khan, it hit the viewer. We were losing a friend for the good of the many. And here? Kirk is barely dead two minutes and we find out they can resurrect him…and they do…we never get to feel worry or loss for Kirk…he was never in danger.

This film is just lacking the emotional resonance that it is attempting to duplicate. It is an empty and uninspired adventure.

June 17, 2020 0

Boldly Going Pt 11 (Star Trek, 2009)

It is often not really a great sign when a franchise seems to go dormant. After the struggle at the box office with Nemesis and a large amount of negative fan reaction, Paramount’s Star Trek team started trying to figure out new ideas, most which put the Next Generation Crew out to pasture.

Eventually, they opted to focus more on the Television side while they tried to crack a new approach. And then they reached out to J.J. Abrams. He and his team came up with an idea… what if we went back to the beginning? What if we go back and meet the Enterprise crew all over again? Captain Kirk? Mr. Spock?

This seemed like a risky proposition…the original cast was tied to those characters and the idea of bringing new actors in to give the crew new life and adventures had a huge chance of going wrong.

Abrams chose to go back to the start of the series…but with a twist. On the day James T Kirk is born, his father sacrifices himself as a Romulan ship appears from a black hole. In the original series, Kirk grew up with his father…and with this change Kirk grows into a rebellious and responsibility avoiding lout. But one night in a bar, he meets Cadet Urhura- and ends up in a fight with several of her fellow cadets. The fight is ended by Captain Christopher Pike who convinces Kirk to apply to Starfleet.

Kirk’s recklessness in the academy puts him at odds with the Vulcan Spock. But when the Romulan ship reappears 25 years leader, Bones helps get Kirk on the Enterprise and the crew must face the mad Romulan and also deal with interpersonal conflicts.

The casting of the film is interesting, as only Zachary Quinto bears any likeness too Nimoy. Yet, give Karl Urban the right haircut and let him channel DeForrest Kelley and he is uncanny in his likeness. Really, the entire cast does so well, that I quickly found myself not paying attention to the details that said it is not the same person. This cast is… well, a lot of fun to watch. They have a real chemistry and work very well together.

I confess, I am one of those people who kind of gets annoyed when Trek has a prequel series with better tech than the original series. I get this is mostly due to budget changes and better tech for film and television. But it always bugs me a bit to see a setting from before the original series with sleeker tri-corders. However, here? I find it pretty easy to excuse this world on the simple “history has changed” rationale.

The Enterprise here is bright and vibrant and feels wide open in a way prior television and film never really managed.

The film took some heat for being a little more Star Wars than Star Trek, and Abrams has openly stated he was always more of a Star Wars guy. This is true of me as well. I like Trek, but Wars was always a bit more my jam. And so, I do not really dispute the criticism, but for me it is a bit of a bonus.

The villain Nero is kind of lackluster…Eric Bana is not really given room to flap his wings. He almost feels like an afterthought. While I enjoy seeing Nimoy return to the role of Spock, I also feel like he is being used in the film to shortcut mountains… specifically the relationship of Kirk and Spock. Theirs is a friendship that feels deep and real because we got to spend decades with it. Here, Old Spock has to give pushes to Kirk and his younger self in the right direction. It feels a bit like a cheat.

Oh…and all the damn lens flares…

But those points aside, this was an incredibly fun new approach to characters we know and love and begin to get to know again. It is a blast and a new start that had me very excited for the next film.

Oh foolish youth.

June 16, 2020 0

To Infinity And… (Star Trek Beyond, 2016)

In the third film since J.J. Abrams rebooted the Star Trek Universe, we get an original story. And really? It is quite a bit of fun. It begins a bit shaky with attempts to give us brief character moments that are not entirely effective. It is nice to see McCoy taking a bigger role then the last film, and more of a focus on the friendship of he and Jim. And hey, they are actually in the midst of their five year mission of exploration! The previous two films were set before that.

We find James T. Kirk having lost his way in the far reaches of space. Not literally, but spiritually. He is not alone, Spock is having a personal crisis regarding his role on the enterprise versus feeling of obligation to his fellow Vulcans. While visiting a space station, they are contacted by an unfamiliar species, a captain who begs for help for her stranded ship. The Enterprise takes her out only to be attacked and (in the long standing tradition of Trek) destroyed. To be honest, this sequence gets a little boring as it seems endless and kind of confusing. But when the crew lands and is dispersed on a nearby planet, the film kicks into gear.

I was skeptical of bringing a director of the Fast and Furious (admittedly director of some of the best films in the franchise) in to direct. But Justin Lin shows a lot of skill at making an energetic sci-fi film. The villain’s full motives are mysterious at first, but when revealed it all falls into place.

Everyone’s performances are true to form and this feels like an action packed version of the original crew. It is not that much deeper than the previous two installments, but it is far more effective in it’s story telling. Personally, I found the interaction between Spock and McCoy tremendously enjoyable. they had nice moments of expression of concern and admiration as well as some entertaining banter. Kirk’s “ladies man” persona is downplayed in this film, he never even hits on Jaylah, the pretty alien girl.

If ranking the Altered Timeline films, I would say Beyond is easily the best as it hits it’s marks. The villain is a strong and compelling threat (something the previous entries suffered at) and the villains plan at least makes sense and is not entirely dependent on complete coincidence. Okay, maybe a slight coincidence. But I enjoyed Star Trek Beyond, and enjoyed it very much.

July 23, 2016 0

Baked Goods Part 8 (American Reunion, 2012)

And the franchise came full circle with the first theatrical release since American Wedding. Overseen by director Jon Hurwitz, (director of Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay), American Reunion completely ignores the films that came after American Wedding. This was, of course a wise decision. Also wise? Centering the film around a class reunion. This keeps from having to come up with weird plot devices as to why everyone would be located in the same area.

And they brought everyone back for this round. Granted, in some cases it is a blip and you miss it moment (such as Natasha Lyonne’s character Jessica). The film introduces us to Jim and Michelle’s life as parents, with a scene reminiscent of the first film’s opening sequence…except this time around, it is being caught by the kids. Truthfully, this scene does not fully work. I get they are setting up that their relationship is strained. But I think they might have been better to set this scene up with the couple trying to have together time that they sorely miss. Most parents have tales of the kids walking in on intimate moments and there is all sorts of ways to play that.

However, Biggs and Hannigan really work well together. We also meet Kevin, who is now a happily married father and house husband (for the most part). Oz is now a successful sport-caster on a sports network and Finch is appearing the wandering soul he has always tried to be. Stifler (with no acknowledgement of his supposed Girls Gone Wild career in Band Camp) is now working as a temp for a Geek who has made it big. Apparently his biggest nightmare. Tara Reid returns as Vicky, who causes Kevin to question the could have beens. Heather and Oz are no longer together and their story line focuses on the re-kindling of their relationship.

The cast remains likable in the film, especially when they get to channel the qualities that made them sympathetic.

The film focuses on marriages/relationships in trouble and questioning where people find themselves years after high school and the disappointment they may feel. Some of this actually works well in the film. Jim and Michelle are struggling to make it work, and Jim’s dad is struggling with being a widower. Jim shows a lot of his dad’s heart, even in scenes where things are starting to fall apart. Jim has an opportunity, but really walking out on Michelle or cheating on her are not true options for him. Oz and Kevin deal with temptations against their relationships. Oz keeps thinking his girlfriend (played by Katrina Bowden) is cheating on him, due to him finding her in many compromising situations. But, of course, his heart yearns for Heather.

This is a fairly decent return to form for the franchise. American Reunion has welcome laughs and heart. The ongoing story line of Stifler’s mom is actually resolved in an unexpected way that works nicely. It does not abandon it’s gross out humor, but it is not so overwhelming as to becoming off-putting. If you enjoyed American Pie and American Wedding, this is a decently enjoyable enough follow up.

March 17, 2016 2