Star Trek: Into Darkness

Star Trek: Into Darkness

I have to give J.J. Abrams credit.  Star Trek was dead.  As much as I liked the Next Generation television show, the films featuring that cast were abysmal by the end.  The franchise, one I grew up with, seemed to be over.  When word of a reboot began to spark up, I wasn't too excited.  I did not want to see a young Kirk and Spock in the Academy.  I thought that was a terrible idea, made worse by the fact that I thought no one would be able to replace William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and the rest of the gang.  I happily admit that I was wrong!  Despite a few silly plotting moments and way too many lens flares, the reboot of Star Trek was a rollicking good time, and I think Abrams deserves credit for that.  But the real miracle was that cast!  He had somehow pulled off the impossible and found a group of young actors who perfectly embodied the iconic characters without resorting to simple impersonations (well, mostly).  The film was a hit, and naturally a sequel was planned.  It took a bit longer than anticipated to get here, but now we have Star Trek: Into Darkness.

Without ruining too much, I will try to describe the plot in a sentence or two.  A mysterious agent named John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) stages a series of devastating attacks on Starfleet and Kirk and Company are sent out to kill him.  The planned assassination is against the law, something that irks many on the Enterprise crew, creating a divisive atmosphere on the Enterprise.  It is this morally ambiguous area that I think gives the film its subtitle.  Into Darkness does not refer to the darkness John Harrison brings, but the darkness inside Star Fleet, an organization meant to be morally pure, intellectual, peaceful, and idealist.  But thanks to the catastrophic events of the previous film, Star Fleet is changing its tune, adopting a more warlike and shadowy stance.  It's a nice direction to take the franchise in, providing some nice moral dilemmas for a young Kirk to consider as he still adjusts to command.  That said, it is hardly original, since the franchise already mined this territory superbly in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

Overall, Star Trek: Into Darkness is, well...objectively, I have to say it is not bad.  It is probably better than the previous one.  The plot is leaner and more focused, and some of the sillier slapstick instances of comedy have been replaced with more character-driven humor.  Abrams' direction is fine (though he still has too many lens flares) and Michael Giacchino's score is superb.  So why am I so disappointed with the film?  It unfortunately all comes to Benedict Cumberbatch, who is just woefully miscast as John Harrison.  I don't want to ruin anything, so I'll just leave it at that for now.  My Spoiler explanation is below.

I'm not sure what else to say.  There are some plot holes and the ending just goes too over-the-top with references to the previous films, but generally the movie is okay.  I think most people will like it.  I just couldn't get into it.  The casting just nagged me the whole film.  Full disclosure, the casting hasn't really bothered many of my friends so maybe I'm making a big deal about nothing.  But I couldn't get past it.

SPOILER ALERT HERE:

So why did Benedict Cumberbatch bother me so much?  I'll be upfront and say it has nothing to do with his performance which is committed, arrogant, and passionate.  He's a great super human.

But he ain't Khan.  In the original series, Khan was a sikh from northern India.  When I think of a Northern Indian, I do not think of a tall, thin British guy.  And yes, yes, I understand that Ricardo Montalban, the original Khan, is Mexican.  But that was how Hollywood casted projects back then, and he at least tried to evoke the character's heritage with his performance.  And I think most people agree that his Khan is one of the greatest villains in science fiction history.

Friends have told me that this is an alternate universe so maybe in this timeline Khan IS British.  But I counter that by saying that timelines are supposed to be the same until that moment when the planet Vulcan blows up.  So Khan shouldn't change.  He should still be a sikh.

So why cast Cumberbatch?  Maybe they just felt no one can play morally superior as effectively as the Brits.  Or maybe the PC police were slamming on Abrams' office door and demanding that in a movie about terrorism it would be a bad idea to have the bad guy be a foreigner.

...

Either way, Khan is not a tall British guy.  End of story.

I'm not a religious obsessee of Star Trek canon or continuity.  I'm not someone who looks for minut details and pinches a fit if they don't jive with with the continuity of some random episode of Deep Space Nine.  I don't care that much.  But for some reason, this really, really bothers me.  This franchise reboot has been an impressive and worthwhile experiment.  And given that they had already achieved the impossible by finding great replacements for Shatner, Nimoy, and Co., I am surprised they dropped the ball on this one.  For some reason, this casting just nags at me. I think what it comes down to is that they decided to create an all new character and name him "Khan" just so they could pay lip service to fans who wanted to see the infamous villain.

And I think they missed an awesome opportunity, too.  John Harrison could have been one of the other super humans in Khan's group, but not Khan himself.  Think how cool that would have been if at the end of the movie, the good guys finally win, breathe a sigh of relief and say, "wow, that guy was intense.  There is no way there is someone more dangerous and horrible than him out there."  And then we cut to the space pods, and do a slow pan over them all...and then we stop at one pod in particular and see Khan's name written on it.  That would have been a great set up for a sequel, and a great way to bring Khan back to the franchise.  As a sikh.

Anyways, this all may seem like a small detail, but it ruined the movie for me.

Oh, and one more pet peeve.  Why did they need Khan's super blood to save Kirk if they had 72 other super humans onboard the ship?  Just saying...

Anyways...


BEST LINE:

Kirk: The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Spock: An Arabic proverb, attributed to a prince who was betrayed and decapitated by his own subjects.

Kirk: Still, it's a hell of a quote.

MVP:
I'm going with Michael Giacchino, who delivered a top notch score.  I think it is better than his first Trek score, which while entertaining became repetitive, relying a bit too heavily on the main theme. With Into Darkness, Giacchino takes the best parts of the first score and expands on them, and adds a whole slew of new and exciting music to the mix.  Well done!

TRIVIA:
This is a neat little bit of trivia.  Benedict Cumberbatch recorded his audition in his best friend's kitchen, using an iphone.

Avatar

Avatar

It has been twelve years since Titanic. Film lovers were waiting...patiently while The King of the World played with new cameras and fiddled with documentaries, waiting patiently for the director of our adolescent favorites - the first two Terminators, The Abyss, Aliens - seemed to be twiddling his thumbs deciding on his next project. And now after all that time, James Cameron is back. Was Avatar worth all the wait and suspense?

Time will tell. I think expectations on this movie are clouding everyone's judgement. Everyone expecting a masterpiece were sorely disappointed. Those who thought it was going to be bizarre turd with Smurfs were actually pleasantly surprised. I'm somewhere in the middle.

Avatar is the story of Jake (Sam Worthington), a paraplegic marine who comes to a faraway moon called Pandora. Human industry is encroaching on the planet, which is rich in an energy source called Unobtainium. Problem is, they are having trouble with 'the natives,' blue creatures called the Navi. The humans have a solution to solve the problem - scientists, led by Dr. Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) have created the Avatar program which involves the scientists placing their minds into genetically engineered Navi bodies. Looking like the local population will make it easier to open up discussions, learn about each other's cultures, and solve all problems peacefully.

Unfortunately, the folks in charge, led by industry suit Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi) and Col. Quaritch (a super buff Stephen Lang) want to use the Avatar program to infiltrate and eliminate the Navi. Our hero Jake is stuck in the middle, though there is never really any doubt about what decision he will make.

That's just the set up. It may sound creative, but as the plot kicks into gear, you realize you've seen this movie before. Many times before. I personally liked it more when it was called Dances with Wolves. I'm only half-joking. There is not an original beat, moment, or line in this screenplay. I knew who would die, when they would die, and generally how they would die the second they were introduced on screen. Even the dialogue all sounds really familiar, like we've heard it all before (because we have). Some have defended the story and the script, saying that Cameron was aiming for a 15-year old audience with the script. Fair enough, but when I was 15, I was watching Cameron's Aliens and The Abyss, which are both really well-written. He's usually a very good writer.

But what is interesting is that as unoriginal as the story is, the world Cameron has created is a STUNNER. I know that I rail against movies that are just spectacle over story, but when the spectacle is this good...wow, I get it. I understand the argument now. Pandora's animal life, the plant life, and the Navi themselves are beautiful, colorful, luscious, and very creative. A tremendous amount of time and love went into creating this world, and it shows. And unlike most other Hollywood blockbusters, you can see the budget onscreen. It's rare when you see a movie and you think, "huh, well, yes, I do believe that this cost $300 million!" The special effects are superb, with the best motion capture animations I have ever seen. The Navi look excellent and with a few exceptions look like actors in makeup as opposed to a digital creation. I don't think there should be a competition for Best Special Effects this year - the answer is obvious that Avatar should and will win. Other films need not apply.

And I think the spectacle is why Avatar is getting all this Best Picture awards attention. I could watch Jake wander across the lush jungles of Pandora for hours. I did not want the story to continue - I just wanted to watch Jake hanging out with the Navi. That movie is terrific (and in some ways, if Cameron had just made a science fiction fake documentary about Pandora, that could have been the best sci fi film ever). Shame we have to go back into the story mode, with all the battles, explosions, and betrayals you were expecting...

So all in all, a mixed bag. I definitely suggest you see it in the theater because it is that beautiful to look at. Just don't go in expecting a story, and you'll have a good time.

MVP: Clearly the special effects team is the MVP of the film. But what impressed me the most was the character of Neytiri, the daughter of the Navi chief and Jake's love interest - both the special effects and the motion capture performance of Zoe Saldana. I haven't seen a motion capture performance this good since Gollum. And it's not all digital - you can see Saldana in there acting her heart out. Every graceful movement is hers; it's a terrific physical performance. And the special effects team match her grace point for point, creating the most fully realized character in the film (and that includes the non-digital, human characters). It's an impressive feat, and well worth winning my Most Valuable Player of the movie.

TRIVIA: Cameron almost cast Michael Beihn in the role of Quaritch, but decided not to in the end. He was worried that because Beihn and Weaver were both in "Aliens," that casting both of them again would just be a distraction. While I disagree with that reasoning, I do have to say that Stephen Lang was pretty good in the role - appropriately grumpy, buff, and badass.

OSCARS: Cinematography, Art Direction, and Visual Effects.

OSCAR NOMINATIONS: Best Picture, Director, Score, Directing, Editing, Sound and Sound Editing.