Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

Okay, it's been a little while so I thought I'd check back in and see if I still hated this movie.  Good news:  most of my vitriol has died away.  Bad news:  it's still the weakest point of the franchise.  I did better with Benedict Cumberbatch this time, since I was already over the initial betrayal.  I still think it was a bad choice but there's really nothing I can do about that.  The only new point of criticism I have is that the version on the server (because I'll be damned if I spend money on this) had hard-coded Dutch subtitles.  Normally, that's not an issue except for the bits that are in Klingon and would need English subtitles.  Christy is going to let me burn a copy of her DVD when she comes to visit so that should take care of that.  Otherwise, I really have nothing to add.

The semester is almost over.  Just bear with me a little longer.  Originally posted 19 May 2013.  Nominated for:  Best Visual Effects    You know how the original Star Trek movies started kind of shitty and only the even-numbered ones were worth watching?  The new series looks to be going in the opposite direction.  The first one was great.  This one not so much. 

After breaking the Prime Directive (can't be seen by or directly interfere with the progress of underdeveloped planet natives) in order to save Spock (Zachary Quinto) from a volcano, Kirk (Chris Pine) is busted down from Captain to First Officer.  Before the demotion can really sink in, however, he is summoned to Starfleet Headquarters to be briefed on a mysterious enemy named John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) who has just blown up an archive in London.  Admiral Marcus (Peter Weller) orders them all to find Harrison and kill him.  Right then, Harrison shoots up their room, killing a bunch of officers.  Reinstated, Kirk asks for permission to go after Harrison with just the Enterprise, right into the Klingon homeworld, risking an all-out war if discovered.

I was happy to see Scotty (Simon Pegg) with a much bigger part this time but I wish there had been more for Uhura (Zoe Saldana) as well. As with the first movie, Spock is clearly the main character here.  Kirk is certainly very present but there's no character development like there is with Spock.  Peter Weller was awesomely creepy.  And then there's the villain.

You know what I hate?  Being lied to by film-makers. 

WARNING:  SPOILERS FOLLOW.

When word got out that the second new Star Trek movie was being made, everybody's mind went to Wrath of Khan.  All the film-makers involved denied that's what they were doing.  When Benedict Cumberbatch was hired to play the villain, I shudder to think how many times a day he was asked if he was playing Khan.  Denied, denied, denied.  He was playing a new villain named John Harrison.  That's what they said. 

And they fucking lied.

I understand that in this day and age, spoilers are ever present.  As a moviemaker, you want to preserve the mystery of your film so your audience can have a wondrous experience.  All I ask is that you not lie directly to my fucking face about it.  Play coy, refuse to answer, distract people with something else.  Do not outright lie.

And it didn't work.  That's the worst part.  They tried so hard to remake Wrath of Khan and they ended up sucking every ounce of newness from the franchise.  They tried to shoehorn in the most famous moments, despite them being out of character for the people involved, and just ended up tarnishing all the associated good memories. 

It made me really angry which, conversely, makes me really happy since it's been a while since I've gotten to really froth at the mouth about a movie. 

If you've never seen WoK or just aren't a big Trek fan in general, you'll probably enjoy this film more.  Taking away all the fan-specific stuff, it's just a big dumb action movie set in space.  Fun enough for a popcorn flick.