Star Trek: The Review, Finally

[eumelia]

I went to see the movie again last night.

I am still full of squee, though now I am finally capable of writing a critical review of a movie that was both very awesome and very problematic.

I'm putting the whole thing behind a cut, because I'm going to intertwining scenes from the movie and history of TOS and some of the other Star Trek shows.

Enjoy the spoilers.

I apologize in advance if this seems a bot mish mashed. It all makes perfect sense in my head.

The techno and medical babble are my favourite things that remained very hokey and utter gibberish which makes the Star Trek Universe so lovable(1).
Plot and other structural points that I think are worthy of noting are also in this spoilerific critique.

The whole movie, of course, was one big cool reference mania!

That was an Orion girl in a bikini!
In TOS the Orions were regularly regaled to scantily clad status and it was nice to that again in the movie and it was particularly funny to have major galactic play boy ask he just how many guys she'd had in her room - easily the Stud/Slut double standard - which peeved me coming from Kirk(2).
However, one could view it as his ego not really enabling him to see his sex interests as wanting anybody other than him (hence his continuous flirt with Uhura who continues to reject him - smart woman!).

Sulu's fencing scene was freakin' awesome! A folding Katana. Very exciting.
Peeve, martial artsy Asian guy. *Sigh*, yes I know, it is in the original show... but still... not the 60's anymore.

I loved Checkov, what a lovely interpretation to the character, he was so cute and so much responsibility... I was particularly enamored with his exasperated "ay ya yai" which is something I say myself (as do many others 'round these parts).
Peeve, the Russian Wiz-Kid... I nearly expected him to crack open the 3D chess, luckily we only got he mad Gaming skills.

Scotty was absolutely brilliant, he didn't have many lines, but every line was a gem! He was very charming and talking about the ship in the female pronoun is something I always loved about Scotty.
AND
"She's givin' me all she's got"
Yeah!
Peeve

The red shirt died... keeping with tradition is always good.

Bones... okay, I have an issue with Bones. He was very good. Hilarious interplay between him and Kirk when they get aboard the "Enterprise".
"You call this a favour?!".
But his accent was a bit eh (where is that lovely Georgian drawl?) as were his lines, I thought they were a bit forced.
"Bones" is a common nickname given to doctors, it really shouldn't have anything to do with his divorce.
Just a bit of a pet peeve.

Uhura... god she rocked. She absolutely rocked my socks! Not only do they actually establish her job as Important, but she herself is scary smart, talented, gorgeous and she Gets The Hot Guy... who isn't Kirk!

Oh Kirk and Spock... how much do we love them. Specifically the movie was much more of a double act than the Troika we see in TOS. I hope we get to see more of than interaction in the next movie (or New Show?).
I'll admit, despite my Slash Goggles I could never see them as anything other than best-friends-cum-brothers-in-arms which at times can be just as intimate without the erotica.
I'll admit though, there was tension in this movie and none of that Bromance bullshit - there was definitely something Rom-Com(3) in their interaction.

Talking about romance.
Spock and Uhura.
Talk about coming out of the left field, but I lapped up every minute.
Let me explain.
In TOS, Uhura was a pioneer of black characters. As such, the network didn't want to push her too much into the foreground (that and they didn't want to pay her for more lines/screen time), as such she didn't get that much character development in the series itself.
In TOS Spock gets a hell of a lot of development. He even gets to have his own love affairs on the ship most of them utterly disastrous!

I always wanted Spock to be with someone and not have it utterly fail.
Kirk, by default, could never establish a proper relationship, despite his great capacity for love, the man does have a wondering eye(4).

Having Spock and Uhura together creates a new and very interesting dynamic in the movie and for the characters to develop into.

Not to mention that on the political front, it's always great to see interracial relationships on screen (which are still rare and remarked upon, dude!), with this one being even more special due to Spock's (white) dual heritage and the genocide of Vulcan - I'm very interested to see where it goes.
Also, it was totally an established before the events on the "Enterprise", what with the preferential treatment comment, the natural way they hugged in the turbo lift and the public kiss in front of Kirk (which was very funny and nicely done... could have been skeezy, but wasn't).

I liked the interplay between those three characters.

The story, beyond it being an action adventure with beautiful people and shiny toys, it is a story of becoming. Specifically for Spock and Kirk.
We do not see the past of Uhura or Bones or Scotty.
Which is fine.
Obviously, this is the alternate story of the relationship between Spock and Jim.

More on that at a later date though as there really too much to write about in this little post.
But in short:
Kirk is shown to be a self-destructive geek without a cause - Sabotage!.
Spock is shown to be a geek seeking meaning - Feeling as though you belong nowhere and being a Mama's boy can't be easy on a world which both constructs and confirms you identity as anomaly.

Obviously, they get along just fine.

And now, the very big peeves:

Why are all mothers gone?!

It really irked me that Winona Kirk was there to give birth to him and then disappeared!
Amanda Grayson didn't have to die in order for us to glean her importance. Seriously, we got it when those obnoxious Vulcan kids called her a whore and Spock went berserk, not to mention the fact that Spock is a huge Mama's boy, as I've mentioned.
The loss of an entire planet wouldn't have been enough of a trauma for the poor boy, he had to lose his mother too?!
In short, the mothers are there to give birth to the Kings, nothing more.
And other than Kirk's conquests and flirts, the only woman of any worth is Uhura - now, she rocks, I love what she's become - as I said, still, being a strong black woman who isn't completely objectified is rare, and it was good to see.
In addition she didn't need to be saved at any point! Talk about novelty! She wasn't a princess trapped with the scary bad guys that needed to be saved by the Heroes.
Yes, there is a rivalry between Jim and Spock, but she isn't the prize and they end up co-operating, which is again refreshing.

Still, she doesn't do much other than talk and again, the mothers... all I can say to that is: BAH!

One of the things I love about Captain Jack Harkness is the fact that he is so obviously based on Captain James T. Kirk. Intergalactic playboys the both of them. Both are cocky, great leaders, have special relationships with their austere Right Hand Men... *ahem*.
The big difference?
Jack is the ultimate Queer.
Jim is very much not.
Putting the Slash Goggles aside, textually, there is no same-sex attraction to speak of.
Friends, it is the 23rd century... why is Jim not banging the alien boys?! Would his manhood somehow be put into question? I remind you, again, of Captain Jack, the manly man who likes other men (and women, and other assorted genders and aliens!).
I know it seems a bit blasphemous to compare these two sci-fi universes, different sides of the pond, different commercial structure, all that.

Still, within Geekdom, there are many, many queers who want to see some bloody open-mindedness that the future is bright and beautiful.

I didn't really expect them to make Jim be overt in his attractions, but he's a major flirt... would he not be flirty with boys as well? As usual, all the men spoke with their fists before being able to actually communicate beyond competition and crap like that.

To conclude, I'd like to refer you to this lovely post by liviapenn.
Maybe one day, soon, we'll see stuff like this on teevee and the movies and it won't be "special", simply "variety".

IDIC as the pointy eared green blooded devils say... sorta.

Notes:
(1) One of the things I love about Doctor Who and Torchwood as well, just by the way.
(2) Interestingly there was no moral judgement per say about the sexual promiscuity of Gaila the Orion Girl, only Kirk's bruised ego, which was refreshing. Uhura was more irritated with having her dormitory taken over by Gaila's sexcapades than the sexcapades themselves.
(3)Romantic Comedy - beginning with dislike, turning to affection.
(4)And dick.

Comments

[aesiron.livejournal.com]

Then make it 19th Century speculative fiction. I'm sure at least one of Jules Verne's protagonists weren't enamored with the British Empire's darker subjects, and giving him a Moorish wife, or a Persian fiancee would be just as bizarre.

As to this being a reimagining, it's really not. The biggest difference between Shatner's Kirk and Pine's is that the latter lost his dad, and was acting out as a result. Making him GLBTQA on top of that actually feeds more into current stereotypes than making a positive statement.

I'm all for minority representation, but diversity for the sake of it comes off fake, and retconning an already well-established character for the same purpose is actively irritating. Again, if you want a gay character in the new continuity, what's wrong with Sulu? I don't remember him ever having an on-screen love interest, and even Demora can be easily explained as being adopted or the result of artificial insemination.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

It is a reimagining in many ways. The film acknowledges its alternate status, but regardless, it would have been nice to see (if not in Kirk, which would have been easiest and perhaps, hehe, most logical choice then in someone else) a queer gaze of some kind.
Sulu would be great, I dunno if in these new movies there will be room for more ensemble interaction rather that dynamic duo action.

What's diversity for the sake off, exactly? There are different kinds of people, in sci-fi many are erased, be it women, poc and/or queer (and others). I don't think it's too horrible to ask for a current film of an old franchise to update itself in that manner.

In any event, I'm looking forward to more of these characters, hopefully none of the actors decide to bale in the near future :)

[aesiron.livejournal.com]

Diversity for the sake of it is best exemplified by Captain Planet, or pretty much any eighties cartoon or sitcom with a conscience.

Kirk would have been easiest only insofar as he's one of only three characters that are given any kind of sexual identity in the movie, but, again, it would have been out of character when Pine's Kirk, in most ways, was just like Shatner's.

As this was an action movie, and I expect the rest of the movies to play the same way, making someone one of the supporting characters GLBTQA is pretty easy, and doesn't even require any dialogue or missed time. Simply have him roll out of the bunk he's sharing with another guy when the ship goes to red alert or is otherwise attacked and you have what you're looking for without changing a core personality trait of a character.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

You're talking to a big Captain Planet fan... :P

[aesiron.livejournal.com]

I liked it, too. Kwame was my favorite.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Linka, I dressed up as her one year for Purim.

[hemlock-sholes.livejournal.com]

The name of the show is Captain Planet for a reason.

:)