Movies

Man of Steel Post-Game /  by Mark

…and I'm back from the movie. Without getting too spoilery--

  • This is a DARK movie. I was concerned about this months ago (as was the rest of the internet) when the trailers came out, and we were right to worry. The producers will need to lighten things up next time (they've already announced the sequel).
  • Henry Cavill, when he's given a chance to do so, is as good as Reeve in his prime. Unfortunately, the script doesn't give him many opportunities to shine.
  • Amy Adams handles Lois very well, although she's not given much to do.
  • At one point in the movie, Zack Snyder was apparently kicked out of the director's chair and Michael Bay slipped in. Geez, how long does a fight scene with massive destruction need to run? I felt like I could have left to get a sandwich during the fight, returned, and missed nothing in terms of plot line.
  • Did the editor leave as well?  This would have been a better film with 20-30 minutes chopped out.
  • I heard there were a number of "easter eggs", although I only picked out a LexCorp truck and a Wayne Industries satellite (using the logo from The Dark Knight . I didn’t notice Carrie Farris as a military officer or that a bar was called "Ace O' Clubs". Actor Aaron Smolinski, who played another army officer, played baby Clark in Superman I and a boy at a photo booth in Superman III.

Overall, I liked the movie, but it was darker than I would like and a bit too long. Now that the continuity is established (again), let's hope the sequel does better.

Man of Steel Pre-Game /  by Mark

Finally going to see Man of Steel later today. I got out the Blu-Rays to watch a few scenes from the previous movies in order to get psyched up for it (I'm now worried that I've made a huge mistake).

Watched a few scenes from Superman I:

  • Brando as Jor-El is simply over the top
  • The special effects may have been groundbreaking in 1978, but they have not aged well
  • Reeve is still the best Superman AND Clark--he has this twinkle in his eyes throughout the movie as if to say to the audience "do you believe I get to do this?"
  • The best scene is the "you've got me-who's got you?" helicopter sequence. Would you get away with a stereotypical pimp in a movie today?
  • There's far more swearing in this movie than I remember

Then I switched to Superman Returns:

  • Singer worships the Richard Donner films so much--he crams so many references in that they are distracting
  • I'm sorry, but Routh and Bosworth are simply too young, especially since we're supposed to believe this happened years after Superman I and II. This girl who looks 21 at most is a Pulitzer Prize winner?
  • The best scene--and the best of all the films so far--is the "space plane" sequence. I have to say I tear up every time I see the plane saved and Superman takes the applause from the crowd.  If the rest of the movie had been 10% as good as that, I wouldn't bother going to the movie today.

I'll do another blog post-movie. I've shied away from spoilers, but the reviews are less than promising.

Star Trek: Nemesis /  by Mark

It's time for the last TNG movie--

  • First, I do want to note this is the only Trek movie we haven't already seen.  Mindy and I looked at the previews and reviews, based on how bad Insurrection was, and made the call to skip it.
  • The movie starts with a wedding--Riker and Troi's. They are both about to move onto a new ship, but this is quickly forgotten in the plot.
  • It's always surprising to me how long people stand around  in movies when they clearly are watching a bomb about to go off--in this case, the Romulan Senate.
  • Captain (now Admiral) Janeway makes an appearance in the movie, which came out after Voyager was over.
  • There was a four year break between this and the previous movie, almost as long as the break afterward, after which the Abrams reboot premiered.
  • Spiner got a writing credit for this movie, which explains why Data has such a large role--both as Data and "B-4".
  • When the other android is found, Picard decides to put him back together--oh, that's a great idea!  No one even mentioned "Lore" during all this. He is quickly forgotten, and as always, that's a big mistake.
  • We do get SPACE dune-buggies though. Do they make any sense? Of course not. How does Picard drive one off a cliff and into a shuttle to escape bad guys, who also illogically also have space buggies? No idea.
  • We finally meet the other half of the Romulan Empire--the Remans--never mentioned before in Trek. Gee, I wonder if they're bad guys? Maybe the fact that they look like Skeletor is a clue.
  • So Picard has a clone named Shinzon, and he's also the Romulan Praetor? Ohh-kay. He;s played by Tom Hardy, who also Bane in The Dark Knight Rises. He doesn't really look like Stewart at all--just bald.
  • Wow, this movie is talky! Picard and Shinzon talk history and philosophy for several minutes.
  • So, we get a rape scene--it least a mental rape--with Troi as the victim. Was that really necessary? Well, it apparently allows her to find a cloaked ship Ouija board-style later.
  • Picard drives a Reman shuttle through ship hallways in order to escape--really?!?
  • There's a reference to a "USS Archer"--clearly meant to tie this into the Enterprise series. You know, the one with Captain Archer who helped to create the Federation, and who was never mentioned until that series began?
  • And now it's the pointless personal duel between Riker and the Reman--"you mind-raped my wife!"
  • After a ship battle, another Enterprise is ruined. At least Picard didn't get to use the "auto-destruct" gambit.
  • How does Geordi know exactly how "the weapon" on the Reman ship works?
  • It's a space-bird! It's a space-plane!  No--it's SUPER DATA!! Unfortunately, he has to sacrifice himself to save the others. Fortunately, there's a spare…
  • So was our decision to skip this movie when it first came out correct? Absolutely.

Well, that's it for Trek movies for a while--back to DS9 next time. If you can stomach it, Star Trek: Nemesis is available on Hulu Amazon, and Netflix.

Star Trek: Insurrection /  by Mark

Moving onto the third of the four TNG movies--

  • The whole movie is about immortality and what some races will do to get it--including atrocities against their own race.
  • Yet more uniform variants--this time, it's dress uniforms that look like we just got on the Love Boat
  • There's innumerable references to DS9 in the beginning of the movie. It helps to explain how Worf joins them on the mission.
  • Data's gone nuts! Of course, in the grand tradition of TNG literary references, Picard stops him with GIlbert and Sullivan.
  • With Frakes in the director's chair, he's written in a love story with Troi. We even get a bubble bath scene (ewww!)
  • There's a boatload of action in this movie--phaser shootouts, shuttle dogfights, and an exciting exodus of a village. We're supposed to believe Patrick Stewart as action hero?? He even has a love interest, and he and his compatriots go "rogue" to follow his beliefs.
  • There's some goofy bits with Data as always--at one point, he becomes a "floatation device" in a lake
  • Apparently, Spiner wanted to make this his last movie--he felt he was getting too old for the role. It looks like money changed that.
  • Oh, it's the old "hide in the nebula bit" from TWOK!  Riker sounds like John Wayne during a battle--"we're through running (pilgrim)!" He even gets a "manual override" on the bridge in the form of a joystick that somehow controls the whole ship?!?!
  • As always, any Federation personnel not on the Enterprise are evil and/or incompetent. In this case, an Admiral gone amuck ends up being taken out by the bad guys.
  • It's always convenient when alien races use Earth's system of time measurement…
  • The bad guys are duped by the oldest trick in the book--drop them into a holodeck, and let them think they won.
  • Again with the ridiculously complicated macguffin that has to be destroyed!!  

We'll move onto the final TNG movie next time. Star Trek: Insurrection is available on Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon. 

Star Trek: First Contact /  by Mark

We're moving on to the first true TNG movie--no Kirk and Co. interference.  First Contact is all about the Borg, time travel, and Zephram Cochrane--inventor of the warp drive.

  • As expected, Starfleet whipped up an Enterprise-E to replace the ship destroyed in Generations
  • La Forge now has direct corneal implants--no more visor for LeVar Burton. Also, Data can now turn off the emotion chip at will--maybe they should have added that ability that in the last movie?
  • Cochrane is played by James Cromwell, He's not the hero Trek history made him out to be, so Riker has to convince him to make history happen. Sirtis even gets to do a drunk comedy bit. 
  • Meanwhile, Picard plays "Die Hard" back on the Enterprise vs. the Borg, who are a lot more creepy with movie-budget effects. The Borg Queen (Alice Krige) was added, which frankly reduces the threat by giving them a conventional villain to fight. She tries to ensnare and seduce Data with new emotions.
  • We also get a cameo by the holographic doctor from Voyager (Robert Picardo), and Barclay (Dwight Schultz) drops by as well
  • Zephram's assistant Lily (Alfre Woodard) ends up on the ship as well--Picard talks her down and they end up fighting together. At one point, Picard explains to her that mankind has evolved past the need for money--what about latinum?
  • Picard pulls the old holodeck trick on the Borg, hiding inside "The Big Goodbye", and then fights the Borg in zero G outside the ship.
  • This film introduces escape pods to the Enterprise. Again, these would have come in helpful in previous adventures.
  • In the final battle, technobabble gas wipes out the Borg, with Picard and Data's help
  • RIker and Geordi end up flying the first warp vessel along with Cochrane, and we get to see Earth's "first contact" with the Vulcans. Somehow, all this tampering with the past doesn't crew things up. Screw the Prime Directive!

We'll move onto ST: Insurrection next. Star Trek: First Contact is available on Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon. 

Star Trek: Generations /  by Mark

We're now far enough into DS9 that, chronologically, TNG completed its run.  So, we're going to take the opportunity to watch the TNG movies, starting with the hybrid "Generations" film that spans TOS and TNG. No overall plotline here--just my thoughts:

  • It's clear that Paramount didn't have enough faith that TNG would transfer into movies, so they leaned heavily on the old TOS warhorses for this film. We don't see Picard and Co until 18 minutes in--and doing a goofy holodeck to boot.
  • It's also clear that most of the TOS cast wisely skipped this one--only Shatner, Doohan, and Koenig accepted the check. Tuvok (Tim Russ) also manages to get a cameo minus the ears.
  • Wouldn't you think the reporters, there for the maiden voyage, should be cleared from the bridge once the real action started?
  • Speaking of the bridge--even on the Enterprise-B and even -D, Starfleet hasn't figured out the need for seat belts
  • The TV-based Enterprise-D sets don't translate well into film--just more dramatically lit. Again, lack of faith by Paramount translates to minimal investment. Keep in mind that the first TOS film was, at the time, the most expensive film ever made.
  • They did add a "stellar cartography" set, though--just an excuse for more CGI. 
  • Data's "if I only had a heart/magic computer chip" storyline gets old quickly
  • At one point, Picard is looking at a "SPACE" photo album--you know it's "SPACE" because the photos have a holographic border. Physical photo albums are out of date today, much less in the 24th century.
  • LIke all modern action movies, there's an incredibly complicated "macguffin" that has to be stopped--in this case, a probe that will destroy a populated planet.
  • In the grand tradition of Trek films, the Enterprise-D is destroyed in an impressive display of CGI. Don't worry, there's plenty of letters to go.
  • I did enjoy the dramatic meeting of Kirk and Picard--and Kirk's unwillingness to leave his dream. In a nice touch, you can just barely see Starfleet china in a cabinet in Kirk's kitchen. We have one of those sets--it's in our china cabinet.
  • They also included a horse riding sequence for Shatner, who's an accomplished rider and owner of quarter horses.
  • Of course, the real reason Shatner came back was to get a glorious death sequence. I'm sure he was always jealous of Nimoy getting his in TWOK.

ST: First Contact comes up next. Star Trek: Generations is available on Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon.