Defending Star Trek Into Darkness(with some minor criticisms):
I'll be looking at some of the more common complaints and/or WTF's I've seen in regards to the movie and trying to defend them, though I am making allowances in some cases. Let's get started. WARNING, SPOILERS FOR EVERYTHING!
Nibiru
First off, the biggest question is why was the Enterprise under water and why didn't they just beam Spock out from space. I would THINK that most Trekkies could easily extrapolate from Chekov's line about the planet's magnetic field that transporters were not very reliable, and in fact, I would wager that the only reason they were able to get Spock OUT of the volcano is because the Enterprise moved directly overhead and within a certain distance. This might also account for why the Enterprise wasn't in synchronous orbit OVER said volcano. It's been shown in a few instances that magnetic fields disrupt transporters. Now, as for the Enterprise being under water...while the transporter thing could account for that, they could have just used shuttles. So why was it under water? Simple. Rule of Cool. There isn't really any other explanation. And it was cool, but the whole scene COULD have used a little more dialog to explain WHY they hid the ship at the bottom of the ocean.
Kirk's demotion/re-promotion
So, Spock is saved, but Kirk blatantly violated the Prime Directive and then lied about it in his logs. While Spock was correct in stating that, had things gone according to plan, the Prime Directive wouldn't have been violated, Kirk still covered up everything in his log. This lead him to be demoted and have his command stripped from him. Makes sense. Pike realized that Kirk hadn't learned humility and sacrifice by legitimately working his way up the ranks. But he also recognized the potential and got Kirk assigned back to the Enterprise as Pike's first officer. Again, makes sense. Where people got irritated is after Khan's attack on Starfleet HQ that results in the death of Pike, Kirk asks for command of the Enterprise back to go after him. Admiral Marcus agrees, gives him his ship back as well as 72 advanced torpedoes to blow the crap out of Khan with. This also makes sense, as I'll detail next.
Admiral Marcus's Plans and Section 31
So, Kirk, Spock, and Scotty find out that Khan used Scotty's transwarp beaming to beam to Kronos, Kirk and Spock tell Marcus and request permission to go after him. At this time, Marcus tells Kirk and Spock about a top secret Starfleet division called Section 31. So top secret that Marcus pretty much tells them everything. Why do this? Simple. It's all part of the plan. See, Marcus felt that the only way to have a good Federation is to have a militarized one. So, he put highly advanced torpedoes on the Enterprise and ordered Kirk to go and fire them at the Klingon homeworld to kill Khan. A bit harsh, yes? Well, not if killing Khan isn't the point. See, a Federation starship, firing at the Klingon homeworld, would be an act of war to the Klingons. It wouldn't matter if the ship weren't in Klingon space or the torpedoes hit an uninhabited region. So. Marcus told Kirk and Spock all about a top secret Starfleet organization, gave them torpedoes, and told them to shoot at the Klingons. Then the Enterprise's warp drive breaks down. From here, it's all easy-peasy. Marcus didn't care if Khan lived or died. He sent the Enterprise and the trouble-making Kirk to be lambs for the slaughter. The only reason he told them everything? He didn't expect them to make it back. They were meant to die, which he would then use as an excuse to begin a war against the Klingons and building up Starfleet's military. So, in this context, it doesn't matter that Kirk had just been demoted. He was being sent to die anyways, so why not give him command.
Khan Stupidity?
Let's get the big elephant out of the room first. Khan is white. Not just normal white, but pasty British white. This was something that could have been solved in one scene. Kirk or Spock looks up the historical database and finds Khan, asks what the hell, Khan says, "Section 31 surgically altered my appearance so I wouldn't be recognized by anyone." This should have happened. Now that that's out of the way, the torpedoes. Khan put his people in them. People seem to forget that he did so to try and pull one over on Admiral Marcus. Marcus, probably correctly assuming Khan would do this, got hold of the torpedoes. Khan then assumed that Marcus pulled the plug, cue vengeance. This isn't hard to understand, really. But people don't quite get it, I guess. Now, when Khan beamed over the torpedoes? He had no reason to believe Spock would pull a stunt like that. Khan is, and always was, an arrogant, egotistical, manipulative bastard, and anyone who doesn't see that needs to rewatch Space Seed. He was manipulating the Enterprise crew from the moment he woke up. That's why I like this portrayal. It seemed more like Khan than the raving, maniacal, Moby Dick-quoting lunatic from Wrath of Khan. And on to the next Khan-related thing...
The "Magic" Blood
This has pissed a lot of people off. But here's my thing. Khan was engineered for perfection. Why wouldn't he have been given a genetic trait that let him heal rapidly and stuff like that? Everything that was done to Khan was never fully explored. Rapid healing and regeneration just MAKES SENSE FOR A SUPER-SOLDIER. Why make him superior in every way but one? As for why it worked on a tribble? I don't know. All I do know is that McCoy obviously just had a dead tribble lying around and wanted to test the extent of the regenerative abilities of Khan's genetic alterations.
Kirk's death/Spock's emotional breakdown
This whole scene pays homage to The Wrath of Khan. There's no getting around that. But it is a role reversal and very little of the dialog is actually taken from TWOK. Kirk learns humility and the meaning of sacrifice. He saves the ship and crew at the (temporary)cost of his own life. And Spock learns, too late, the value of friendship. Now, I haven't heard too many complaints about the death scene itself, but I am going to give my own opinion on it. Chris Pine OWNED that death scene. I could feel his heartbreak in knowing that he paid the ultimate price for victory. Definitely a much better death scene for James T. Kirk than in Star Trek Generations("Ow, I'm under...a bridge...and I can't...get up!") But where some people gripe is Spock's emotional breakdown afterwards, and I think this gripe extends back to the 2009 film. Spock has trouble with his emotions at times. But let's look at it closely. In the 2009 film, he was fine up until he watched his mother perish in front of him and then his planet imploded. I don't know about the rest of you, but I sure couldn't stay in command of my emotions after that. And Kirk deliberately poured salt in that wound. Yes, they made up afterwards and everything seemed to be hunky-dory, but the thing is...that kind of wound will not close. This Spock is never going to be as emotionally controlled as Spock Prime was at that age. And watching the man that saved his life out of friendship die trying to save Spock and everyone else on the Enterprise was even more salt in the wound. Naturally, Spock was upset. We've seen Spock have emotional moments when it came to his Captain. "Amok Time" is one great example. After he learns Kirk is "dead", Spock snaps out of the drive that causes Vulcans to DIE unless they screw a woman. He then, understandably, mourns the loss of his friend and prepares to be placed under arrest for killing an officer. When Kirk is shown to be alive, Spock breaks out in a huge grin. Emotionless? Perhaps not.
These are some of the bigger ones I've noticed. I don't count Kirk's revival because it was obviously going to happen, Khan blood or not, and besides, he was only mostly dead. Another is a little confusion since it seemed the Enterprise was going out on her 5 year mission at the end of the 2009 film, but it was obviously a 6 month shakedown cruise/maiden voyage. Get out and show the colors, as it were. The 5 year mission is one for exploring unknown reaches. That said, I'm sure I'll get a few other things pointed out to me. If my Trekkie brain can come up with an explanation, I'll do so. Until then, Live long and prosper.
It's a good film, make no mistake, but there's a few problems with it that holds it back from being truly great IMHO.
Spoilers, etc.
That opening scene with the Enterprise under the water... the big question of "how did it get there in the first place with no-one noticing?" is just too big to brush under the rug. Rule of Cool or not, it's a giant plot-hole and starts the movie off on a bad foot.
On a similar note - how the hell did General Admiral Marcus build his giant spaceship with no-one noticing? Aside from the fact that it's bloody massive, these things do not come cheap. Are you honestly telling me that no-one noticed a huge amount of cash and (presumably) man-power being diverted by Marcus? Really?
The fact that Cumberbatch is Khan is a massive distraction. I get why they did it, but the fact that he's portraying the same character that someone else has made his own never stops feeling awkward. If, during his "this is how I came to be" speech, he had indeed made mention that Marcus had given him surgery or whatever, it would have helped, but even so did he have to be Khan? Couldn't he have been one of the other 72 genetically engineered superhumans? Sure he wouldn't have been quite so recognisable, but it would have avoided a lot of problems. Plus, maybe Spock wouldn't have sounded so awkward screaming his name. Speaking of...
Aside from when he discusses it in the shuttle, no mention is made of the fact that Spock has, almost literally, felt what it's like to die through his mind-meld with Pike. I kept waiting for this plot point to be revisited, especially when Kirk dies, but it's never even referenced again. It feels like a massive waste of potential thinking back on it.
And Kirk dying... I think it's one of those things you need to know going in so you can get all your "BETRAYAL!" out of the way, because all told, they handle it pretty damn well with some great acting all round.
...except Spock yelling out KHAAAAAAAAN!, because aside from not really being all that great (they really should have used another take), it just invites comparisons to Wrath of Khan and for what it's worth, Shatner pretty much nailed it there so any comparisons are going to go his way.
Finally... the final battle(s) take place above Earth, right? Since both ships fall into its atmosphere? So why the hell are the two ships - both clearly inside Federation territory - completely left alone with no-one attempting to get in touch with them or send other ships over to see what's going on? What the hell?
There's other points I could note (Uhura shoots Khan several times to little effect when earlier one shot took him out) but those have easy explanations (he was only pretending the first time until the right moment for him to strike) and didn't really bother me.
Like I say, I thought it was a great film - it just had a few too many issues for me to consider it amazing.
Gonna address two of the points you made before heading out. Firstly, the ship obviously went under water at night. Not foolproof, but still.
And you point out the EXPENSE of a starship? Any Trekkie worth his salt knows that the economy of the Federation is stupid, so even considering money and resources in any starship construction isn't worth trying.
Yes, I point out the expense. This film is set about a year after the destruction of countless starships (remember? Nero blew them all up when they responded to the distress call from Vulcan), and I refuse to believe that the building of new ships in the aftermath of that would ever go un-noticed. Building ships would take a fair bit of man-power and/or materials, neither of which would be easy to acquire un-noticed, Admiral or not.
And please don't throw the "money doesn't exist" excuse at me, because countless examples from the TV shows have shown that to be false - or at the very least flexible - with bargaining and trading frequently occurring.
And please don't throw the "money doesn't exist" excuse at me, because countless examples from the TV shows have shown that to be false - or at the very least flexible - with bargaining and trading frequently occurring.
I'm not. I'm pointing out that the rules of financial exchange in the Star Trek universe make no sense because the shows, movies, and books all contradict themselves in this instance. As for materials...Marcus isn't just an Admiral. He seems to be the head of Section 31, so you can't tell me 31 can't just fudge records in this kind of thing.
Well fair enough, but fudge the records over something that big? I'd question that.
And bear in mind that an average non-Trekkie would probably ask the same question I did, and you can't really fob them off with "oh, it doesn't have to make sense, that's just the way Star Trek works".
Well fair enough, but fudge the records over something that big? I'd question that.
And bear in mind that an average non-Trekkie would probably ask the same question I did, and you can't really fob them off with "oh, it doesn't have to make sense, that's just the way Star Trek works".
Well, just got back from a second viewing with my sister, who is decidedly non-Trekkie, only knowing a little and having seen very little of the shows and movies outside of the 2009 film and whatever I could make her watch, and she didn't ask how the Vengeance was hidden.
Section 31 is the like the Federation version of the CIA, except that it so classified that the Federation powers-that-be in the Prime universe refuse to acknowledge that it even exists at all. Plus, the amount of latitude and freedom that Sloan (from DS9) seemed to have, it's apparent that Section 31 has little to no oversight whatsoever--using Starfleet Charter, Article 14 Section 31 as an excuse to do whatever they want and get away with it (including commit genocide by fatally poisioning all of the Founders,
which was only stopped by Miles and Julian
).
So yeah, using "national security", as an excuse to hide specifics of Section 31's budget (if they have one), I could see it happening. Not to mention that Shinzon was able to pull the wool over the eyes of the Romulan Council long enough to have the Scimitar built.
OK, so I rewatched Into Darkness today and... well, correct me if I'm wrong, but is Khan's origins ever actually explained in this movie? Because if it was, I glanced over it. It just...
This feels very much like a film written SOLELY for fanboys. It does not feel like it's been made for everyone - just those who know the original Wrath of Khan (and, by extension, Space Seed). Because there's so much that isn't actually explained, it feels like it's actually excluding those who aren't versed in Star Trek lore..
I mean, if I didn't already know who Khan was, then what the hell does the revelation that Cumberbatch is playing him actually mean in terms of the story? Because as far as I can tell, it's absolutelynothing. It comes across as a desperate bid to make the film appeal to the nostalgic fans while giving nothing to new ones.
The whole film kind of feels like that. Really annoying.
The local Barnes and Noble was playing the movie in full on loop today. I thought it was an interesting choice, to say the least, and felt bad for the guy working at the counter adjacent to it to have to watch the movie (hell, it could be any movie) four-five times a day. Ah well.
I thought it was fun. I liked that they mentioned Mudd in it. I'm glad they got rid of most of the complicated and boring plot from Wrath of Khan and gave it more action setpieces.
I mean, if I didn't already know who Khan was, then what the hell does the revelation that Cumberbatch is playing him actually mean in terms of the story? Because as far as I can tell, it's absolutelynothing. It comes across as a desperate bid to make the film appeal to the nostalgic fans while giving nothing to new ones.
I think the only thing the movie really expects you to know in advance is that Kahn is a bad guy from old Star Trek. Anybody who has seen the title of Star Trek II or the clip of Kirk screaming is basically up to speed.
It's a common complaint that Hollywood has run out of new ideas for movies. After this one, it appears it has also run out of new ideas for Star Trek movies.
Khan doesn't have enough backstory in this movie alone, but I can see why they wouldn't want to include much of it, given that everyone already knew who he was, so why waste time?
Maybe they'll come up with something completely new that can be fully explained in the next movie. (Anybody believe that?)
Honestly, I think the movie would have been a bazillion times better if the writers sat down for five minutes and actually thought about what they were writing. There was absolutely no reason why Khan had to be the bad guy. None. There was nothing that he did that was something only Khan could have done, and they even excluded some Khan-like things that could have happened in exchange for spectacle. I think I would have liked the movie a lot more if it was some random new bad guy. His inclusion was purely fanservice.
The beginning was terrible. Irredeemable. There's no reason they had to go down to the planet, no reason the Enterprise had to hide under the ocean, no reason why Spock had to go down with the bomb, no reason they had to misuse the term "cold fusion" to come up with an explanation for how they were stopping the volcano. First of all, it wouldn't have worked. Okay, so you freeze the top of the volcano. Guess what? You've still got the magma underneath building up pressure. So instead of having an eruption from the top of the volcano, you're going to have an unpredictable one from the side. Way to go in destroying everyone.
Picard dealt with a mega volcano that was threatening to destroy a planet once. You know what he did? He scanned the planet, located another place nearby where the magma was close to the surface and blasted the area from outer space. This released the pressure from the magma in a controlled fashion, preventing a volcanic eruption, saving everyone without violating any Starfleet regulations or straining the audience's suspension of disbelief.
But they couldn't do that in Star Trek Into Darkness because they're all about spectacle. They want explosions and don't care about the reason for the explosions making sense. They don't even care about using real scientific terms in wrong applications (the original Star Trek did. They changed the guns from lasers to phasers because someone actually invented a laser and it didn't do what they wanted the phasers to do).
They also never really explained why Khan put all his buddies into the missiles. I mean, he's supposed to be a genius so there must have been a reason... but it's never explained what, exactly he intended to do with them once they were attached to highly explosive devices. I mean, he couldn't have predicted that they'd be accidentally put on the ship that would be sent after him and even then, there was no assurance that he'd be able to get them out of there. And even then, he didn't have any way to unfreeze them, especially since he blew up the place where he had been unfrozen. It just seems kinda like he wasn't really thinking things through on this one.
I already mentioned the injecting the tribble with Khan's blood, but I'll bring it up again. This doesn't make sense why Dr. McCoy would inject his entire sample into a dead tribble. Sure, maybe he wanted to test the regenerative effects, but why a tribble? Surely, it would be easier to try a small sample on a better model organism, like maybe drosophilia or c. elegans, where he wouldn't have to use his entire sample on the first thing he tried. Any good scientist knows that you shouldn't waste your whole sample on one test because the first test almost never works. But no, they had to use a tribble because it was a nod to the fans. Didn't matter that it didn't make sense, they had to add it in. And he had to use the whole sample so that Spock could go punch Khan a bunch.
And nobody seems to have bothered to tell McCoy that all the other frozen people were superpeople with magic blood as well. I mean, when I was watching and the tribble came back to life, and McCoy asked someone to take a guy out of one of the cryogenic tubes, I was almost certain they were going to nab a blood sample from the random dude. But no, they decided to freeze Kirk instead. Because that makes a lot of sense. At the beginning, McCoy specifically mentioned that he didn't think they could unfreeze any of the people safely... and then he goes ahead and freezes Kirk.
I could go on, but I'm starting to see red. It's okay to like this movie, but it's not okay to try to pretend that this stuff makes any sense whatsoever or has some deep meaning behind it other than "fanboys have money".
I already mentioned the injecting the tribble with Khan's blood, but I'll bring it up again. This doesn't make sense why Dr. McCoy would inject his entire sample into a dead tribble. Sure, maybe he wanted to test the regenerative effects, but why a tribble? Surely, it would be easier to try a small sample on a better model organism, like maybe drosophilia or c. elegans, where he wouldn't have to use his entire sample on the first thing he tried. Any good scientist knows that you shouldn't waste your whole sample on one test because the first test almost never works. But no, they had to use a tribble because it was a nod to the fans. Didn't matter that it didn't make sense, they had to add it in. And he had to use the whole sample so that Spock could go punch Khan a bunch.
...
I could go on, but I'm starting to see red. It's okay to like this movie, but it's not okay to try to pretend that this stuff makes any sense whatsoever or has some deep meaning behind it other than "fanboys have money".
I don't know why you're giving Star Trek so much credit. Your assessment makes it look way smarter than it actually is.
On the Tribble issue, you don't even need to check the science to realize this movie is being so dumb that an intelligent person can't walk out of the theater with the idea that this was anything other than an idiotic waste of time made expressly for morons. You just have to look at the narrative inconsistencies and how they are outright ignored for the sake of a broad reference. After all, the entire POINT of Tribbles, in their first and most iconic appearance, was that having ONE alive on board was a really, really big problem, because they reproduced asexually very, very fast. If McCoy had even the SLIGHTEST idea of what injecting that sample might do, he sure as hell shouldn't have used his sample on the ONE dead thing in the ship that would be the most inconvenient to have alive.
And on the fanboy issue, ha! You're acting as though Paramount had a somewhat niche group in mind!
Kahn and Tribbles, these things show up but are poorly portrayed. Why? Because Paramount is painting with the widest brush possible. The person this movie is made for are the people who have the most base-level understanding of Star Trek as a cultural idea, absorbing a rough concept of what Kahn and Tribbles are through the wider culture. These people don't care about these things or how they're portrayed, they just like to see things that they recognize. This is why they don't have to actually function correctly, this is why you don't need functioning knowledge of the characters or the world in order to follow the events, because what we have aren't really "characters" so much as rough outlines of characters that kind of sort of match up to the fuzzy memories of the audience member that maybe saw Wrath of Kahn once on TV a decade ago and has been kept fresh on the iconic scenes from that film by pop culture.
Now, if I was a BIG Star Trek fan, I'd go for this...
anyone see that "Federation: the First 150 Years" history book that came out a year or so ago? £75, and you got the hardback book in a sort of pedestal which spoke a recorded message from Admiral Sulu. Well, Titan are bringing out a somewhat cheaper edition in a month or so, costing closer to twenty quid.
Well.
Amazon have a number of sellers offering teh original bulky expensive version for over a thousand quid. Or you could just buy it from Amazon themselves for a third of the original price. I think the difference between the two editions' selling prices is about a tenner.
Fortunately for my bank balance, I'm *not* a big Star Trek fan.....
Comments
I'll be looking at some of the more common complaints and/or WTF's I've seen in regards to the movie and trying to defend them, though I am making allowances in some cases. Let's get started. WARNING, SPOILERS FOR EVERYTHING!
Nibiru
First off, the biggest question is why was the Enterprise under water and why didn't they just beam Spock out from space. I would THINK that most Trekkies could easily extrapolate from Chekov's line about the planet's magnetic field that transporters were not very reliable, and in fact, I would wager that the only reason they were able to get Spock OUT of the volcano is because the Enterprise moved directly overhead and within a certain distance. This might also account for why the Enterprise wasn't in synchronous orbit OVER said volcano. It's been shown in a few instances that magnetic fields disrupt transporters. Now, as for the Enterprise being under water...while the transporter thing could account for that, they could have just used shuttles. So why was it under water? Simple. Rule of Cool. There isn't really any other explanation. And it was cool, but the whole scene COULD have used a little more dialog to explain WHY they hid the ship at the bottom of the ocean.
Kirk's demotion/re-promotion
So, Spock is saved, but Kirk blatantly violated the Prime Directive and then lied about it in his logs. While Spock was correct in stating that, had things gone according to plan, the Prime Directive wouldn't have been violated, Kirk still covered up everything in his log. This lead him to be demoted and have his command stripped from him. Makes sense. Pike realized that Kirk hadn't learned humility and sacrifice by legitimately working his way up the ranks. But he also recognized the potential and got Kirk assigned back to the Enterprise as Pike's first officer. Again, makes sense. Where people got irritated is after Khan's attack on Starfleet HQ that results in the death of Pike, Kirk asks for command of the Enterprise back to go after him. Admiral Marcus agrees, gives him his ship back as well as 72 advanced torpedoes to blow the crap out of Khan with. This also makes sense, as I'll detail next.
Admiral Marcus's Plans and Section 31
So, Kirk, Spock, and Scotty find out that Khan used Scotty's transwarp beaming to beam to Kronos, Kirk and Spock tell Marcus and request permission to go after him. At this time, Marcus tells Kirk and Spock about a top secret Starfleet division called Section 31. So top secret that Marcus pretty much tells them everything. Why do this? Simple. It's all part of the plan. See, Marcus felt that the only way to have a good Federation is to have a militarized one. So, he put highly advanced torpedoes on the Enterprise and ordered Kirk to go and fire them at the Klingon homeworld to kill Khan. A bit harsh, yes? Well, not if killing Khan isn't the point. See, a Federation starship, firing at the Klingon homeworld, would be an act of war to the Klingons. It wouldn't matter if the ship weren't in Klingon space or the torpedoes hit an uninhabited region. So. Marcus told Kirk and Spock all about a top secret Starfleet organization, gave them torpedoes, and told them to shoot at the Klingons. Then the Enterprise's warp drive breaks down. From here, it's all easy-peasy. Marcus didn't care if Khan lived or died. He sent the Enterprise and the trouble-making Kirk to be lambs for the slaughter. The only reason he told them everything? He didn't expect them to make it back. They were meant to die, which he would then use as an excuse to begin a war against the Klingons and building up Starfleet's military. So, in this context, it doesn't matter that Kirk had just been demoted. He was being sent to die anyways, so why not give him command.
Khan Stupidity?
Let's get the big elephant out of the room first. Khan is white. Not just normal white, but pasty British white. This was something that could have been solved in one scene. Kirk or Spock looks up the historical database and finds Khan, asks what the hell, Khan says, "Section 31 surgically altered my appearance so I wouldn't be recognized by anyone." This should have happened. Now that that's out of the way, the torpedoes. Khan put his people in them. People seem to forget that he did so to try and pull one over on Admiral Marcus. Marcus, probably correctly assuming Khan would do this, got hold of the torpedoes. Khan then assumed that Marcus pulled the plug, cue vengeance. This isn't hard to understand, really. But people don't quite get it, I guess. Now, when Khan beamed over the torpedoes? He had no reason to believe Spock would pull a stunt like that. Khan is, and always was, an arrogant, egotistical, manipulative bastard, and anyone who doesn't see that needs to rewatch Space Seed. He was manipulating the Enterprise crew from the moment he woke up. That's why I like this portrayal. It seemed more like Khan than the raving, maniacal, Moby Dick-quoting lunatic from Wrath of Khan. And on to the next Khan-related thing...
The "Magic" Blood
This has pissed a lot of people off. But here's my thing. Khan was engineered for perfection. Why wouldn't he have been given a genetic trait that let him heal rapidly and stuff like that? Everything that was done to Khan was never fully explored. Rapid healing and regeneration just MAKES SENSE FOR A SUPER-SOLDIER. Why make him superior in every way but one? As for why it worked on a tribble? I don't know. All I do know is that McCoy obviously just had a dead tribble lying around and wanted to test the extent of the regenerative abilities of Khan's genetic alterations.
Kirk's death/Spock's emotional breakdown
This whole scene pays homage to The Wrath of Khan. There's no getting around that. But it is a role reversal and very little of the dialog is actually taken from TWOK. Kirk learns humility and the meaning of sacrifice. He saves the ship and crew at the (temporary)cost of his own life. And Spock learns, too late, the value of friendship. Now, I haven't heard too many complaints about the death scene itself, but I am going to give my own opinion on it. Chris Pine OWNED that death scene. I could feel his heartbreak in knowing that he paid the ultimate price for victory. Definitely a much better death scene for James T. Kirk than in Star Trek Generations("Ow, I'm under...a bridge...and I can't...get up!") But where some people gripe is Spock's emotional breakdown afterwards, and I think this gripe extends back to the 2009 film. Spock has trouble with his emotions at times. But let's look at it closely. In the 2009 film, he was fine up until he watched his mother perish in front of him and then his planet imploded. I don't know about the rest of you, but I sure couldn't stay in command of my emotions after that. And Kirk deliberately poured salt in that wound. Yes, they made up afterwards and everything seemed to be hunky-dory, but the thing is...that kind of wound will not close. This Spock is never going to be as emotionally controlled as Spock Prime was at that age. And watching the man that saved his life out of friendship die trying to save Spock and everyone else on the Enterprise was even more salt in the wound. Naturally, Spock was upset. We've seen Spock have emotional moments when it came to his Captain. "Amok Time" is one great example. After he learns Kirk is "dead", Spock snaps out of the drive that causes Vulcans to DIE unless they screw a woman. He then, understandably, mourns the loss of his friend and prepares to be placed under arrest for killing an officer. When Kirk is shown to be alive, Spock breaks out in a huge grin. Emotionless? Perhaps not.
These are some of the bigger ones I've noticed. I don't count Kirk's revival because it was obviously going to happen, Khan blood or not, and besides, he was only mostly dead. Another is a little confusion since it seemed the Enterprise was going out on her 5 year mission at the end of the 2009 film, but it was obviously a 6 month shakedown cruise/maiden voyage. Get out and show the colors, as it were. The 5 year mission is one for exploring unknown reaches. That said, I'm sure I'll get a few other things pointed out to me. If my Trekkie brain can come up with an explanation, I'll do so. Until then, Live long and prosper.
Also, going to see the movie again today!
Spoilers, etc.
That opening scene with the Enterprise under the water... the big question of "how did it get there in the first place with no-one noticing?" is just too big to brush under the rug. Rule of Cool or not, it's a giant plot-hole and starts the movie off on a bad foot.
On a similar note - how the hell did General Admiral Marcus build his giant spaceship with no-one noticing? Aside from the fact that it's bloody massive, these things do not come cheap. Are you honestly telling me that no-one noticed a huge amount of cash and (presumably) man-power being diverted by Marcus? Really?
The fact that Cumberbatch is Khan is a massive distraction. I get why they did it, but the fact that he's portraying the same character that someone else has made his own never stops feeling awkward. If, during his "this is how I came to be" speech, he had indeed made mention that Marcus had given him surgery or whatever, it would have helped, but even so did he have to be Khan? Couldn't he have been one of the other 72 genetically engineered superhumans? Sure he wouldn't have been quite so recognisable, but it would have avoided a lot of problems. Plus, maybe Spock wouldn't have sounded so awkward screaming his name. Speaking of...
Aside from when he discusses it in the shuttle, no mention is made of the fact that Spock has, almost literally, felt what it's like to die through his mind-meld with Pike. I kept waiting for this plot point to be revisited, especially when Kirk dies, but it's never even referenced again. It feels like a massive waste of potential thinking back on it.
And Kirk dying... I think it's one of those things you need to know going in so you can get all your "BETRAYAL!" out of the way, because all told, they handle it pretty damn well with some great acting all round.
...except Spock yelling out KHAAAAAAAAN!, because aside from not really being all that great (they really should have used another take), it just invites comparisons to Wrath of Khan and for what it's worth, Shatner pretty much nailed it there so any comparisons are going to go his way.
Finally... the final battle(s) take place above Earth, right? Since both ships fall into its atmosphere? So why the hell are the two ships - both clearly inside Federation territory - completely left alone with no-one attempting to get in touch with them or send other ships over to see what's going on? What the hell?
There's other points I could note (Uhura shoots Khan several times to little effect when earlier one shot took him out) but those have easy explanations (he was only pretending the first time until the right moment for him to strike) and didn't really bother me.
Like I say, I thought it was a great film - it just had a few too many issues for me to consider it amazing.
And you point out the EXPENSE of a starship? Any Trekkie worth his salt knows that the economy of the Federation is stupid, so even considering money and resources in any starship construction isn't worth trying.
And please don't throw the "money doesn't exist" excuse at me, because countless examples from the TV shows have shown that to be false - or at the very least flexible - with bargaining and trading frequently occurring.
I'm not. I'm pointing out that the rules of financial exchange in the Star Trek universe make no sense because the shows, movies, and books all contradict themselves in this instance. As for materials...Marcus isn't just an Admiral. He seems to be the head of Section 31, so you can't tell me 31 can't just fudge records in this kind of thing.
And bear in mind that an average non-Trekkie would probably ask the same question I did, and you can't really fob them off with "oh, it doesn't have to make sense, that's just the way Star Trek works".
Well, just got back from a second viewing with my sister, who is decidedly non-Trekkie, only knowing a little and having seen very little of the shows and movies outside of the 2009 film and whatever I could make her watch, and she didn't ask how the Vengeance was hidden.
So yeah, using "national security", as an excuse to hide specifics of Section 31's budget (if they have one), I could see it happening. Not to mention that Shinzon was able to pull the wool over the eyes of the Romulan Council long enough to have the Scimitar built.
Real threatening...
I thought I was headed for certain fame and fortune!
Alas, someone else already thought of the same thing! Oh well.
Ride, Captain, ride, upon your mystery ship....
...that's actually from canon. In "Space Seed", there were 72 functional cryo-tubes aside from Khan's.
This feels very much like a film written SOLELY for fanboys. It does not feel like it's been made for everyone - just those who know the original Wrath of Khan (and, by extension, Space Seed). Because there's so much that isn't actually explained, it feels like it's actually excluding those who aren't versed in Star Trek lore..
I mean, if I didn't already know who Khan was, then what the hell does the revelation that Cumberbatch is playing him actually mean in terms of the story? Because as far as I can tell, it's absolutely nothing. It comes across as a desperate bid to make the film appeal to the nostalgic fans while giving nothing to new ones.
The whole film kind of feels like that. Really annoying.
I thought it was fun. I liked that they mentioned Mudd in it. I'm glad they got rid of most of the complicated and boring plot from Wrath of Khan and gave it more action setpieces.
I think the only thing the movie really expects you to know in advance is that Kahn is a bad guy from old Star Trek. Anybody who has seen the title of Star Trek II or the clip of Kirk screaming is basically up to speed.
Khan doesn't have enough backstory in this movie alone, but I can see why they wouldn't want to include much of it, given that everyone already knew who he was, so why waste time?
Maybe they'll come up with something completely new that can be fully explained in the next movie. (Anybody believe that?)
The beginning was terrible. Irredeemable. There's no reason they had to go down to the planet, no reason the Enterprise had to hide under the ocean, no reason why Spock had to go down with the bomb, no reason they had to misuse the term "cold fusion" to come up with an explanation for how they were stopping the volcano. First of all, it wouldn't have worked. Okay, so you freeze the top of the volcano. Guess what? You've still got the magma underneath building up pressure. So instead of having an eruption from the top of the volcano, you're going to have an unpredictable one from the side. Way to go in destroying everyone.
Picard dealt with a mega volcano that was threatening to destroy a planet once. You know what he did? He scanned the planet, located another place nearby where the magma was close to the surface and blasted the area from outer space. This released the pressure from the magma in a controlled fashion, preventing a volcanic eruption, saving everyone without violating any Starfleet regulations or straining the audience's suspension of disbelief.
But they couldn't do that in Star Trek Into Darkness because they're all about spectacle. They want explosions and don't care about the reason for the explosions making sense. They don't even care about using real scientific terms in wrong applications (the original Star Trek did. They changed the guns from lasers to phasers because someone actually invented a laser and it didn't do what they wanted the phasers to do).
They also never really explained why Khan put all his buddies into the missiles. I mean, he's supposed to be a genius so there must have been a reason... but it's never explained what, exactly he intended to do with them once they were attached to highly explosive devices. I mean, he couldn't have predicted that they'd be accidentally put on the ship that would be sent after him and even then, there was no assurance that he'd be able to get them out of there. And even then, he didn't have any way to unfreeze them, especially since he blew up the place where he had been unfrozen. It just seems kinda like he wasn't really thinking things through on this one.
I already mentioned the injecting the tribble with Khan's blood, but I'll bring it up again. This doesn't make sense why Dr. McCoy would inject his entire sample into a dead tribble. Sure, maybe he wanted to test the regenerative effects, but why a tribble? Surely, it would be easier to try a small sample on a better model organism, like maybe drosophilia or c. elegans, where he wouldn't have to use his entire sample on the first thing he tried. Any good scientist knows that you shouldn't waste your whole sample on one test because the first test almost never works. But no, they had to use a tribble because it was a nod to the fans. Didn't matter that it didn't make sense, they had to add it in. And he had to use the whole sample so that Spock could go punch Khan a bunch.
And nobody seems to have bothered to tell McCoy that all the other frozen people were superpeople with magic blood as well. I mean, when I was watching and the tribble came back to life, and McCoy asked someone to take a guy out of one of the cryogenic tubes, I was almost certain they were going to nab a blood sample from the random dude. But no, they decided to freeze Kirk instead. Because that makes a lot of sense. At the beginning, McCoy specifically mentioned that he didn't think they could unfreeze any of the people safely... and then he goes ahead and freezes Kirk.
I could go on, but I'm starting to see red. It's okay to like this movie, but it's not okay to try to pretend that this stuff makes any sense whatsoever or has some deep meaning behind it other than "fanboys have money".
On the Tribble issue, you don't even need to check the science to realize this movie is being so dumb that an intelligent person can't walk out of the theater with the idea that this was anything other than an idiotic waste of time made expressly for morons. You just have to look at the narrative inconsistencies and how they are outright ignored for the sake of a broad reference. After all, the entire POINT of Tribbles, in their first and most iconic appearance, was that having ONE alive on board was a really, really big problem, because they reproduced asexually very, very fast. If McCoy had even the SLIGHTEST idea of what injecting that sample might do, he sure as hell shouldn't have used his sample on the ONE dead thing in the ship that would be the most inconvenient to have alive.
And on the fanboy issue, ha! You're acting as though Paramount had a somewhat niche group in mind!
Kahn and Tribbles, these things show up but are poorly portrayed. Why? Because Paramount is painting with the widest brush possible. The person this movie is made for are the people who have the most base-level understanding of Star Trek as a cultural idea, absorbing a rough concept of what Kahn and Tribbles are through the wider culture. These people don't care about these things or how they're portrayed, they just like to see things that they recognize. This is why they don't have to actually function correctly, this is why you don't need functioning knowledge of the characters or the world in order to follow the events, because what we have aren't really "characters" so much as rough outlines of characters that kind of sort of match up to the fuzzy memories of the audience member that maybe saw Wrath of Kahn once on TV a decade ago and has been kept fresh on the iconic scenes from that film by pop culture.
anyone see that "Federation: the First 150 Years" history book that came out a year or so ago? £75, and you got the hardback book in a sort of pedestal which spoke a recorded message from Admiral Sulu. Well, Titan are bringing out a somewhat cheaper edition in a month or so, costing closer to twenty quid.
Well.
Amazon have a number of sellers offering teh original bulky expensive version for over a thousand quid. Or you could just buy it from Amazon themselves for a third of the original price. I think the difference between the two editions' selling prices is about a tenner.
Fortunately for my bank balance, I'm *not* a big Star Trek fan.....
Oh myyy...