Star Trek is cool again!

<-- In my opinion, this is still the best poster. I just can't wrap my head around the gray abstract swooshiness in the official one they decided to go with. Too hard to tell what it is.

Okay, I'm sick and supposed to be doing homework but finding myself unable to really think. Voila, I'm turning to blogging. Maybe this will get my brain warmed up and allow me to study next. But let me get to the point. This past weekend, I went to see the new Star Trek as planned... and I really only have one word:

AWESOME.

But one lonesome word would make a boring blog, wouldn't it? Hmm... Let me see if I can scrounge up a few more words about this fantastic revival/sequel/origin flick.

I knew nothing going into this movie. Well, not nothing - but pretty darn close to it. I had heard of Spock and Kirk... I knew that Kling'ons, well, existed (though I couldn't have told you what/who they were), and I had probably heard of the USS Enterprise somewhere along the line. But, SERIOUSLY, my Star Trek knowledge was limited to a few jokes about the redshirts (who always get killed), my crazy history teacher from 10th grade who was certifiably obsessed with it, and a few moments of flipping on the TV on Saturday nights and noticing the original series was on, before switching over to watching Legend of the Seeker.

So, then there were a few more bits and pieces of info... Like the fact that Zachary Quinto, who has managed to make a psychotic serial killer vaguely likable on Heroes for several years, was in the film - not to mention a few other names I knew... Eric Bana, Karl Urban. Oh, and JJ Abrams, who made Lost sane (and AMAZING) for its first season, was directing. After this came the pre-relase buzz... the fact that, about a week before release, when early critical reviews came in, Star Trek had 100% on rotten tomatoes. (It still has a 95%). Then there was the growing buzz that Star Trek could possibly have a better first weekend than Wolverine (it didn't, fyi). Overall, it was slowly shaping up to be something SPECIAL.

Thus... [Yup, those IB Papers are still on my mind]... I went into Saturday's movie with a very optimistic mind. I was sick and mad about being sick, I had been studying all day, and I was ready to have some FUN. I was excited by the people who had already seen it on Thursday and Friday, and who had come out raving. I was ready for a great film. And that's what I got! Star Trek is an all around EXCELLENT film. Sure, the time traveling plot is a bit confusing (Damon Lindelof, one of the chief writers on Lost had something to do with the script, so what do you expect?)... but I think this film will perform MIRACLES for the franchise. As Matt Lewis (Harry Potter's Neville Longbottom) said excitedly on Twitter today, Star Trek is cool again. :)

One point I want to emphasize and paraphrase comes from a recent Entertainment Weekly that had a big Star Trek spread. It's clearly been necessary to kick-start a few old franchises lately. As shown by Casino Royale for Bond and Batman Begins for Bruce Wayne, studios are finding origin stories particularly useful for this... Going back to the beginning seems to be a successful way of getting a NEW audience involved in an OLD story. With the two examples I've already cited, darker and ediger seemed to be just what the audience ordered, but this wasn't an option for Star Trek. After all, isn't one of the pillars this franchise was formed on OPTIMISM? So, the true beauty of Star Trek 11 (though it's not being called that) is that it DID go back to the beginning, it DID renew the story for a new generation (while keeping old trekkies involved), and it DID utilize state-of-the-art CGI and new younger actors to make it accessable... but it didn't HAVE to be dark and full of deep investigations into human psychology.

Of course, people are already comparing the time Star Trek when was founded - under Kennedy - and our current time - under Obama. This is interesting, and there are a lot of points to be made here, but it's important to remember that this film was started 3 years ago, when there was very little HOPE or CHANGE to be found in our country. In many ways, doesn't this speak to Star Trek's strength? The ability to apply to over 40 years of contemporary issues! The ability to resonate with audiences from my age to younger viewers and up to people who can remember the show's beginning!

Now, I'm headed off into the land of tangents and generalized statements, but I just want to say clearly once and for all... THIS IS A MUST-SEE MOVIE. If you're an old fan, I'm pretty darn sure you'll appreciate a bit more screen-time with your favorite characters, and if you're new to the series, like me, you'll have a heck of a ride. This movie was solid and leaves me begging for more. I hope to see it again, hope they make more movies with this cast/director, and am currently considering going back to watch some of the older episodes just to get a bit more into it all.

Truthfuly... What else could filmmakers want than $72 million worth of fans with similar sentiments? Bravo!

Cheers. <3

Unleash the beast

This is a few days late now, but I wanted to get in a blog with my own thoughts about Wolverine. After all, the summer movie season is almost as big as Oscar time (though very different in oh so many ways) and I'm planning on seeing - and blogging about - lots of films this summer.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is the type of film that is what you make of it. How you perceive it depends on the expectations you have riding on it, the veil of criticism you watch it through (or the ability to choose not to do this), the shield you can create to deflect the negativity coming from main-stream critics... In short, it can be as good as you want it to be. Wolverine is not going to win critical acclaim. People are not going to praise its mastery and analyze its every scene. No, they're going to see it, enjoy it, tell their friends, and - boom - one opening weekend and $87 million later, it will be yet another typical BIG summer film.

A quick bit of history. My dad and I love comic book movies; it's kind of our thing. My dad used to read a bunch of DC comics when he was younger and I think he enjoys the memories. Meanwhile, I just like the genre. It's a fabulous suspension of reality, a great setup for fun action, adventure, romance, and humor, and, in short, a good FUN movie. Now, like I said, my dad read DC - he doesn't know much about Marvel comics, of which X-Men is one. However, when I was younger and first venturing away from Arthur on PBS and onto Saturday morning cartoons, among other things, I began watching an X-Men show - I'm pretty sure it was X-Men: Evolution, though my memory is a bit fuzzy at this point. The animation in the main photo on that article looks right, but I certainly couldn't tell you a single thing about the plot. Anyway, somewhere along the line, my dad and I rented and really enjoyed the first two X-Men movies which were out on DVD (I really recommend these if you haven't seen them).

If you know anything about the series, you know that X-3 was a big disappointment. Much like Spiderman 3, the series changed directors and it ALL fell apart. The plot was scattered, confusing, and destructive (characters just DIED left and right - aggh!). I don't remember it all that well (I must have blocked it out, grr) but I remember that it was a mess. So, when I heard the rumor/news of another movie in the series - Wolverine - I took it with a grain of salt. It was getting to that "come on already" point in the series. Three, let alone four movies is risky territory. Now, that said, this long bit of rambling has been so you know where I'm coming from and where I WAS coming from when I walked into that theater last Saturday. I was excited for Wolverine, but I didn't have too many high hopes.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Hugh Jackman, especially as Wolverine. The character is sassy, bad-ass, and all around FUN to watch (notice that word coming up a lot?) I was expecting the BEST from him because I know that he always delivers above and beyond. So, when the movie leaked online about a month ago and everyone started trashing it, it didn't really alter my perception or expectations. I was still going to see it, no two ways about it, and I was either going to like it or not be crazy about it (the latter being less likely just because of the kind of movie watcher I am).

Thus... (I know that's a formal word but, heck, I've been writing a lot of formal IB essays lately - 42 pages handwritten, to be precise) ... you can see how I walked into this film. I had seen the explosion-after-explosion-after-fight-after-motorcycle-scene trailer, had seen Hugh's tree-trunk arms in Australia, and had seen him KICK ASS at the Oscars this year (please, oh please, bring him back again!). I wasn't expecting the Second Coming... I was expecting a FUN couple of hours.

And that's exactly what I got.

Wolverine left me grinning, what can I say? From the awesome character Gambit (whom I had never come across) to the (brief) appearance of Charlie (from Lost) aka Merry (from Lord of the Rings) aka Dominic Monaghan... and to, quite frankly, a pretty cool story of the evolution fo a superhero, it was a sweet movie. The explosions were crazy and loud, the fight scenes were intense, the romance was cheesy, the story/recurring metaphor was blatantly obvious... in short, it was a summer blockbuster that didn't even try to mask it's true nature. So, overall, I'd recommend the film, but only if you're willing to watch it for what it is.

A couple of more specific notes...

The soundtrack nerd in me is dying to say something about the music. Whereas the first three X-Men films were composed by Bourne alumn John Powell, this film was done by Harry Gregson-Williams, a man who is quick becoming one of my all time favorite artists. Second right now to, perhaps, only John Williams and Hans Zimmer, this man has a way with melodies. He's also done both Narnia films and the jaw-droppingly gorgeous Kingdom of Heaven soundtrack and I found myself itching to buy the Wolverine soundtrack when it was released yesterday. Nothing says summer like new soundtracks to listen to every week. [Next up, Star Trek by Lost composer Michael Giacchino, if I like the film, and Angels and Demons by Zimmer himself. Same order goes for movies - more on that in a minute!) I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the music from this film. It's so great, just beautiful and emotional, yet kind of mechanic... Williams really captured the true nature of the character and of the film.

About the ending... You heard me mention the online leak. Well, in an effort to still get nerdy fanboys to watch the movie more than once (or, I dunno, some other reason), Wolverine filmmakers tacked not one, nor two, but THREE endings on the movie, post-credits. The first is in all movie versions and [SPOILER] is the one with Stryker walking. The other two, however, are split... You'll only see one when you go. One is being called the "Deadpool" ending, in which Weapon XI sort of maybe might still be alive. (I didn't see this one). The other is the Asian bar scene, in which Hugh is drinking, not to forget, but to remember. I recently heard that this ending, while less "cool" than the one where the creepy bad guy blinks, may be setting up ANOTHER sequel... [END SPOILER]

But that brings me right into my next point... sequels. I've heard several rumors now. One is for another X-Men Origins film, but this time about Magneto (epic bad-ass played by Gandalf - I mean - Ian McKellen). As far as I can tell (IMDB here), this movie is being planned and is "in production," though there's currently not much being done. Now, more interestingly, recently, I began hearing rumors about a X-Men Origins: Wolverine sequel (What is that, X-Men Post-Origins?) This article can explain what I'm talking about much more than I could, but SPOILER ALERT if you haven't seen the film.

Anyway, that's the run-down. If you're reading this and you've seen it (or any of the other X-Men films), let me know what you think and which credit ending you got. While we're at it, let me know what you think of the comic book genre in general. :) Oh, and as a further question, what with Star Trek, Angels and Demons, and Terminator coming up in the next few weeks... the Summer Movie Madness is officially underway! What movie are you most looking forward to this summer? (Other than Harry Potter, because that's kind of a given with the people likely reading this).

That's it for me. I'm off to watch Lost - OMG only 3 more hours left this season!
Cheers. <3