After having the masochistic pleasure of rewatching the abominably written Star Trek Into Darkness I have a few more things to say about it. This post will also contain many things in relation to Bob Orci's comments from an article written on TrekMovie.com called "Star Trek is broken- Here are ideas on how to fix it."
This could actually be considered a continuation of the post I wrote about this a couple months back found here. As well as a rehash of many complaints I had when the movie was first released. My apologies in advance, this could be a long post.
Most my complaints aren't even related to "Trekkie" type things. I don't care that Chris Pine's Kirk is far more reckless and much more of a rule breaker than Shatner ever was. I don't care that Quinto's Spock is only emotionless and logical when the scene calls for it. Into Darkness' failings are in the writing. It's just a mad dash from one problem to another. Nothing is given time for growth. There is no development.
What I do care about is the fact that the writers barely have cohesion. You want a Star Trek that will please fans? Write a good story. As a fan I want a good story first, then all the extra things tacked on. A bad movie is a bad movie, regardless of what it's about.
 |
| The General Story. |
About Orci's comments:
"310. boborci - September 2, 2013 I think the article above is akin to a child acting out against his parents. Makes it tough for some to listen, but since I am a loving parent, I read these comments without anger or resentment, no matter how misguided.
Having said that, two biggest Star Treks in a row with best reviews is hardly a description of “broken.” And frankly, your tone and attidude make it hard for me to listen to what might otherwise be decent notions to pursue in the future. Sorry, Joseph. As I love to say, there is a reason why I get to write the movies, and you don’t.The reason you got to write the movies certainly wasn't because of merit. Star Trek Into Darkness is written like a middle schooler's fan-fiction project with Star Trek names pasted over everything. You can't directly cut-and-paste the most well written, nostalgic moments of the Trek series onto a piece of crap and not expect to be critiqued on how poorly it's done. The new film is devoid of the meaning that the previous characters developed over decades. It's plain and simple- this is a great example of terrible writing in film.
Respect all opinions, always, nonetheless."
"I wish you knew what you were talking about. I listened more than any other person behind the Trek franchise has EVER listened. And guess what? Glad I did becuase it lead to 2 biggest Trek’s ever.
You think action and thinking are mutually exclusive. Ok, then. Pitch me Into Darkness. Pitch me the plot, and let’s comapre it to other pitches. Go ahead. Let’s see if you actually understood the movie. Tell me what happened?
318. boborci - September 2, 2013
STID has infinetly more social commentary than Raiders in every Universe, and I say that with Harrison Ford being a friend. You lose credibility big time when you don’t honestly engage with the FUCKING WRITER OF THE MOVIE ASKING YOU AN HONEST QUESTION. You prove the cliche of shitty fans. And rude in the process. So, as Simon Pegg would say: FUCK OFF!"Into Darkness has infinitely (I can at least spell that) more social commentary than Raiders of the Lost Ark? Is the commentary that all the screen writers these days are crap? Is it that viewers are more accepting of poor movie standards because Hollywood is pumping out a stream of rehashed garbage at a constant rate?
I really wonder if Orci took into account the inflation of viewing costs into the "biggest" 2 Trek films. Not kidding here, one can double the cost to see it in 3d. Which is a joke for this film. It wasn't worth the money I paid for such pitiful 3d work.
If people lost credibility by not engaging with the writers, there would be a lot less critiquing going on. I have zero access to these writers. If I tried to contact via email or twitter, I would almost 100% sure to be disregarded, and it would be understandable because I'm a nobody blogger.
As for his quoting Simon Pegg- That Fuck off! is something I do agree with... from Mr. Pegg. Because it was about people guessing things in the film and him not "owing" answers. Which is true for the actors, while Orci does owe answers as a writer. Which he asks to be asked in the above quotes.
"398. boborci - September 2, 2013
don’ take me too seriously. if you’ve been on this board for the lar 5 years (as I have beeb) you know that twice a year I explode at the morons. today, there seemed to be a congregation, so it seemed like a good time.
you are the most listened to fans ever. That doesn’t mean you will get is to do what you want. just means what I said: I listened. Then we decided, having heard as many opinions as possible. To paraphrase of one of my great and beloved heroes, George W. Bush, 'we’re the deciders….'"Sure- quote one of the most notably idiotic people on the planet. Yeah, you may be the "deciders" now, but that can be changed. It should be changed to give a chance to others that won't make such elementary storytelling mistakes. They listened to the fans? Obviously not- because many fans lamented the lack of real depth in the first film. And those same fans are pissed because of the massive lack of depth in this one.
So writing a movie that is boiled down to - EXPLOSION! (Insert famous Star Trek movie quote here) Exposition. EXPLOSION! Exposition. (Insert famous Star Trek movie quote here) Repeat x 100 - somehow makes it tolerable? They should just call it "Explosition." It is very poor storytelling when the characters have to explain everything. Oh Khan is bad, however would we know that? Because Spock Prime said so! Ludicrous.
I mean really, there are people that defend it saying "you can't keep camparing it to Wrath of Khan!" Yes, we can. Want to know why? Because not only did the writers use Khan, they directly ripped plenty of quotes right out of that script and pasted them in their own. If someone like Michael Bay were to, oh... I don't know... make a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, he WILL be judged using the original. And you know why? Because he's using those pre-existing characters.
Some Plot Problems.
-If the Enterprise had to hide underwater instead of space, how did they get the shuttle into the volcano without IT BEING SEEN?!?! They had to fly the shuttle DIRECTLY over the inhabitants that were between the volcano and the underwater Enterprise. Both ways.
-Once the timeline was changed, why wasn't Khan the same? He was LONG BEFORE the time of Nero's arrival. Plus what's with the name cover up? No one in the Star Trek current time knows who the fuck Khan is- which is why he has to explain his whole story.
-Khan can beam to Qo'noS (NOT Kronos) from Earth but they can't beam a damn cold fusion (which actually isn't cold) bomb into a volcano? Why the hell would Khan go there, other than the writers needed someone to go there to instigate Marcus' war plan, instead of directly into Marcus' damn super ship?
-Kirk's cell phone can reach Scotty across the galaxy? But calling Spock Prime gives them question?
-Admiral Marcus beams Carol off the Enterprise through the shields, so why can't Khan just take back his "family?"
-Exactly where was all the security around the super secret military ship Marcus was building? Scotty literally just flies right up and boards it. And on the topic of security, does Earth and Starfleet have NO defenses setup? Where are all the ships to prevent the "oncoming Klingon threat."
-Scotty only quits so he can be elsewhere when Kirk needs him to investigate Marcus' project. An oddly convenient plot device employed many times in the film.
-I've mentioned this one plenty of times- why do they need Khan's blood with 72 other super-human, magic-blooded popsicles sitting 10 feet away.
-Why do the ships fall through space? Gravity isn't that powerful from that distance. We couldn't have any satellites at all if it was that strong.
-All the collateral damage. Vengeance upon Khan cost how many lives on Earth. Mass devastation. (which reminds me, why didn't the transport Spock AHEAD of where Khan was heading on the streets?)
Out of all 3 writers -Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof- not a single one of them fixed ANY of the glaring errors and plot holes? Do none of them know how to edit their work? There's nearly as many plot holes as Abrams' beloved lens flares. (Here's a link to a few on IMDB.) Maybe the flares are there just to try and blind us to how stupid some of the story is.
I can forgive only so much, only suspend so much disbelief. Hopefully the rumors of other writers being brought in is true. We need writers that can handle an actual story, whether new or old- if the story sucks the film sucks. Why not hire the amazing John Scalzi, whose novel Redshirts shows he knows both how to handle the Trek Universe and tell a coherent story. Maybe tap old Trek writers- like Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga who wrote Star Trek: The Next Generation's finale All Good Things...
We need to find people that are not only fans, but good writers.
And I'm sorry Mr. Abrams, but I know you were always a Star Wars over Star Trek-er, but please, don't do to the new Star Wars what you've helped do to Trek. It was an optimistic beginning and a swift kick in the genetically enhanced, CG junk.
Source [ Tor Books ]
Because I have so many negatives in this post, I started a small draft of things Star Trek Into Darkness did right. It's really short so far, it'll probably be done tomorrow. In addition I threw together a quick Photoshop job of the Alice Eve scream picture. I'll post that right after this one is finished.
Here's a some much better written articles and posts on this subject. Written by people far more talented than I. I would highly suggest reading the comments sections as well. There are some very interesting things brought up in them. Plenty of others have noticed a bunch of other issues, and there are some good suggestions for the future of Star Trek movies.
Shall We Begin? Star Trek Into Darkness Spoiler Review [ Tor ]
The Braver, Better Movie That Star Trek Into Darkness Could Have Been [ Wired ]
Star Trek Into Dumbness [ io9 ]
Into Darkness Review [ Badass Digest ]
Into Darkness Review [ Volokh ]
No comments:
Post a Comment