"Star Trek Beyond" PG 13
The star ship Enterprise in the Kelvin timeline approaches a space station made out of a mini puzzle sphere with the spinning center, only it looks many times cooleer than a desk ornament.
It is 2263, in a different five year mission than the 2265-2269 one, where Kirk was never a really junior officer and shot right to Captain, by 2259. The first reboot movie established that he was right out of cadet school and immediately saves the universe, and that was 2258. The second movie was set in 2259.
On approach to the glimmering station with all the snake like city tendrils all inside the plastic outer shell, the crew contemplates new goals.
(Spoilers). The station answers a distress beacon from a nearby nebula, forcing the Enterprise to investigate, where the ship is attacked and scuttled over Altima, a planet much like the barried planets from the classic show.
The stages of this alien world are simplistic and weird. This is not a bad thing. Krall, the main bad guy, appears to be a cross between a Xindi Reptilian and a Domion Jem Hadar and a Borg, and his army appear to act as a Borg hive, but without the sense they can actually turn the crew into borg. They can try, but it tends to kill the prisoners. Krall has captured most of the Enterprise crew.
McCoy and Spock crash land on the planet and must survive even though Spock is hurt, but Spock tells McCoy about his relationship troubles, and that Spock Prime has died.
Then Scotty has found a stranded female in white who has found an ancient crashed ship from the time of Archer, the Franklin, which could have appeared in the 2161 segment at the final episode, but would have been faster than warp 4, as stated in the story.
Kirk and Chekov have crashed and are tyrying to salvage an artifact on the downed saucer section.
Uhura and Sulu are trapped with Krall's baddies on their base, where they eventually find the artifact, and Krall uses it as a weapon on the crew person who had hid it.
The Franklin though manages to be salvageable, and Scotty and Jaylah, arrange for Kirk and crew to be rescued via the transporter, so they can get off the rock and stop Krall from using the alien machine to go off and attack the station.
The action packed movie does not pull any punches, acts as a charming nod, and at the same time gives a Millennia twist to the classic stories. It isn't so much cerebral as thoughtfully made, and clearly Jason Lin and Simon Pegg have their hearts in it. (They're X Genners and Trekkers). The story is actually a tad better than the first one in 2009, which I consider to be Star Trek 11, and the last, Star Trek 12, and this one, Star Trek 13.
Ignoring much of the terrorism parable stuff of the last two, but still using the villain with a super weapon angle, the story works best as an affectionate thrill ride.
It is not completely Star Trek, but it doesn't have to be. Enough of it is to satisfy. You kind of have to see it on the big screen too.
The Beastie Boys song defense doing something like the Minmay Attack even pays homage to Robotech.
Jaylah is clearly inspired of the various anime lady warriors.
The movie even pays respects to Spock as portrayed by Leonard Nimoy, who died in 2015, and to Anton Yeltchin, who was killed after it was just completed.
They have even been paying attention to fan bloggers and reference some ideas from them, and from fan sites, which was cool.
Review by Adam Browne
Friday, July 22, 2016
Friday, July 15, 2016
Review: "Ghostbusters 2016" is soft reboot of classic movies
"Ghostbusters 2016" PG 13
A long SNL sketch filled story mixes with the iconic legend of a rebooted 1980s horror comedy in this surprising sequel. It is set Now York 15 years after Sept. 11, and it comes up there somewhere. The SNL characters playing the Ghostbusters are at times annoying, but are ultimately cracking one liners to a potential hit.
The remake acts like the events of the first two movies never happened, a bit like Amazing Spider Man rebooted that, and the villain is similarly motivated to that of the villains in both Amazing Spider Man films. Misunderstood nerd psycho wants to enter another plane to destroy the heroes because he was fired, bullied or treated badly.
Paul Fieg, director of Spy, has the pulse of the millennial style of manic colorful images and the one liner, and seems right on point about channeling SNL bits from modern times into a nearly cohesive plot.
Yes, where the story lacks in making much sense, it makes up in goofy and stereotyped characters. Most of the men are utterly moronic, even the loopy secretary guy, played by Hemsworth.
Wiig and McCarthy play the spiritual descendants of the characters from the original, but there is really no attempt to say they literally are.
The original cast survivors play cameos, one of which at the end is supposed to imply Weaver is someone important to someone else, but it turns out it's just that she's Weaver.
The basic plot is similar if not the same to the original. Paranormal activity, ghosts and stuff, is increasing all over the city. A bungling mayor and a distraught villain, and Murray as a skeptic, are out to debunk it all. Then along come three SNL type comedians, who happen to be female, who want to bust ghosts. They eventually get fired from their jobs and have to start a business over a stereotyped Chinese food shop, and make ghost catching stuff. They couldn't afford the fire house from the original. They eventually meet up with the sassy train station lady, and she joins them. Then the bad guy seeks to possess the silly male secretary, and the spooky made up lay lines of spirituality in it open when he activates a porthole into the netherworld near an old hotel. Yep, same story as both original movies.
Where it deviates from the first films, and follows the cartoons, is in the colorful oddities and jokes, some of them puerile and others explained.
It's a good film. It just isn't the original.
Review by Adam Browne
A long SNL sketch filled story mixes with the iconic legend of a rebooted 1980s horror comedy in this surprising sequel. It is set Now York 15 years after Sept. 11, and it comes up there somewhere. The SNL characters playing the Ghostbusters are at times annoying, but are ultimately cracking one liners to a potential hit.
The remake acts like the events of the first two movies never happened, a bit like Amazing Spider Man rebooted that, and the villain is similarly motivated to that of the villains in both Amazing Spider Man films. Misunderstood nerd psycho wants to enter another plane to destroy the heroes because he was fired, bullied or treated badly.
Paul Fieg, director of Spy, has the pulse of the millennial style of manic colorful images and the one liner, and seems right on point about channeling SNL bits from modern times into a nearly cohesive plot.
Yes, where the story lacks in making much sense, it makes up in goofy and stereotyped characters. Most of the men are utterly moronic, even the loopy secretary guy, played by Hemsworth.
Wiig and McCarthy play the spiritual descendants of the characters from the original, but there is really no attempt to say they literally are.
The original cast survivors play cameos, one of which at the end is supposed to imply Weaver is someone important to someone else, but it turns out it's just that she's Weaver.
The basic plot is similar if not the same to the original. Paranormal activity, ghosts and stuff, is increasing all over the city. A bungling mayor and a distraught villain, and Murray as a skeptic, are out to debunk it all. Then along come three SNL type comedians, who happen to be female, who want to bust ghosts. They eventually get fired from their jobs and have to start a business over a stereotyped Chinese food shop, and make ghost catching stuff. They couldn't afford the fire house from the original. They eventually meet up with the sassy train station lady, and she joins them. Then the bad guy seeks to possess the silly male secretary, and the spooky made up lay lines of spirituality in it open when he activates a porthole into the netherworld near an old hotel. Yep, same story as both original movies.
Where it deviates from the first films, and follows the cartoons, is in the colorful oddities and jokes, some of them puerile and others explained.
It's a good film. It just isn't the original.
Review by Adam Browne
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