STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS

Paramount

Rated PG-13

Running time: 132 Minutes



Click below to watch the Star Trek Into Darkness movie trailer.



In Paramount Pictures Star Trek Into Darkness, a terrorist has attacked facilities at Starfleet and Captain Kirk, Chris Pine, is determined to go after him.

Directed by J.J. Abrams, this Star Trek sequel has a rule-breaking Kirk/Pine - brought home to Earth for his transgressions - going after a revenge bearing Starfleet agent Benedict Cumberbatch, famous for his role in the TV series Sherlock, who is targeting Starfleet. Despite the fact that Admiral Chris Pike, Bruce Greenwood, admonishes Kirk for his recklessness - Pike/Greenwood continues to take Kirk/Pine under his wing.

While I had enjoyed this film as an action film with Star Trek elements, I would have preferred a more original story for a Star Trek reboot - even though I liked this story better than the first Star Trek film, possible because the writers studied science fiction novels written by Arthur C. Clarke and Larry Niven. I know a lot of Trekkers are not happy with J.J. Abrams treatment of the series, and I will admit that there were scenes where I was groaning "don't do that." Either way, Cumberbatch was very good in his role. One of the early plot points foreshadowed what would happen in the rest of the movie. It is curious that one of the themes of this movie is about family, which plays as a motivator around most of the characters.

After the Boston Marathon bombing, the terrorist attacks in the movie had more immediacy to me than what would be in a normal movie. Stills of the terrorist attacks being used in the movie reminded me very much of the news media videos of the Boston Marathon and foreshadowed what was to come.

It is curious that Starfleet has always had a schizophrenic identity - both scientific and military. Even Chief Engineer Scotty/Simon Pegg was wondering about that. After the terrorist attacks, Admiral Peter Weller - who represents the military aspects of Starfleet - naturally wants to get Cumberbatch and sends Kirk/Pine on a manhunt after Cumberbatch.

There is a controversial exploitative bikini scene of Dr. Carol Marcus, Alice Eve, in the movie which made no sense - aside from being exploitative - as the scene was badly written. The scene would have been more acceptable if it were written better. As it is, there is a certain relationship developing between Marcus/Eve and Kirk/Pine that could be developed in the next Star Trek movie as per Star Trek lore. Sulu's, John Cho's, characterization also could be further developed in the next Star Trek movie as per Star Trek lore. The relationship between Spock/Zachary Quinto and Uhura/Zoe Saldana has also gotten deeper and more complicated in this movie.

While there was a credit for George Kirk/Chris Hemsworth at the end of the movie, I do not recall seeing him in the movie. The principal characters however did reprise their roles from the previous film.

This is the first time that a movie was filmed in IMAX format, then converted to 3D in post production.

At the end of the film is a dedication to post 9/11 veterans. It is cool that four veterans from the organization The Mission Continues are folding the United Federation of Planets Flag during the Memorial ceremony. It seems appropriate that I saw this movie during Memorial Day weekend.

Rated PG-13 for violence and sexual situations. Running time: 132 Minutes.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

Pancho's Movie Reviews

MEN IN BLACK 3

Columbia Pictures

Rated PG- 13

Running time: 106 Minutes



Click below to watch the MEN IN BLACK 3 trailer.



In Columbia Pictures Men in Black 3, directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, Earth is about to be invaded from space. Man in Black Will Smith must go back in time in order to save his partner Tommy Lee Jones life - who was killed 40 years earlier, thus wiping out Jones present-day existence - as well as restoring Earth's defense system which Jones had set up to prevent extraterrestrial invasion.

In a sequel to the Men in Black movies - based on the comic books created and written by Lowell Cunningham, which was based on the UFO phenomenon of the Men in Black - alien criminal Jemaine Clement escapes from prison and seeks revenge on the MIB agent who took his arm - Jones. Clement's alien appendages were pretty graphic, thus emphasizing his alienness and his evilness as the bad guy. Having Clement going back in time and meeting himself was a pretty fun meeting, as they are both pissed off at each other's actions. Sonnenfeld had studied the Back to the Future movies because those movies got time travel right, and watching the scenes where Michael Chernus or Michael Stuhlbarg talked about time travel and alternate timelines did have a Back to the Future type of feeling to me. The time travel sequence was similar to the time travel sequence to the movie The Time Machine, so the sequence was more visual than the Back to the Future time travel scenes.

Josh Brolin was great as the young Tommy Lee Jones. I could believe Brolin was a younger Jones, although Brolin as a character was happier in the past than the mature Jones was in the present. As Smith keeps asking Brolin, "What happened to you?" "I don't know. It hasn't happened yet."

There was a plot point towards the end of the movie that was totally predictable to me as a writer, once the plot point started to be set up and play out. Even then, knowing what was going to happen, I still teared up at the scenes. Despite the scene being totally predictable to me - the scene was a total surprise to the guy behind me, so the scene worked for the movie. When I saw the movie at an early matinee, there was a small crowd. Usually, a small crowd means that it would be fairly silent in the theater - but the audience was laughing and reacting to the movie. So I can imagine how the audience would have reacted if it was a crowded evening theater.

Since Rip Torn was not in this movie, the movie played up Torn being missing. There were also pictures of the alien talking dog, Frank the Pug, as a reference to the earlier movies as Frank was also not in the movie. Smith makes references that Smith has been an agent for 14 years. It is hard for me to think that the MIB films have been around for that long, but in reality the original Men in Black was released in 1997. You can see in Men in Black 3 that Smith is quite a veteran now as a Man in Black. While Emma Thompson replaced Torn in the movie, she does not have the film presence that Torn had as the head of the MIB. But it was nice to see that Thompson does have a relationship with Jones whose relationship originated in the past with Brolin and the young Thompson - Alice Eve. When Smith went back in time, David Rasche was the head of the MIB in the past. As a fan of David Rasche since the TV series Sledge Hammer!, when I saw that he was the head of the MIB, I thought Rasche would be great in that role. It is a shame that Rasche did not have much to do.  Rasche had basically a walk on part.

When the holder of the time machines Michael Chernus warns Smith that Smith will be traveling to 1969, Chernus warns Smith that 1969 was not a good time for Smith's people. While this idea is not politically correct, I wanted to see more confrontations for Smith about his being black back in 1969 as Smith searches for Jones and Clement. At least more than what was shown, and with Smith being a black comedian, his showing up the prejudice of the time and it's comeuppance amongst the bigots that were back then would have been great to see. That would have added more realism and relevance to the movie to see that. It was also nice having Asian aliens in the movie, like restaurant owner Keone Young. It is rare that I  get to see asians in a science fiction movie. Being set in 1969, there were also major references to the events of the year - including references to the Amazing Mets, Andy Warhol - Bill Hader - and the launch of the first lunar Moon landing in the movie. Having visited Cape Canaveral, otherwise known as Cape Kennedy back then, the recreation of the Cape Canaveral spectator area looked pretty realistic to me.

Click below to watch another trailer of Men in Black 3.



Rated PG-13 for violence. Running time: 106 Minutes.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

 Pancho's Movie Reviews