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

THE HOBBIT - AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY

Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer

Rated PG-13

Running time: 169 Minutes



Click below to watch The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey trailer.



In MGM's The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey, hobbit Bilbo Baggins, Martin Freeman, is recruited by the wizard Gandolf, Ian McKellen, to help the dwarfs of Middle Earth reclaim their homeland from the dragon Smaug, Benedict Cumberbatch.

Directed by Peter Jackson and co-written by Guillermo del Toro, The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey is the first of three movies that is the prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy written by J.R.R. Tolkien. While I have not read the book since college, this film seems like a good adaption to the first half of the book The Hobbit as Freeman goes on an adventure as the company's burglar.

The dwarfs were great, although I could not tell most of them from each other. At least we knew the leader of the dwarfs, Richard Armitage - who was the most vocal of questioning Freeman's burglary skills and not having Freeman join them on their quest of reclaiming the dwarfs home when the dragon Smaug attacked their home and claimed the dwarfs treasure. I always wondered why Gandolf/McKellen as so determined to have Baggins/Freeman join the dwarfs company. having Baggins/Freeman giving Gandolf/McKellen courage is not enough of an answer for me. With Freeman and the dwarfs the same size, you normally do not realize they are supposed to be small people unless they are standing up next to McKellen. This lack of size ratio often throws me as I forget what creatures these magical characters are supposed to be, thus forgetting that you are in the world of Middle Earth that you are experiencing. I kept thinking they were all human. Even the ponies seemed the appropriate size for humans. When they were all up against the disgusting trolls, you would think the trolls were giants, but considering the size of dwarfs and hobbits, the trolls were probably human size, which makes the orcs as almost dwarf size as they were basically the same size as the dwarfs when they were battling. I just wish there was more singing as Middle Earth was full of song. I am not expecting a musical as this is not that kind of movie, but I was hoping for more singing. My favorite scenes of the movie were in the beginning of the movie where Bilbo was home in the Shire where the dwarfs gather. I never quite understood his sudden desire to join the dwarfs on their adventures.

I saw the movie in 3D. Maybe it was the glasses, but my eyes got tired and I had to rest my eyes by the time  when Bilbo met Gollum, Andy Serkis, who was also the second unit director - so I unfortunately missed out on most of their dialog, which was a shame for me as I am sure there was some nice characterization between Freeman and Serkis. The Hobbit is the first film shot and projected at 48 frames per second, which is twice as fast as the movie industry standard of 24 fps to give a smoother and more realistic motion with reduced picture strobing. This was supposed to be benificial when watching the film in 3D which helps to synchronize the images for each eye. I did notice that there was less strobing when I watched the film which made it easier on my eyes to watch, but there was still some strobing which was noticeable during the camera moves. The performance capture of Serkis was great and Gollum's computer generated eyes were very expressive. Cumberbatch is also supposed to be performance captured, but that will probably happen in the later movies as there was very little exposure of the dragon Smaug. Actors from the Lord of the Rings trilogy made cameos such as Elijah Wood, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett and Orlando Bloom in The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey, whether or not those characters were in the original The Hobbit book or not. Former Doctor Who, Sylvester McCoy's character of Radagast appears - even though his character was omitted from the The Lord of the Rings films.

 Click below to watch another trailer of The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey.




Rated PG-13 for violence. Running time: 169 Minutes.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

 Pancho's Movie Reviews