Star Trek Into Darkness

If we ignore talent and the ability to write a coherent sentence without grammatical errors one of my greatest weaknesses as a blogger is my inconsistent rating system.  I rate my films based on my mood at the time of writing rather than being objective – it means that more often than not bad films score ridiculously high and great films score a lot lower than deserved. 

Prior to writing this blog I went back and read my review of Star Trek and was shocked to find that I had given it 10/10.  This has thrown me completely as I have never considered watching the film since I viewed it in the cinema.

 

Despite my apparent love for Star Trek I had little interest in Star Trek Into Darkness.  I was always going to see it in the cinema but it is more out of loyalty to Summer Season than the Starship Enterprise.

 

PLOT:  After an attack on Starship Command Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) is sent to the Klingon world of Kronos to track down John Harrison aka Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch) the terrorist responsible.  Khan is brought on board the Enterprise however when Admiral Wallace (Peter Weller) arrives in the USS Vengeance it becomes clear that both Khan and the Admiral are keeping secrets.  END PLOT

 

I have no knowledge of Star Trek but my ignorance of this particular world is my greatest ally as I have nothing to compare this film to. 

Once Star Trek Into Darkness settles down the plot unexpectedly plays out like a thriller with Kirk trying to work out whether he should trust Khan or the Admiral.  It flows well but despite the 130min (IMDB) it felt like nothing much actually happened.

There was nothing in Star Trek Into Darkness that wasn’t urgent – whether it be capturing Khan, feeling from the Admiral or saving the Enterprise.  The vast majority of the film was spent running away from an ever present threat of danger but Star Trek Into Darkness had no tension whatsoever.  I am not green enough to believe that the Enterprise would crash or Captain Kirk was in danger.  The drama was there; unfortunately it was handled in the most predictable ways possible.

 

The strongest aspect of Star Trek Into Darkness is the cast.  Chris Pine is excellent as Captain Kirk and is matched by Zachary Quinto as Spock.  The two lead the film with ease and have an obvious chemistry. 

Simon Pegg’s fame is still growing which accounts for his extra screen time.  Pegg is good fun as Scotty and provides most of the comic relief but he was in danger of becoming irritating.

The supporting cast are fine but Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin and John Cho feel very underused.

 

There was much internet excitement over the casting of Benedict Cumberbatch as the villain.  I wish I could say I felt the same but I have never watched Sherlock although he did make an excellent William Pitt.  Cumberbatch the best thing in the entire film and he really commits to his grandiose performance.

Star Trek Into Darkness had an enormous budget of $185million (IMDB) but the action and effects felt very average.  There were a few decent fights between Khan, Kirk and Spock but the jaw dropping set pieces you expect from such a large budget were not there. 

I knew that Star Trek Into Darkness would be hard to review as I realised before the halfway point of the film that I just didn’t care.  Star Trek Into Darkness isn’t a bad film but it offers nothing new to the casual viewer with no pre-existing affection for the franchise.  It gets 5/10.  

Fright Night 3D

As with my previous blog I have to start off with what now appears to be my usual disclaimer that I have not watched the original film.  This weeks remake is Fright Night and due to lack of choice it was Fright Night 3D

PLOT:  Charley (Anton Yelchin) is a reformed nerd now dating the high school hottie Amy (Imogen Poots).  Charley’s new found status is interrupted when his ex BFFF Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) begins to suspect that Charley’s next door neighbour is a vampire.  Jerry (Colin Farrell) is a vampire.  Budweiser.  Charley seeks the help of Peter Vincent (David Tennant) a local magician/vampire slayer. Charley wears puce shoes.  David Tennant is possessed by the spirit of Jack Sparrow.  Budweiser.  Charley tries to stake Jerry.  Apparently there is 3D.  A vampire film not directed by Guillermo del Toro can be interesting.  END PLOT

The plot is fine and surprisingly engaging.  Some of the exchanges between Ed and Charley over vampire pop culture are worryingly similar to conversations I have had myself. 

The story moves relatively quickly however it fails to play up the suspense of whether or not Jerry is a vampire therefore losing some of its edge.

I am grateful that Shia LaBeouf can no longer play a teenager as he surely would have gotten the role of Charley and killed the film.  Luckily Anton Yelchin is very likeable and carries the lead role well.

Christopher Mintz-Plasse’s career is ticking over nicely and very soon he will graduate to college comedy and the next phase of his side-kick typecast career.

After David Tennant calms down he is fun and Colin Farrell eye-fucks his way through proceedings with ease.

The action scenes are quite basic however this suits the old school feel of the film.  The 3D is pretty much non-existent and was very poor to the extent that the film looked blurry and out of focus in parts.  There were a few decent 3D moments after some random vampires were staked but overall the this aspect of the film was underwhelming and unnecessary although this could be said for pretty much any 3D film.

The trailer for Fright Night looked fun but as vampires are not my genre I wasn’t sure how much I would like the film.  It turns I was pleasantly surprised as the film turned out to be very enjoyable and gets a decent 7.5/10 - I will bet getting it on dvd when it is released.

It turns out if vampires have a little more smoulder and a lot less sparkle I can get on board. 

*short sweet and more half assed than usual but I don’t care – back to the Sons of Anarchy I go*