Star Trek

I had no interest in Star Trek. I know things about it, as every geek would I guess, but overall I have never been that interested in it. Abit like Gundam, I guess, when you know that the fans are actually closer to a sort of sect... I guess it always scared me a little...
So when I heard they were doing a "reboot", I didn't care much. When I saw the first pics, I thought that they looked OK, but didn't pay much attention.

But when I went to see Watchmen and got to see the trailer, they caught my attention. The main fact was that it made me realise that it had been what felt like a very long time since the last full blown SF movie (with space battles and all that jazz). The last was Star Wars Episode 3, 4 years ago. The last I saw anyway. And the trailer was promising much of that.

So I got excited and it's with high expectations that I went to the cinema yesterday.
And it's always a good feeling not to be disappointed.

It's exactly what happened to me for Ironman last year: it was a subject that I didn't really care about but the movie showed me why all that is actually cool.
It's so good to see some huge space battles, with massive ships firing hundreds of laser beams!
It made me realise I was missing something and filled the gap straightaway!

The story is very wellpaced and balanced, every member of cast worth noting has at least 1 memorable moment, even if the emphasis is on Kirk & Spock. Characters are very well cast and the resemblances with the original crew are uncanny...

Not being a trekkie, I obviously didn't get the references the the Star Trek universe that I'm sure this film is full of I loved the fact that they actually integrated the justification for this reboot at the heart of the story and in the Star Trek universe itself... It just feels right and few reboots can boast such a thing.

You could argue that there are a few missteps, like Simon Pegg's Scott that is maybe a bit too much on the comedy side, but it would be only minor things that didn't spoil the overall experience.

It's epic, kinetic, compelling, clever...
Now I'm sold, I'll even be looking forward to sequels!

It's a great feeling to know a space opera franchise has returned in town...

Wolverine.

Comics adaptations are a huge hit & miss field. When Sam Raimi or Guillermo Del Toro take a character and make them theirs, it gives great stuff.
When you get studio driven orders, you get Daredevil. A character that would have deserved better, to say the least.

I thought the X-Men franchise, originally driven by Brian Singer, nailed most of the main points. If I had to whine I would complain about Cyclops treatment that is just horrible, but since the movies (the 1st 2 at least) are great otherwise, it's just mere bickering. To say that Wolverine was already central in the original 3 movies, so he had nothing to lose with a 4th.

Still, I haven't been convinced by this one.

It's strange for me because I'm not the kind of person who will usually complain about the story being weak or not making sense. If a story's weak, I tend to keep hold of the other good stuff that I like (great action for example, is a good trade-in for a lack of story).

I also tend to be annoyed at people speaking about "suspension of disbelief". Like they're justifying they liked something that didn't make sense. I guess I do it as well, but I tend to experience movie in a more visceral way. Either I get in and roll with it (if everything is consistent) or not. If I actually think that "it doesn't make sense", the movie fails for me it means I'm not in it. And it's not a feeling I enjoy too much.

That happened here. I won't say that it's a bad movie. But there were moments when I actually thought "oh come on this is too easy" or "aren't they supposed to hurry up? They're supposed to be chased...". Maybe it's pacing. If a movie is well paced, you tend not to get the occasion to question things. Afterwards you could think about it and say "hold on that didn't make sense" but it's too late. You've enjoyed yourself. You got caught.

Anyway I got issues with the story. It was predictable all the way. And then added to that there were choices about characters that I didn't quite agree on. But that's really details that wouldn't matter if I hadn't had doubts about the rest.
I guess the main problem is that they delay Logan's memory loss and it's actually a fairly good idea but at the same time it feels like stretching it. It feels forced. They also try to tie in loads of things from the 1st trilogy but it's far from subtle...

Having said that there are plenty of moments to enjoy. The action is very well directed. In particular the last combat with Deadpool is excellent (think X-Men 2 intro on steroids). It's nice to see Deadpool, by the way, although it's not quite Deadpool at the end anymore (but that I can accept). I heard they're doing a spinoff with him and I'm looking forward to that.

It's also nice to finally see Gambit! It's more a cameo than anything, he's far underdevelopped, but he's got 2 cool moments at least.
Also the main Wolverine / Sabretooth relationship (which is central and the most important thing after all) is well handled I thought and Liev Shreiber is very convincing as Victor Creed...

So in the hierarchy of comics adaptations, this one ranks average. It could have been better, but comes a point when you have to enjoy what you got...