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Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
I have not really ever been a big fan of the Star Trek franchise. I have seen some of the earlier movies and an assortment of episodes from a few of the television shows. For one reason or another, I just could not get into Star Trek. Star Trek Into Darkness appeared like it was going to be different than the previous movies. This new movie looked intriguing and it made me decide to give Star Trek another chance.
Star Trek Into Darkness follows the crew of the Enterprise lead by Captain Kirk (Chris Pine). He is tasked with tracking down a man responsible for attacking their organization.
I saw the film in 3D and the special effects were wonderful. It’s the best 3D movie that I have ever seen. Technology has sure come a long way. This was one film that I think is completely worth the extra cost to see in 3D.
Many parts of previous Star Trek movies have seemed a little too corny at times. They all have had a lot of cool ideas mixed with some cheesy dialogue. There has also been some great technology and some things that have seemed so far out that they come off as tacky.
In Star Trek Into Darkness, they seem to have gotten all of the tweaks out. I felt that the filmmakers did an excellent job of updating the entire concept of Star Trek. They successfully made it more appealing to a wider audience. I am living proof of that because they got me to go out and see it, when I wasn’t going to let that happen before.
The movie is directed by J.J. Abrams and has a very solid cast that includes Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, Peter Weller, Alice Eve, Anton Yelchin, and John Cho.
The film was exciting. The computer graphics, special effects, etc., etc. were all amazing and made everything a bit more believable, considering the subject matter. The dialogue was well-written and didn’t get cheesy this time around. There was a bit of humor thrown in throughout the whole film to help make it more entertaining. The characters were well-rounded and the story kept my attention.
Overall, in my opinion, Star Trek Into Darkness is the best Star Trek movie that I have seen and likely better than the few that I haven’t seen. Do yourself a favor and see it in 3D to make your movie watching experience even better. Star Trek Into Darkness got me into Star Trek. I might just have to go back and watch Star Trek (2009) and we’ll see where that takes me.
I rate this movie an 8 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Buy.
Trailer for Star Trek into Darkness (2013)
Star Trek into Darkness (2013) (click on the title for my full review)
For those of you who know me, you know that I am not a huge Star Trek fan. With that being said, Star Trek into Darkness actually looks semi-decent. I just may have to check it out when it releases. If I like it, I may have to go back and give some of the other movies a second look. This new Star Trek does not look like your average Star Trek. Even the poster looks intriguing for a Star Trek movie.
The film is directed by J.J. Abrams and stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Alice Eve, Jon Lee Brody, Simon Pegg, Zachary Quinto, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, Nolan North, Nick Tarabay, Bruce Greenwood, Peter Weller, Tom Archdeacon, Heather Langenkamp, and Christopher Doohan.
The movie is set to release on 5/17/13.
Dredd (2012)
Dredd (2012)
Clever, yet cheesy and intriguing artistic special effects give Dredd a late 1980s or early 90s feel. This is fitting and obviously intentional because Dredd (2012) is sort of a remake of Judge Dredd (1995). The distant future in Dredd (2012) feels similar to what filmmakers in the 80s and 90s thought the distant future would be like. So, in a sense, the movie takes you back in time but to their future.
The entire film seems to be a satire on the action movie era during the time when Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis ruled the genre. No acting skills are necessary, only gratuitous amounts of bloody, gory violence, corny one-liners, and an endless supply of bullets. Of course, the main characters are severely outnumbered and always appear to be bulletproof, while countless numbers of bad guys get obliterated. It is absolutely a popcorn movie.
It was mildly humorous, but quite entertaining throughout to watch a movie that mocked it’s out genre. It’s almost as if the creators wanted to prove that they could do a better job at 80s and 90s filmmaking than the actual filmmakers of the 80s and 90s. Adding a little twist to that concept, the movie went back and forth between cheap special effects and present day awesome special effects.
The cheap technology was used during most of the very gruesome scenes and as a result, those scenes were easier for the viewer to watch because the overuse of blood and gore would make the scene look pretty fake. There was the occasional scene that looked awfully realistic and it would sort of sneak up on you.
The main character (Judge Dredd) was played by Karl Urban, but it didn’t really matter because he wore a mask the entire movie and you never saw his face. Anybody could have been under that mask. Urban did supply his character with a high-quality tough guy voice, to his credit. Have you ever heard of the guy though? Me neither. He is a character actor whom I would recognize, but has never been important enough to remember.
I think that Dredd is worth watching as long as you know what you are getting yourself into. Don’t expect much and you might be pleasantly surprised. It’s not great, but it is enjoyable.
I rate this movie a 6.5 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Rent.
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