Star Trek Into Darkness will be hitting theaters this weekend, and it’s thrilling. And, as sad as this makes me to admit, it’s dumb as hell. JJ Abrams’ second foray into the Trek universe has a lot to say, and crams a whole bunch of ideas and half-baked conceits into its 132 minute run-time. There is a lot to like here, and quite a bit to love… But don’t think about it too much, or the movie starts to come apart at the seems. For a movie featuring a Vulcan, there is very little logic at play, and a whole lot of  because we CAN.

The movie opens on an alien world and a fun, fast paced chase. James Kirk just swiped an alien artifact to pull an aboriginal culture away from their village, giving Spock enough time to stop a neighboring volcano from erupting and killing all life on the planet. Spock gets stranded in the volcano, which leads Kirk to break the Prime Directive and reveal the Enterprise to the natives in a daring rescue. On the surface, the open is amazing: Kirk and McCoy have great rapport, Spock is suitably heroic, and we get to see the Enterprise lurking off shore in the ocean. Seeing the Enterprise rise up out of the sea is breath-taking, and the natives think so, too. After their brief glimpse of our favorite Constitution class cruiser, the locals decide to worship it as a god. This sets up Kirk being relieved of command, and is essentially the hinge the rest of the story revolves around.

Is Ryker Flying the Ship?

And it’s a mess, if you try to think about it. The Enterprise being underwater, as cool as it was, didn’t need to happen. The transporter works just fine, as do the shuttles. The film-makers created this scene merely “because they could“. As awesome as the scene plays out, any iota of thought will blow a hole right through the scene. And this is what the entirety of the movie is built around.

The first 2/3rds of the movie is great Trek, regardless of any leaps in logic we are expected to make. The villain, John Harison, is a disgruntled former Starfleet officer who masterminds a brutal act of terror in London. Benedict Cumberbatch is fantastic as Harison, full of brooding malice and cold calculation. His motives are explained thoroughly, and his desire to protect what he cherishes most is completely relate-able. He would have made a fantastic Trek villain even without the big “surprise” plot twist half way through the movie, perhaps even stronger without it.

Do you still hear it, Clarice?

The Enterprise crew is top notch as well; there is a lot of camaraderie and good will at work here, even when Spock files a report that shoots Kirk in the back. Into Darkness plays heavily on themes of friendship, brotherhood, and loyalty, effectively the glue that holds any effective Trek venture together. The cast are having a great time, and at no point do they disappoint. Carl Urban’s Doctor McCoy pretty much steals the movie, and every other actor pulls their weight in whatever capacity given. There are some great nods to Trek-gone-by, too. Christine Chapel is name-checked, Gorn are mentioned, and a Tribble makes an appearance. Trek fans during the showing I was at ate this up.

The last third of the movie, though, nagged at me horribly. It was almost as if the writers went through the “Big Book of Trek” and highlighted everything that had ever been in a Star Trek movie before, and decided to do it again. Old Trek, New Trek, you name it, they go back to it. Loved the sky-surfing scene in the first Nu-Trek movie? How about more! And longer! Ooh! Remember the scene where Enterprise comes up out of the clouds? Yeah! Do it again! And let’s not forget the Engine room scene in Wrath of Khan! People loved that! DO IT AGAIN! And they do, again and again. Because they can.

Careful with that MacGuffin, boys!

It’s really hard to hold on to the good-will that was built up over the first 2/3rds of the movie when the writers keep going back to the tried-and true. It’s also really, really tough to feel like anyone is ever in any danger. Harrison is tough and clever, but there is very little about Cumberbatch that comes across as intimidating. Peter Weller’s Admiral Marcus has some menace to him, but again… where is the danger? The size of the explosions definitely sell some threat, but you know, deep down, that everyone is going to be just fine at the end. Instead of piecing together a cohesive finale, Abrams and company went for spectacle and chest-pounding heroics. It’s all very exciting to watch, but terribly hollow by the time the end credits roll.

“Hey, this time I want to go in the radiation chamber!”

Star Trek Into Darkness is by no means a bad movie, nor anywhere near the worst Trek has to offer. I place it with Generations and the Undiscovered Country; exciting, with some glaring flaws. It’s fun Trek, but by no means Great Trek.

CitizenBot and I will be back next week to talk about Spoiler-specific parts of the movie. We thought we would be nice and give you some time, so get out and see Into Darkness this weekend!

Lucasfilm officially announced today that Star Wars: Episode VII will be filmed in the United Kingdom which isn’t all that surprising since Episodes I-VI were filmed there as well.

Kathleen Kennedy, President of Lucasfilm, had this to say:

We’ve devoted serious time and attention to revisiting the origins of Star Wars as inspiration for our process on the new movie, and I’m thrilled that returning to the UK for production and utilizing the incredible talent there can be a part of that. Speaking from my own longstanding connection to the UK with films like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Empire of the Sun and recently War Horse, it’s very exciting to be heading back.

George Osborne, the London Chancellor of the Exchequer was quite pleased with the news as well:

I am delighted that Star Wars is coming back to Britain. Today’s announcement that the next Star Wars film will be shot and produced in the UK is great news for fans and our creative industries.

Considering he’s the dude in charge of taxation, of course he was excited!

A bit of a divider in the Star Trek community, Generations brought my favorite Star Trek characters onto the big screen and did some pretty major…things that are highly controversial. Before I get started, let’s watch a really dated trailer.

When I started reviewing this, I thought to myself, where exactly do I rank Generations on my list of Trek movies from best to worst? To be honest, this is the most difficult movie for me to rate because there are some parts I enjoyed and, overall, I really wanted to love this movie… but that’s why it’s even more disappointing that Generations face-plants hard into the realm of the odd-numbered Trek movies. I can hear myself saying to those that ask, “Eh, it was ok.” It’s not the worst, certainly not “good” by any stretch of the imagination – it just holds a rather underwhelming place in Trek continuity.

So, since you’re reading this and you’ve presumably seen the movie, I’m just going to dive in and talk about the things that could have made this a great movie for those of us that adore the Next Gen Cast. Spoilers ahead!

Kirk’s Death – Might as well start with the point everybody brings up when you ask them about this movie. Generations opens in the past, and in the beginning it demonstrates that it had the opportunity to provide some closure around Kirk’s death. If this was how Kirk had died, I think most of us would have been totally on board. Why? Because he would have been taken out saving the Enterprise B and a whole crew full of people.

Instead, we got one of the most frustrating and unsatisfying death scenes a captain of the Enterprise has ever (and hopefully will ever) experience. For those of you that don’t know, Kirk’s death (in which he was shot/stabbed by Soren instead of dying via cascading bridge) was re-written at the last minute due to a leak. This serves as yet another example of an internet leak scaring writers into making a knee-jerk decision that greatly hurt overall story.

Data – there are some points where we start to see Data’s character explored on a deeper level as he continues his quest to become human (since his emotion chip is re-installed and becomes a bit of a plot point when he can’t stop Geordi’s kidnapping). As an anthropologist, I’ve always been fascinated by how Data learns and grows based on what he observes to be the most significant (and often perplexing) qualities that make us human. In many ways, it should say a lot to us about who we are while we’re watching. Unfortunately, there are also points in Generations where they don’t explore this as much as they should or simply use Data as a bit of comic relief while he’s dealing with his emotions (“Oh shit,” as they are crashing into the planet, for instance). Don’t get me wrong, though, I love the “Tiny little life-forms” bit. /no-shame

Soren – Malcolm Mcdowell is an incredible actor, and he does a pretty good job of at least making sure Generations‘ main villain is sufficiently threatening, but would it have hurt them to maybe have him get a little more screen-time? The Nexus was a cool concept and had great “unexplained” elements to it. As viewers we could completely understand why Soren wanted to go back to the Nexus so badly.

Lursa and B’Etor – Soren really didn’t need these bumbling Klingon sisters to achieve his goals. Couldn’t they at least given him some badass Klingons that appeared a bit more threatening? At times they crossed from ‘silly and useless’ into ‘completely inept.’ I always liked the portrayal of the Klingons in Star Trek VI and wished that, like the Klingons in that film, the sisters had posed a much more serious threat. I get that we’re trying to show two Klingons that have been failures in the empire as a whole, but did this really need to happen?

This part was pretty cool, though. Can’t go wrong with a badass Riker moment!

How could it be that these poor excuses for Klingons took down the Enterprise D?!? I’ll never forget seeing the saucer section crash sequence in theaters – at least they did a good job of making the crash epic given the special effects at the time. They also did a good job of reminding everyone in the audience that this was a Galaxy Class Starship that carried civilians. When I picked up the Bluray, I noticed that they had added back in the full crash sequence I saw in the theaters, whereas the VHS and DVD versions I had owned much earlier had cut it significantly. Here you can see a bit of the edited (shorter) sequence in action:

Guinan – My long standing theory on Guinan is that she’s a Q or some other being that has observed the happenings in the universe for hundreds (maybe even thousands) of years – explaining both her holistic knowledge, tendency to give plot-driving advice, and her overall calm in the face of serious danger. I realize she’s an El-Aurian (a race of listeners), but since the Q we know and love from Next Gen once said there was much more to her “than could be imagined” I’m pretty certain my Q theory could hold some weight. Here, we see Guinan giving advice in the Nexus, and her overall part in the film is actually relatively solid, but I could have seen her showing up a bit more if we wanted to make her character a driving point in the film.

Picard and Kirk – So, the two captains are eventually united in the Nexus (a Holodeck like setting where we could have seen any number of interesting writing choices) and instead we see poor Picard chase Kirk around while he makes eggs and rides a horse. Picard finally snaps Kirk out of the Nexus and he’s ready to go back and make a difference. Every Trek fan in the universe got excited here because we thought to ourselves, “Yes! Soren is a decent villain, and Kirk is a much better fighter than Picard ever was (I think we’ve seen him punch enough aliens to trust that he’s better at hand-to-hand combat). So, we’re going to see Kirk and Picard team up and kick Soren’s ass!” Unfortunately, we were wrong, and we end up at my first point (in which we get a rather anti-climactic fight and Kirk plummets to his death). Couldn’t he have just gotten a sufficiently epic fight ending with Kirk being shot (or stabbed, per the original plan) when he delivered the line “Actually I am familiar with history Captain, and if I’m not too much mistaken, you’re dead.”

To steal one of my friend’s phrases, this movie makes me feel “surround sound disappointment.”  In summary – I’m not the biggest fan of Generations. I wish I could say more positive things about it, but the enjoyable moments just don’t outweigh the rest, particularly due to the treatment around Kirk’s death.

What do you think? Love it? Hate it? Let us know in the comments below!

I honestly can’t do it. No matter how hard it try to be cautiously optimistic about the Michael Bay-produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film, I can’t do it. I just get the feeling that this team couldn’t give a shit less about the history of the TMNT and see this as nothing but a cash-grab. I realize that’s just how Hollywood operates these days, and Michael Bay is no more guilty of this than a bunch of other directors and producers, but still.

It appears that filming has begun on this film, and so expect to see probably quite a few set photos and videos across the web over the next few months. The first ones to come through the door, courtesy of Collider, are of Megan Fox in a yellow jacket as April O’Neil, and a shot of the logo for the film from the back of a chair:

The logo somewhat resembles logos for TMNT I have seen in the past, and I am happy that they have kept the full “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” title.

Megan Fox as April O’Neil. I just can’t get on board with this. I’m fine with the yellow jacket, it’s an update that makes sense as opposed to having her run around in a yellow jump suit, but it’s still Megan Fox. Granted, she’s nice to look at, but her acting ability isn’t . . . great. It just seems like a “Who’s HOTT right now?!” casting choice, but I guess we will see how the character is actually portrayed on screen.

I realize I come across as nothing but an angry fanboy when it comes to this film, and I’ll happily wear that badge. Literally nothing about this film has me excited, and I assure you, nobody would love for Bay and Liebsman to prove me wrong more than I.

You can check out a bunch more set photos over at Collider, including one of Megan Fox’s stunt double riding a bike – because some stunts are just too dangerous.

Star Trek Into Darkness releases in US theaters next week, and along with that we get a line of Trek themed Kre-O sets from Hasbro. In the first release we get blind packs of single kreon figures (six in total),  4 different mini ship sets, and 5 full on boxed sets. These sets are available now in retailers.

Along with the figures there is also a stop motion short film that has been released. This film was produced by JJ Abrams production company, Bad Robot, and has special effects by Kelvin Optical who worked on Star Trek Into Darkness.

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KRE-O STAR TREK U.S.S. ENTERPRISE Building Set

(Ages 9 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $49.99)

Explore the final frontier with the crew of the U.S.S. ENTERPRISE, the iconic ship from the STAR TREKINTO DARKNESS movie. Inspired by the ship featured in the film, the KRE-O STAR TREK U.S.S. ENTERPRISE is 18-inches long and is the first KRE-O set that actually lights up featuring LIGHTTECH! Explore the bridge interior play area, glowing warp engines and launch a projectile from a lighted photon torpedo. Kids and fans alike will be excited to join KREON figures of CAPTAIN KIRK, SPOCK and DR. MCCOY on the bridge to defend against two villain KREON figures. The set includes 432 pieces and five KREON figures. Requires three AAA Alkaline batteries. Batteries not included.

KRE-O STAR TREK KLINGON BIRD-OF-PREY Building Set

(Ages 7 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $24.99)

Take the battle to a far away KLINGON planet with this iconic enemy ship from STAR TREK.  Based on a ship featured in the film, the KRE-O KLINGON BIRD-OF-PREY building set features a LIGHTTECH brick that illuminates the cockpit and two firing projectiles on the ship’s wings! Open the hatch and put in one of the four included KREON figures to pilot the ship, including CAPTAIN KIRK, UHURA and two KLINGONS. Set includes 236 pieces. Requires two LR41 Alkaline batteries. Batteries are included.

KRE-O STAR TREK SPOCK’S VOLCANO MISSION Building Set

(Ages 7 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $14.99)

Pretend to carefully lower KREON figures onto dangerous, volcanic planets with the KRE-O STAR TREK SPOCK’S VOLCANO MISSION, from the STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS movie. The KRE-O SPOCK’S VOLCANO MISSION building set features LIGHTTECH that illuminates the cockpit of the ship and can be rotated 90-degrees to provide light for the KREON figure which can be lowered out of the ship with the string zip line feature! The building set also includes a push lever activated erupting brick volcano. Set includes 141 pieces and two KREON figures (SULU and SPOCK). Requires two LR41 Alkaline batteries. Batteries are included.

KRE-O STAR TREK TRANSPORTER TROUBLE Building Set

(Ages 6 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $9.99)

“Beam me up SCOTTY!” Based on the iconic TRANSPORTER from the STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS movie, the KRE-O STAR TREK TRANSPORTER TROUBLE building set features a mechanical push lever that rotates KREON figures 180-degrees to the other side of the build, transporting them onto the alien planet. The LIGHTTECH pieces under the TRANSPORTER illuminate by pushing a lever to enhance the “magic” of the TRANSPORTER! The building set includes 65 pieces and two KREON figures with weapons (SCOTTY and a KLINGON).  Requires two LR41 Alkaline batteries. Batteries are included.

KRE-O STAR TREK SPACE DIVE Building Set

(Ages 6 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $7.99)

This KRE-O STAR TREK SPACE DIVE building set is a mini-build of a ship airlock, found on many of the iconic STAR TREK ships, complete with hinged doors. This set features the first LIGHTTECH KREON figure which illuminates by pushing on the figure’s chest! The KRE-O STAR TREK SPACE DIVE building set includes 36 pieces and two KREON figures, CAPTAIN KIRK and a villain with press-fire projectile weapons and accessories! Requires two LR41 Alkaline batteries. Batteries are included.

KRE-O STAR TREK MICRO-BUILD SHIPS Assortment

(Ages 6 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $4.99)

Kids and fans alike will be excited to build each of the four ships in this KRE-O STAR TREK MICRO-BUILD SHIPS assortment inspired by ships from the STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS movie. The assortment includes the U.S.S. ENTERPRISE, KLINGON D7 BATTLE CRUISER, U.S.S. KELVIN and the JELLYFISH. Each building set comes with a LIGHTTECH illuminated display stand and approximately 34-42 pieces. Each ship sold separately. Requires two LR41 Alkaline batteries. Batteries are included.

KRE-O STAR TREK KREON FIGURE PACKS

(Ages 6 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $4.99)

Based on iconic STAR TREK characters from the upcoming STAR TREKINTO DARKNESS movie from Paramount Pictures, these KREON FIGURE PACKS feature one collectible KREON figure and accessory per pack, with six different characters available in the spring of 2013 including: GORN, CAPTAIN NERO, KEENSER, GRASIA, KLINGON and LIEUTENANT SPROG. Twelve additional KREON figures will be released in fall 2013, including: CAPTAIN KIRK, SPOCK, BORG DRONE and GENERAL CHANG. Each figure sold separately.

A few weeks back we learned that the film rights to Daredevil have reverted back to Marvel/Disney, meaning he could now possibly be folded into the proper Marvel cinematic universe at some point and in some way. This is great news for fans, and now a handful of other characters have come home to Marvel as well!

The rights to Ghost Rider, The Punisher, Blade, and Power Man (Luke Cage) have all been re-acquired by Marvel Studios, news that should make fans very happy!

As I noted in the post about Daredevil, the likelihood that any of these characters’ could see a reboot of their franchises any time soon is probably pretty slim as Marvel has their movie slate pretty packed through 2015 – but the mere fact that Marvel now owns the rights to these characters and they could eventually receive their own titles again is pretty exciting, and these titles would reside in a world with Iron Man, Captain America, and the rest of the Avengers. Perhaps the blind lawyer Matt Murdock pops up in a future Marvel film? Maybe Luke Cage and Iron Fist lends a hand to Ant Man? The possibilities are out there, and it will be interesting to see how and when these characters get utilized.

One idea that was brought up on our Facebook page was for Daredevil to make appearances on the upcoming S.H.I.E.L.D. television series – which I think is a genius idea. I realize this show will mostly focus on the agents, but what better way to fold things into the fantastical world of Marvel superheroes while introducing some of these “lower-tier” characters at the same time than have some interactions with the likes of Daredevil, Luke Cage and Iron Fist? Frankly, to me this makes sense as these heroes are less “big threat” guys and more “crime fighters” out on the front lines taking down muggers, mobsters and thugs. The possibilities are pretty exciting.

[Sources: THR, Comic Book Movie]

How would you like to see these newly acquired characters utilized and folded in to the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Sound off in the comments below!

There are approximately one metric butt-ton of movies that I am excited about this year, but I truly think that Edgar Wright’s conclusion to the Cornetto Trilogy stands at the head of the class. For me at least.

As someone who has been a fan of Pegg/Frost/Wright since “Spaced,” this movie feels like it’s going to be the last hurrah… It’s kind of like seeing your friends one last time before they move on to Marvel movies, or Star Trek movies, or Hobbit movies… for good. It’s amazing to watch people grow from tiny BBC sitcoms into wildly iconic characters and stories, but even more amazing when you feel like they’re making something for you. Not because they have to, but because they love doing it and want to. I wonder if the theme of the movie was intentionally reflective of this, but it really doesn’t matter because it’s perfect. And after seeing the trailer? I am 90% more excited and emotional.

Hans Zimmer has some big shoes to fill. Superman fans have associated John Williams’ iconic score with the Big Blue Boyscout since 1978, with everything from Smallville to Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns picking up queues from the master. And really, who can blame them? Williams’ scores exude epic. If I ever have to battle some menace from the stars, it’s a John Williams’ score that I’m pulling up on my iPod.

WaterTower Records has made 60-second snippets of the entire Man of Steel soundtrack available to preview here… From the sound of it, Zimmer has ditched the Williams score and worked some magic of his own. It’s certainly cinematic, I can’t wait to hear it in action when Man of Steel hits theaters on June 14th!

The best part about this movie is that Bones is able to say “god dammit.” The end. OK, not really. There was still a little fun to be had. The shuttlecraft landing was kind of cool, the Klingons are hilarious, and the chemistry between Spock, Kirk, and Bones will always be a pleasure to watch. While it’s true a couple of “bonding” scenes went on 30-60% too long, the way these men play off of each other, even with shoddy material… Well it’s just a national treasure.

OK, now the end.  Maybe this movie wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t sandwiched between two films for which I have fond memories. IV is the first time I remember being invested in a new Star Trek project, and VI is just really good. It’s like a really great rye bread with Carl Buddig “beef” in between. It would be a shame to forget to mention that Shatner directed this one, but it would also be a shame to mention that Shatner directed this one.

Look, the principles of creating sci-fi really boil down to one single tenet:  Don’t break your own rules. The world you create can be a shitstorm of made up beings and and worlds and physics, but you can never break the rules you create. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier does that before the opening credits start to roll, and it’s hard to go into a movie with an open mind once you’ve watched a laughing Vulcan use contractions to talk about spirituality. That the entire film is based on the premise that a single Vulcan went rogue and embraced his emotions is just a little too far of a stretch for me. And it’s not helped along by the fact that Sybok is played with downright boyish glee. He is taken to far to the opposite end of the poles for it to be even remotely plausible.

I’m OK with some elements being left to the imagination, but there are just so many “whys” going on here. Why is the center of galactic peace such an epic shithole? Why did the consuls pretend to not be in on the plot when everyone else on their planet was in on the plot? Why is Sybok the only Vulcan in history to go emotional? What caused that revelation? The Vulcans, Romulans, and Klingons all have similar creation/paradise mythologies? Seriously? I mean, the Vulcans and the Romulans, sure, but the Klingons? Really? And when they finally meet him, he looks like the beardy Christian guy on a cloud? Really?

The effects in this film don’t hold up, which normally would not be a problem for me at all. I actually enjoy a little nostalgia when it comes to the obvious green screen. Unfortunately, this film was released after ST had hit airwaves again. And the TV effects of TNG put this film to shame. Too boot, when I was only ten minutes in I had noticed at least three Star Wars nods that were way beyond homage.

A friend advised me to go into this review as I would a Shatner spoken word record – with a light heart and an easy smile. And I tried. I really tried. I hadn’t seen this movie since I was 13 or 14 years old, so I thought maybe I didn’t “get it” the first time around. And I, despite all the flaws, had a mostly good time watching the first three quarters of the film. And then… Sha’Ka’Ree. Which, by the way, looks less like a life giving Eden and more like a desolate dry wasteland. Like a boney Krypton. Here’s my review of the last quarter of the film:

Seriously. Spoiler alert – it ain’t God they find. It’s just some space dick who’s been imprisoned by the Great Barrier. Plot twist, it wasn’t to keep us out, it was to keep him in! Apparently Sybok can’t interpret visions for shit, and we are never told one single thing about the entity beyond the barrier. I myself like to believe it’s a Q, but hey. That’s some fan fic for another day.

Would I pay to watch this movie again? Oh god no. Would I leave it on the TV one rainy Sunday when I’m too lazy to reach for the remote? Sure. I laughed a couple times (when I was supposed to), the score is gorgeous, and for cryin’ out loud it’s Star Trek.

Nine days ’til Darkness, y’all.

Images from the Ender’s Game movie have slowly been leaking onto the internet and into press, but for the first time, we have some actual clips of the movie to show.  While this is just a taste of the full trailer, we do get some brief glimpses of Battle School, the Battle Room and Mazer Rackham (who I never pictured having facial tattoos).

Keep an eye out May 7 when the full trailer drops, as we’ll have it up as soon as we have access.

Until then, please to enjoy!