which way is up?

My biggest problem with “Star Trek Into the Darkness” was that there’s no sense of peril or fatal danger that threatens one of the main protagonists at all times. Even at its highest tension where every conceivable sensible results would have supposed to lead to a particular character’s death, the movie “cheated” and preserves that said character.

Arguably, the same could be said to any other movies out there regarding this  ”protagonists’ immortality” but somehow I felt that with this movie, this sense that no matter what happened to our protagonists, they will be saved, lingers strongly, almost cartoony.

That being said, taken solely as an entertainment, this movie works. It works even better if you have seen “Star Trek: the Wrath of Khan.” The crew behind this movie manages to weave something out from the original movie into a somewhat new arc with obvious, tongue-in-cheek nods to the original movie. Won’t be noticed by non Trekkie fans, but I’m sure it will be appreciated by any self proclaimed Trekkie fans.

Also, with solid and likeable casts (except for the two ladies. It could be well argued that this modern Star Trek still retains some of its hinted misogynistic quality of the past. But that’s another story) this movie was as good as any summer’s tentpole movie. And we will see another Star Trek movie in the future.

Also, Benedict Cumberbatch!

One more note, this movie’s dialogue is quite different than the recent movies that I’ve seen. It almost has a poetic quality in it. Even more apparent when Benedict Cumberbatch’s character has it. It’s probably due to his character’s persona but still, beautiful wordings, beautiful delivery. I would pay again to see his scenes alone.

Just like “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise that was synonymous with Johnny Depp to a point where it is very hard, if not downright impossible to replace him, “Iron Man” franchise, now entering its third direct sequels and its fourth film will be synonymous with Robert Downey Jr. and as I understand it, his obligation as Tony Stark is drawing near to an end. I wouldn’t bank on him reprising the role on the next Iron Man movie, and this film’s rushed ending indicates the possibilities of such. But who knows, maybe, given how very lucrative this franchise has proved itself to be, the studios might give him an offer he can’t refuse.

I liked “Iron Man 3” more than I thought I would. Initially, I had prepared to take it with not just a grain of salt but a whole lot of canister of it. I had expected that after three movies (including “The Avengers”), Tony Stark would go down the Jack Sparrow route. Spent, tried, and just there for the money. On that note, I think I was right. Seeing Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark for a fourth time for me, has lost its charm and although the introduction of his “demon” in the form of anxiety attacks over what had happened in New York during “The Avengers” is something I could really appreciate, it doesn’t help much with my boredom for most of the movie.

But what I didn’t expect was the solid supporting casts. I had no idea beforehand that Guy Pearce is in this movie and so I was delighted when I saw him for the first time in the opening scene. Guy Pearce rarely disappoints me and this movie is no exception. Rebecca Hall, one of my favourite less known actress, also makes an appearance to my delight although arguably there isn’t much for her to do in her role. Sir Ben Kingsley was exceptional as The Mandarin. Not to mention the story’s treatment to the role that caught me off guard.

In short, “Iron Man 3” tries to do most thing at once. At times it worked out, but most times it was all over the place. Some plot devices and decisions also doesn’t work out very well for me. But I had expected that it was going to be a mess in the first place and therefore the relatively solid supporting casts is a pleasant surprise for me. Also, this movie prepares for the next “Iron Man” without Robert Downey Jr. and therefore some poor decisions that had littered the rushed ending scene seems almost appropriate. Almost.

I’ve finished “11.22.63” over the weekend and although it’s not, as a whole, going to be one of my favorite Stephen King’s works, some part of it has quite a resonance to me that did nothing but ascertain the fact that Stephen King is, the first and foremost, a great story teller.

One thing that I’m certain I could do with Stephen King’s works is that I could count myself to slip into his characters. Whether it’s a wounded hero, an ordinary teacher, or even a woman, I could just do it. That what makes me really like his works despite many who would told otherwise. Although, there’s a slight worry that at the rate he is going, churning one work per year, his characters, or even his stories would dwindle into a repetition. It was bound to happen, I felt it with “11.22.63” as the character was yet, another aspiring writer (of sort) but the going is still strong, and I’m intended to hitch hike as far as it would take me.

The gist of “11.22.63” is, it’s a love story. The time travel used to prevent the assassination of JFK in November 11th, 1963 (hence the title) was only served as a nothing more than just a plot’s device. And as I could slip quite easily into the shoe of Jake Epping, the one whose point of view used to narrate this story, I really love the “love” part. It was tragically sweet, and I’ve had a moment of ba-dum ba-dum during the height of the scene. Love is, after all, eternal. I think with the waning age, Stephen King has a tendency to write about love. Of course, it was in his own unique way. And I liked it. I liked “Lisey’s Story” and I had labeled it as a love story, and I liked this “11.22.63” for the same reason.

However, probably because we are going to know what is going to happen, I feel a bit of disconnect during the final act. This is where the focus has finally shifted from Jake and his love to Jake and his duty (preventing the assassination of JFK). I found myself fumbling through the final pages, in a bit impatient and a bit dismayed (that it’s going seemingly forever) manner. Not necessarily a bad thing, and also because I had glued to the final 200 pages and given my record of short attention span, this in itself is quite an achievement.

Also, as quite a fan of sci-fi, I think I really liked the way he treated alternate timeline in this story. I loved it.

To sum it up, this story has several sub-plots on top of its main plot although the main plot feels like just a mere afterthought throughout the course story. And of course, it doesn’t end as the way I want it to end. In a good way because I think in a story, if you cared about how it was going to end, it means that you had invested in its character, and that, is a simple sign that the story, has achieved its purpose. Even more.

I’m a sucker for any decent sci-fi stories. Especially if it’s related to dystopian future, space, and time-travels. This, in turn, makes me a little bit partial when it comes to sci-fi movies. Heck, I had defended “Prometheus” more than necessary. And likewise, I shall going to defend “Oblivion” although aside from its beautifully crafted shots, compared to “Prometheus” it was already a lost cause to begin with.

Dystopian future, the aftermath of Nuclear war against an unidentified space object that has destroyed the Moon, left it in orbit, in half, almost akin to the remains (or currently under construction) of Death Star, and left the Earth to be claimed back by nature. It said that the human race had won the war, but had left the ashes of the Earth for Titan only for few engineers who were left the task to man the machineries to mine what was left of the sea water for sort-of fuel, or energy. It was beautiful, and has all the ingredients of at least, a good sci-fi. And it was. Beautiful, I mean.

Having familiarise myself with this genre, I had prepared myself for not taking the story at its face value and as the result, I wasn’t too surprised with the reveal. There is, after all, another sci-fi movie out there that has a similar theme. The problem was, I’m not entirely rooting for Tom Cruise’s character. Yes, he is gorgeous, and I’ll consider it as a great achievement if I’m pushing 50 and look half as good as he is. But, well, I don’t know, I was detached from his character almost the entire time and it certainly doesn’t help when the final show-down/reveal goes down. I felt flat, and doesn’t feel any elation at the slightest bit. The same, in fact the worse could also be said to his character’s main interest, Olga Kurylenko. She’s also a gorgeous being, with those long legs, supple posterior, and perpetually pouted lips. I mean, I could stare at her all day but unfortunately, I could not gravitate toward her, I don’t care about her, and I found it to be implausible for her to be one of the select few astronauts to embark on what was this movie version of Earth’s most important space mission.

Story was good, though, and in a paper medium where imaginations are more required, I’m sure that this story will have more significance from yours truly here. But as it stands, this sci-fi was reduced to only as a beautifully shot movie. It had a promise, but as I was left out from the proceeding only to take place as a mere spectator, it felt detached and tend to dilly dally.