Okay, so I saw the new Star Trek film last night. I'm not exactly a purist - unlike one of the peers who accompanied me - but I do know that the movie was a damn fine example of entertainment. Fast paced, tight scripting, and the production values were exemplary. The visual effects were superb and highly detailed (now I know what a ship's phaser cannon looks like, as well as how they load the things).
The best bit about the whole deal, though (warning: spoilers imminent) is that the premise of the story allows for both trekkies and non-trekkies to get into the adventure without crying about canon. Characters in the film clearly state that it is the beginning of an alternate ST universe from the moment that JTK is born. Leonard Nimoy is even on hand to make this fact very clear. And good for them, I say. Rebooting worked extremely well for BSG, so why not Trek? From what I can tell, a similar bend in the trousers of time is in store for the Terminator franchise when Salvation is released. And why not? Canon purists (and pedantic nuts like me) love deconstructing continuity-flawed sequels, so I welcome this trend of well-branded fictional icons stepping up and declaring: "This is a new spin on an old idea!".
On the other hand, I liked X-Men Origins: Wolverine not so much. Once again the production was pretty cool, but Marvel is one canon that I'm pretty familiar with, especially when my fave is Deadpool. Wade Wilson is the merc with the mouth who kicks down the fourth wall. Although he was portrayed well enough by the equally alliterative Ryan Reynolds, what was with turning him into some mute, composite franken-mutant with 3 foot katana claws? I'm aware that in some releases there's a post-credit snip of him reclaiming his severed head and talking to camera, but c'mon, where's the contant banter and insanity?
Overall, I'm giving ST an A+ (A++ being the highest), and XM:W a B+ (mainly for Liev Schreiber and Ryan Reynolds).
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