Star Trek, Chuck, Dollhouse

After seeing the new Star Trek the first time (over lunch on Friday with the whole work team), I had a great deal of trouble discerning how I felt about it. My gut reaction was that I kinda liked it, but couldn’t really be more specific about it, couldn’t really analyze it the way I usually am able to. The more I thought about it, however, the less I liked it, and after seeing the film a second time yesterday, I feel more firm in my opinion that I don’t think it works all that well.

The big problem, really, is that a lot of things in the story just don’t make a whole lot of sense, most notably parts centered around the villain. I don’t really want to go into spoilers here, but Nero is just kinda boring, especially by Star Trek standards (Star Trek always has the best villains). Also, he does, says, and has a lot of things that seem either implausible or nonsensical, and sometimes both. I also struggled with some of the other plot points, and this bizarre feeling of isolation surrounding the Enterprise and its exploits. I mean, they’re supposedly part of this huge organization… what is everybody else doing? Why are cadets running the entire ship? What is going on?

Anyway, the effects are really good, there is a fair amount of well-done action, and the casting and acting range from good to excellent, and really that’s usually enough for me to like a movie. But in this case, it just seems too shallow; even the character development is really sparse, and that is particularly surprising to me, given that characters are usually what Abrams does best. I have to point out, though, that the big caveat to all this is that the first ten minutes are top-notch. Actually, maybe that’s the whole problem, that the film just cannot live up to the expectations set by the pre-title sequences. But then again, maybe not.

*****
Also over the weekend, I finished up watching this season of Chuck, and I must say I was quite pleased. My opinion of Chuck as a series has varied rather wildly over the course of its existence, but it pretty reliably delivers when it matters most, and I am definitely excited for the potential of a new season, given the developments in the last few eps.

Around the halfway point of this season, Chuck started dragging for me. All the episodes felt the same, there was little momentum, and the limitation of the original premise was starting to show. I realized that, at least for me, this status quo could only be interesting for so long. Fortunately, the creators seemed to have felt the same way, and have crafted a series of fairly brilliant game-changers to lead us into a potential third season. Count me in for more in the fall.

Favorite Eps: 2x19, 2x22 (These eps start and finish the closing arc, which is pretty much fantastic through-and-through)

Least Favorite Eps: 2x15 (just too much awkward creepiness from Jeff and Lester. Really, they need to scale those guys back a bit), 2x17 (just seemed a little ridiculous)

*****
Finally, I watched the network finale of Dollhouse (the elusive 13th episode won’t be seen until the Blu-Ray/DVD sets hit in July, and is reported to be a standalone episode). I really like this show. Even when it was struggling to hit its stride early on, I was very intrigued by it, and saw more than just potential for the future. It was good just as it was. Really, I wish it had been a full 22-episode season, so that the creators could have spent more time on non-ongoing-plot-type things, and done a few more standalone concept episodes. I feel like there was a fair amount of potential for good stories there that was kind of abandoned in favor of series progress.

Not that there’s anything wrong with the ongoing story; Dollhouse’s mythology is fascinating and incredibly well-developed. I do hope this gets renewed (though, by all accounts, this is unlikely), and if it does, I will be eagerly awaiting the premiere.

Favorite Eps: 1x08 (just a fantastic concept), 1x12 (I mean, it’s the finale)

Least Favorite Eps: 1x03 (just not really a fantastic concept), 1x11 (How can so much happen in so boring a fashion?)

Favorite Part even though it’s in a Least Favorite Ep: The Topher subplot in 1x10. Possibly my favorite idea in the whole series so far.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

There is a pretty awesome film entitled “X-Men Origins: Wolverine.” Unfortunately, this film only exists in my head, though it shares much in common with the film that actually holds that name, such as its cast and its trailers. Allow me to explain.

When I first heard that this movie was being made, I was apathetic at best. As a prolific reader of comic books, I have been inundated with stories of Wolverine, Weapon X, and the combination of the two for roughly the past two decades, and was not really looking forward to more of the same. Then I started hearing more about the project. I heard Taylor Kitsch (the beloved Tim Riggins of NBC’s phenomenal Friday Night Lights) was cast as Gambit. Then I heard Ryan Reynolds was playing Deadpool. Then I saw the trailer featuring the fantastic music from Sunshine (hint: the quickest way to get me hyped for a film, no matter what it is, is to use that music effectively in a trailer. I’d probably have seen Disaster Movie had it advertised itself using that music. No joke. Well, ok, maybe not.) So, anyway, even in such close proximity to Star Trek and Terminator: Salvation, I allocated a fair bit of excitement to this project.

Then I went to see it last night at midnight, and felt much as Michael Bluth felt when he opened a bag in his refrigerator labeled “Dead Dove. Do Not Eat” and remarked “I don’t know what I was expecting…” This is not a movie about Gambit, or Deadpool. It does not feature the score of Sunshine. It does not feature Ryan Reynolds being hilarious for two hours, though it does feature him being hilarious for approximately five minutes. I got hyped up for a movie that doesn’t exist, and that I shouldn’t have expected to see walking into the theater last night. Apparently, as I was surprised to discover for some reason, a film entitled X-Men Origins: Wolverine is about, almost exclusively, Wolverine’s origin. Who knew?

Anyway, despite all that, I more or less enjoyed my time with it. I would put it on par with the overrated X-Men 1 and the underrated X-Men 3. There are a lot of things in the second half that don’t make any sense, but I didn’t really realize this until I was reading other reviews that pointed them out. While these reviews are absolutely correct, many of the inconsistencies failed to bother me while I was actually watching the film. I am a superb suspender of disbelief; if you are not, this is definitely a film to be avoided.

I largely feel it unfair to judge movies based on what I wanted them to be, and prefer to judge them for what they are. So what is this? A passable and forgettable comic-book actioner that I do not regret going to but will probably not watch again.