So I've thought about this for a bit, and it all sounds great but for one thing:
Where does this leave Thanos?
With the post-Avengers clip and then adding GotG to the line-up, it seems to be a perfect set-up for the big purple Titan to play a key role.
I'm not saying I'm worried. Not yet. Marvel's done things so well up to know, and with trust in Joss Whedon, I'm eager to see how they piece it all together.
Comments
May 18, 2013 8:48 pm
Opinion: Why Star Trek Into Darkness fails
I think everything you commented on was valid, but I don't think the movie/story failed at all. I think it makes perfect sense, honestly.
Yes, they are captializing on the most-loved of the original films, but there's something more. I think, between this and the 2009 film, Abrams and his story-telling crew are also addressing the issue of destiny.
In the 2009 film, Pike goes and drags this going-nowhere punk of a kid, raised by his stepdad that cared more about his car than the kid, into Starfleet because he feels he can be great. In the original universe, Kirk was inspired by his father, wanting to be more like him after being raised and supported by George. In the new timeline, George is dead, and his heroic sacrifice - rather than being a life-long inspiration - is used almost as a dare against Kirk. Two vastly divergent childhoods lead to one point - Kirk joins Starfleet.
In the original, Kirk worked his way up through the ranks. He was commisioned, stationed aboard one ship, then came back as an instructor before being assigned to a second starship, and then finally earning "The Chair" as commander of the Enterprise, meeting a Vulcan first officer who has himself come up through the ranks. The captain and the Vulcan have a few bumps early in their association, but quickly became fast friends. In the new stream, he was still a smart-mouth, carousing punk that was on academic suspension - because of a certain Vulcan instructor - and only got aboard a starship through trickery on the part of McCoy. Through a series of events, he goes from "should be in the brig" to "acting first officer" to "exiled annoyance" to "captain" with his Vulcan psuedo-antagonist as his first officer. Again, two WILDLY divergent paths that lead to the same end result - Kirk was always destined to be the Enterprise's captain, with Spock as his first officer.
Which leads us to STID. Originally (in TWOK, not Space Seed), Kirk's crew was threatened by Khan, and through taking over a Federation starship, Khan was able to put Kirk in position where his entire 'family' - the crew - would perish. The only resolution was something that would solidify the connection that Kirk had with his first officer and would lead to a sacrifice. In the new timeline, the same thing happened. Khan forces the issue that makes both Kirk and Spock realize how important one another is to the other. Different paths, same destination (and we didn't have to suffer through Saavik helping through puberty in the ressurection this time!).
I understand your concerns that this film seems to just be phoning it in to give fans what they think the fans want. But I think it's far, far deeper than that. I think they are, as they did in 2009, showing that it wasn't just a fluke that threw this crew together. There is NO WAY that the "top seven" of the Enterprise should have wound up together as they did, but it was destined to happen. The universe NEEDED it to happen, so things twisted around them to make the pieces come together.
Maybe I'm too forgiving of the story. Maybe I'm giving credit where it's not due, but I can't imagine this team of writers just sat down and said "How can we squeeze Khan into this?" I fully believe they knew exactly what they were doing, and I feel they did it incredibly well.