My Favorite Vulcan

from the big finale scene; our crew and director must surf to safety, from the darkness

 Last night Cailin gave Dexter and I the opportunity to see the movie Star Trek Into Darkness at a Paramount screening. Of course we took her up on the offer! At the Century Theatre in the Westfield Mall downtown, Dext and I ran up and down in Nordstrom's before the realization of the theater is in the mall, not the store we were in.  Our own little adventure scurrying levels of escalators, as if the fate of the planet were in our hands.

 A big screen movie has the advantage of the resources a movie studio invests; big production values and quality people behind and in front of the camera. If the creative team is able and willing they can take their time to develop a sound product.   The disadvantage for me at is that these movies have to have big action pieces, explosions, destruction and people getting killed- the threat of everything we value - every single film.  Usually at least half the feature is dedicated to these requirements leaving just an hour for character development.  In my mind Star Trek is better served as a television show where the possibility of a quiet internal episode is allowed to occur.  At the same time it's exciting to go to a crowded movie theater and sharing the experience.

 The revisiting and twists of the Star Trek canon that may upset fans of the franchise didn't bother me as these moments were used- as were the scenes of the big visual set pieces to primarily serve the development of the characters. The reveals are not as important to the story as how our uniformed pals relate to each other. Nice performances all the way around, and happily the Golden Gate Bridge is never in jeopardy (a cliche that drives me nuts).  By the way the greatest appeal about Star Trek is not the hope of humans thriving and surviving centuries from now but much more thrilling is there will be a time in the future when it will be really cool to wear your pajamas to work.

  Coming back home around midnight, both Dexter and I were very satisfied, and planning our next viewing with friends and partners. Maria will not be spared.  Resistance is futile.