Coherence (2013)

Emily (Emily Baldoni) is heading off to a dinner party on the night a strange comet swoops very close to earth. On her way to the party her phone’s screen shatters. Upon arriving at the party she finds that several other guests had a similar experience. They start talking about other events that occurred when comets got too close to earth, including a strange instance where a woman insisted that the man in her house was not her husband… because she killed her husband the night before.

Suddenly the power goes out, and while the group is gathering candles and glow sticks, they notice another house down the street has power. They send a couple of guests to head down to that house to see if their phone works. That is when things get really strange. They find a bizarre note on their door. Other people seem to be moving around outside the house. And eventually a box full of cryptic clues is discovered. As the night progresses people start to behave strangely and Emily wonders if she is losing her mind or reality is losing Coherence.

Good Points:

• Presents an intriguing mystery that does not give its secrets easily
• Some excellent performances by the cast keep you guessing
• Creates an eerie and uncanny feeling

Bad Points:

• Some of the characters are annoying (on purpose)
• It takes some time to really get rolling
• The camera work and editing are often distracting

Overall:

What a neat surprise this turned out to be. The film was a bit slow to start off, and some of the party guests were a bit on the insufferable side. But once the mystery kicked in, I was invested. Baldoni gives a great performance as she tries to navigate the oddities around her. Also kudos to Nicholas Brendon for poking fun at himself and providing an intense performance. The film would be a hidden gem if it weren’t for the camera work and editing. Because the movie is dialogue heavy, the camera work is constantly shifting focus, moving and cutting in strange ways to keep things interesting. Instead I was annoyed and distracted by it. I really wished they stopped trying to spice things up. But if you can look past that, you’ll find an engaging low budget thriller with a neat sci-fi angle… or is it?

Scores (out of 5)

Visuals:  4

Sound: 3

Acting:  4

Script:  4

Music: 3

Direction: 3

Entertainment: 4

Total:  4

Curious about a full review, sent me an email and I’ll make additional thoughts to this review.

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Movie Musings: The Strange Journey of the Star Trek Films - Part 2

Part Two - The Next Generation and Beyond

Troi proves the seats are as comfy as they look.

In 1994, three years after Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country was release in theaters, Star Trek: The Next Generation released the season finale. Fans were heartbroken. But Paramount had launched its new series Deep Space Nine the year before. The hope was to get fans to enjoy the new show and get the cast from The Next Generation to start a whole new film franchise. It was a calculated move, but one that made sense looking at the scope of the franchise.

The first venture to the big screen for the new crew would be Star Trek: Generations also in 1994. The cast and crew from The Next Generation found themselves working double time to finish the television series and work on the feature film all at the same time. To entice fans of The Original Series back into the theaters, Captain Kirk would appear in the film and play a major role in the plot. To pull off this time traveling adventure the script went through many revisions. The result was a film that was very muddled from a story perspective. In the end, the movie was a financial success, proving that The Next Generation was popular enough to continue with films. But critical reception was mixed. No one loved the film, and many found much to dislike. But few felt it was as poor as The Final Frontier, so that is something to smile about.

No better way to start the morning. Spot of tea and
a Klingon babe who can crochet.

The next year Star Trek: Voyager arrived on television. Paramount was going all in with this era of Star Trek entertainment.  This was about the time where Star Trek reached its apex of popularity. Paramount moved forward confidently with Star Trek: First Contact, arriving in 1996. The movie used one of the most popular and dangerous enemies of the Star Trek universe, the Borg. It mirrored The Wrath of Khan in many ways, driving up the stakes, making the characters the focus and injecting plenty of action. The impressive budget allowed for some top notch visual effects. Most impressive of all was the commitment to tone. This is a dark gritty movie that keeps things tense and intriguing. Director Jonathan Frakes used his familiarity with the cast and crew to execute an impressive film. Fans loved every minute of it. Critics were also kind, and found a lot to like about the movie and the cast. It was a financial success coming close to the high point reached by The Voyage Home. Everyone seemed pleased with the film and was looking forward to more.

"She's trying to kill him. I just caught her."

More was on the way. In 1998, with Frakes once again at the helm, Star Trek: Insurrection arrived in theaters. This time the decision was made to make the film lighter and a bit more action heavy. First Contact was very dark, and the thought was that fans of the series would like a breather after that. Unfortunately several rewrites of the script ended up with something that felt like an extended episode of the television series. But the high budget and some gorgeous location shooting gave the movie a big screen presence.  Critical and fan response was mixed. For many this felt like a step back, lacking the impact to the characters and storylines they were seeing in the television series Deep Space Nine which was heading into its final season and raising tension and stakes to ridiculous levels. Insurrection felt tame in comparison. General audiences enjoyed it well enough, and the film was financially successful. But Paramount was beginning to suspect that they had oversaturated the market with Star Trek and decided to hold off on any further films for longer than usual.

Titanic, Star Trek style?

Deep Space Nine and Voyager ended in 1999 and 2001 respectively.  While both shows had their fans, the two series never grew into the pop culture force that The Original Series and The Next Generation did. Paramount didn’t feel comfortable trying to leverage either storyline into a full blown movie franchise. So they decided to craft a new series, one that took place before Captain Kirk’s time. Star Trek: Enterprise (or Enterprise as it was first called) arrived on screens in 2001. It was Paramount trying hard to bring in new fans to a new series they could call their own.

Troi just loves putting her feet up... on the phaser controls.

In 2002, after an extended delay Star Trek: Nemesis arrived in theaters. Paramount made no secret that this would be the last film for the crew of The Next Generation. They wanted to try to cultivate what they hoped would be a new, more popular series of adventures with the folks from Enterprise. Once again the focus of the film would be based on The Wrath of Khan template. Romulans were the enemies this time, and the focus on massive space battles at the end promised visual spectacle. They also tried to take the dark visuals of First Contact and give the film a more gritty look. The final result was a movie that didn’t appeal to anyone. Critics felt it was mediocre at best. Fans really disliked some of the plot points and the paint by numbers script. Even the cast wasn’t happy with this one. Much like The Final Frontier before it Nemesis was released during an insane year for sequels. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Die Another Day and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets all came out the same year. To many folks Star Trek looked old next to these newer franchises.  Nemesis was a critical and commercial failure and ended the film tenure of the Next Generation crew on a sour note.

You can't see the green alien babe dancing behind
the camera.

Paramount also miscalculated on the appeal of their new series Enterprise. Long time fans were turned off by the inconsistency within the Star Trek cannon. Others disliked the recycling of stories from previous series in the franchise. Had the saga run out of things to say? Others found the ramped up attempts at sex appeal and action to be too different from what had been established in the tone of The Next Generation series. Producers tried hard to turn things around in the third and fourth seasons, but ratings kept dropping. Enterprise ended its run in 2005 with a series finale that pretty much pissed everyone off.

Most science fiction fans wept a tear that day, figuring that Star Trek had taken its final voyage. Many of us were ready to move on. But Paramount wasn’t. Star Trek was a money making franchise, even if they never really understood it. They let some time pass and also decided that it was time to go back to basics. Star Trek’s most popular incarnation (and still the financial high point for the films) was the original series. If they could somehow leverage new stories in that universe, with familiar characters, they could bring Star Trek back to life.

The impact of Batman Begins as well as Casino Royale in 2008 must have convinced them that a reboot was not only possible, but the most likely way to get people back into theaters. They could recast with younger actors, get a popular director who knew his way around television series and big budget films. They went to J.J. Abrams, who had just made Mission Impossible III a success for Paramount, and asked him to reboot the franchise.

"Did you just die on the first Goomba?"

It was a bold move. But hey, Star Trek is all about being bold, right? The film started from the ground up, redesigning nearly everything to keep it visually familiar, but still new and fresh looking. Careful casting and a story that combined plenty of action and character interaction was penned. Big budget visual effects were brought in. And a key appearance by Leonard Nimoy as Spock would hook the old timers who were curious but cautious about the whole endeavor. And instead of a hard reboot which would alienate the more cannon obsessed fans, they used time travel to create an alternate time line. So now both storylines could exist in the same universe. Very clever. Perhaps the biggest change was the shift of focus to fun. Star Trek would be a film focused on providing a good time to the audience. No deep themes. No navel gazing or long conversations here. Just witty quips, plenty of action and excitement, and a cast that sparkled. It all worked wonderfully. Star Trek was a critical and financial success. Nostalgia for the old series was tapped into, but new viewers were also engaged with the fun characters and action. Yes, some hard core fans grumbled. This wasn’t their Trek. But nearly everyone else enjoyed the film for what it was. It lead to Star Trek being the most financially successful film in the franchise. Paramount was ready for more.

Run toward the red foliage, you'll blend right in.

Abrams stayed on board for the next film Star Trek into Darkness in 2013. Once again the decision was made to mimic Wrath of Khan, but more than just in story structure, but in full on story. The visual style was kept, but leaned more toward grey and black to give the movie a darker feel. Popular British actor Benedict Cumberbatch stepped into the role of Khan. Like the previous film, there is plenty of action and space adventure. But the story is much darker, with actual ties to current events. The script does take lines and moments from previous films and attempts to spin them in unexpected ways. But this ended up doing more harm than good. The tonal shift ended up disappointing those looking for a fun time (and would get it in Guardians of the Galaxy the next year). The script similarities and recasting of Khan would really vex other fans, who called it a mockery of some of the best of classic Trek. Critics generally seemed to enjoy the film. But there was a taint around it in general fandom that persists to this day. Financially the film did extremetly well, eventually surpassing the previous film overall.

"I don't see any booze. You said there was going to
be booze."

This guaranteed a sequel. Abrams left to work on Star Wars: The Force Awakens and the franchised shifted to Justin Lin. Star Trek Beyond was due in theaters in 2015, the 50^th anniversary of the franchise. Lin went back to the format of the 2009 film and focused on fun and action as the guiding force for the movie. He also had a script that tried to feel more tied to the spirit of The Original Series more than the previous two film had. There are plenty of references to the older series in the film, as well as nods to all kinds of Trek lore. Unfortunately the focus on big action and banter continued to rub some Trek fans the wrong way. Some viewers fun with the film, but felt it was too lightweight. Other felt that the series was hurtling further and further from the original vision of Star Trek, and felt Beyond was further evidence of Paramount not understanding the franchise beyond a money making machine. Critical response was mixed. But financially the film barely broke even. (and some estimate that it didn’t). It was a disappointment for all involved.

While Star Trek Beyond was in production, Paramout felt the financial success of Into Darkness meant it was time to start up a new television series based on Star Trek. The goal was create something new and exciting for their new online network, and Star Trek: Discovery got the green light. It seems to have had some changes in direction during production and trailers have received a mixed reaction. Visually it looks a lot like the J.J. Abrams films. But it is supposed to take place before the events of The Original Series. Sounds like Enterprise all over again, but I’m willing to give it a shot. We’ll see if Beyond’s financial performance impacts the series. Who knows, if the series does take off, we might have more Star Trek films in the future.

It takes a special kind of guy to fall
for a Borg Queen.

Pacific Rim (2013)

Introduction:

There has been buzz about a live action Hollywood film featuring giant robots pounding on monsters since the late 2000s. Seriously, there was talk of a live action version of Neon Genesis Evangelion, one of my favorite (and impactful) anime series of the 1990s. The project never got out of development hell, but when I saw ads for Pacific Rim I figured we were finally getting something along those lines. Well, we were and we weren’t.

Summary:

The Earth is under attack. But the invaders aren’t coming from outer space, but are traveling through a dimensional tear in the Pacific ocean. These creatures are giant monsters who bleed luminescent blue ooze and love destroying major cities. They are called The Kaiju after the Japanese term for giant monster. The Earth’s military does their best to fight against the attackers, but the cost in human lives is massive.

Eventually the nations of the earth band together to craft giant robotic armor called Jaegers to fight the Kaiju and take them out. Each Jaeger is operated by two pilots who must synch their brains in order to fight at maximum efficiently. At first the Jaegers are effective against the invaders, but things start to escalate. Commander Pentecost (Idris Elba) finds his Jaeger program reigned in, just as things get critical. Does he have the right pilots and machines to stop the deadly invasion from the Pacific Rim? Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, Burn Gorman and Ron Perlman round out the cast.

Good Points:

• Some impressive visual effects and explosive action scenes
• Fans of classic giant robot anime from the 80s and earlier will get a kick out of this
• A good sense of fun and excitement permeates the film

Bad Points:

• The plot and characters are incredibly shallow
• All the action scenes end up looking the same stylistically
• Comic relief characters are really abrasive.

Overall:

This movie was inspired a bit more by Michael Bay’s Tranformers films than Neon Genesis Evangelion or Gundam. If you go into the film expecting mostly surface entertainment, you’ll have a good time with it. The visuals are impressive, the robots and monsters are cool looking and have a great weight to them. The music is kick ass and aggressive. I even think that Rinko Kikuchi has a lot of charisma as Mako. It is a shame the script has some painfully bad lines and just feels like it was dumbed down a little too much. A fun summer movie, but it could have been something a bit more impressive.

Scores (out of 5)

Visuals:  4

Sound: 5

Acting:  3

Script:  2

Music: 4

Direction: 3

Entertainment: 4

Total:  3

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Movie Music Musings: The Goldsmith Award 2013

Time for another Goldsmith award, where I take a look at a movie that may have bombed, but at least it gave us some good film music. 2013 had its share of poorly reviewed films, and a lot of them had some pretty uninteresting scores to boot. But the biggest money loser when compared to its original budget turned out to be Disney's attempt to reboot The Lone Ranger.

Just like the winner of the 2014 Goldsmith award, I'm not sure who was clamoring for a reboot of this franchise. Last time Hollywood tried this back in the early 1980s the film bombed then too. It is also a Western, a genre that just doesn't pull in the viewers like it used to. But Disney figured that their creative team that managed to rake in the Aztec gold from Pirates of the Caribbean would be able to do it again.

Besides none of us are sick of seeing Johnny Depp in white faced makeup acting oddly, right? Because I'm not sick of that... not. At. ALL!

Anyway, since we had the same creative team at work here, that mean Hans Zimmer and his crew were on hand to provide the music. The Lone Ranger gave Zimmer an opportunity to have some fun with a genre he's never really tackled before. Zimmer is also a huge fan of Ennio Morricone, who scored every other spaghetti western back in the 60s and 70s. So we were all kind of expecting a Zimmer take on that sound.

All told the score is entertaining, but really the best track is Finale (William Tell Overture) which is an modern film score take on the classical piece with all of Zimmer's trademark synth overlays and aggressiveness added to the music. Its really a great show stopping track and one of the best of 2013. So crank this one up and enjoy Zimmer and his team unleash some bullet ballet from The Lone Ranger.

Star Trek into Darkness (2013)

Introduction:

So the 2009 version of Star Trek did something I didn’t think was really possible. It got mainstream viewers back into the theaters to watch a Star Trek film. Was it the magic combo of J.J. Abrams and lens flares, or was there some techno-babble validation that Spock could rattle off for us? In any case the success of the film was enough to convince Paramount to get a sequel in the works. I for one was looking forward to seeing where the crew trekked next. But was Into Darkness the destination I had in mind?

Summary:

Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) finds himself in a bit of trouble when he ignores the Prime Directive during a mission, and exposes a pre-space faring culture to the sight of the Enterprise rising from the ocean. Kirk faces disciplinary action, but not before the Federation’s base in London is destroyed. Admiral Marcus (Peter Weller) believes that a terrorist named Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) was involved. After Starfleet headquarters are attacked in San Francisco, Marcus sends Kirk and the Enterprise on a covert mission to attack Harrison who is hiding in Klingon space.

Kirk is all for the mission, but Spock (Zachary Quinto) and Scotty (Simon Pegg) are disturbed by it. Scotty even resigns his post, and Dr. Carol Marcus (Alice Eve) picks up point on the new photon torpedoes that the Admiral has given them. As the mission proceeds, Kirk makes a fateful decision that will put him at odds with Marcus and face to face with an enemy who will spell doom to a member of the crew. Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho, Anton Yelchin and Bruce Greenwood join in this Star Trek into Darkness.

Good Points:

• Amazing visuals and sound design in this film
• Excellent acting by just about everyone in the cast
• Has great pacing and tells a compelling story

Bad Points:

• Aims for a more dower atmosphere
• Some of the familiar plot beats are going to be too distracting for some viewers
• Those looking for less action than the 2009 film are going to be disappointed.

Overall:

This movie gets a bad rap, but it is solidly entertaining and is actually a better made film than its predecessor. Cumberbatch brings a lot of gravitas to his role and makes for an excellent antagonist to our favorite crew. Meanwhile the plot delves into a moral dilemma that is relevant in traditional Star Trek fashion. While I was hoping for a film more about space exploration, what we got instead was a military thriller set in the Star Trek universe. It works well and is worth checking out, if you can get past some of the familiar surface plot and character points.

Scores (out of 5)

Visuals: 5

Sound: 5

Acting: 4

Script: 3

Music: 4

Direction: 4

Entertainment: 4

Total: 4

In Depth Review

You can't keep a good starship down.

I really enjoyed the 2009 version of Star Trek. I thought Abrams took a lot of the elements I love about the franchise and modernized them. He also brought a sense of fun and excitement to the films, something I feel had been sorely lacking in the last few installments of the series. That said, I was looking forward to seeing the new version of the crew journey to those strange new worlds and meet unique aliens and have adventures that thrilled and inspired. Well, Into Darkness has a very different agenda, and I have to say that I was a little disappointed when I figured out where this movie was headed.

I mentioned in my review of Nemesis that I think Paramount is really fixated on The Wrath of Khan, and that they feel that film is the template that all other Star Trek films must follow. I remember the writers saying early in preproduction for this film that they were going to focus on space exploration and not include a central villain in the story. They would instead have the conflict build from the unknown. That sounded great to me!

Has the Enterprise met her shadow self?

But at some point, gears were shifted and a new script was crafted. If this was a second movie in a “new” franchise then it needed to mimic the second movie the classic series. It needed to be Wrath of Khan. And how excited were the studio execs when they realized they could mimic the older film and get away with it because hell, this is a new continuity. So the ship was on course for Wrath of Khan with bigger special effects and lots more action.

The thing is Abrams and his writing crew took the story of Khan (and most importantly Space Seed the classic episode that introduced us to Khan) and used it as a starting point. Instead of making this a tale of one man’s revenge against Kirk, they turned it into a military thriller in which the crew of the Enterprise finds themselves trapped between a terrorist and a ruthless government. Into Darkness does what the 2009 film didn’t do: present us with current social problem in the lens of science fiction adventure.

This becomes the major stumbling block for a lot of people. If you can’t get past the concept of Into Darkness reimagining the story of Khan and his conflict with the Federation, then you just aren’t going to enjoy this movie. All the beats are there, with a few deviations. You know how the film is going to end, and even be able to predict some of the dialogue.

"No, I'm not Loki, I'm Khan. Not even the same actor...
are you even paying attention?"

Beyond that Benedict Cumberbatch is in no way Ricardo Montalban. Now some folks will say that is a good thing. But if Montalban’s performance as Khan in the original series is seared into your mind you may have disconnect issues seeing Cumberbatch in the same role (even if they spend the first portion of the movie calling him Harrison).

But leave aside those elements and focus on the film as part of the new direction of the franchise. Does Into Darkness continue the growth of the characters, the world of Star Trek established in the 2009 timeline, and provide an action packed adventure. I think it does. In fact, I hear people calling this one loud dumb movie, and I’m not sure where they are coming from. Did they see the same film I did?

Admiral Marcus' model collection is the envy of the
Federation.

From a visual standpoint, Into Darkness continues the look and feel that Abrams brought to the series. There are some new away team outfits as well as new ships like the Vengeance dreadnaught that appears in the second half of the film. Like the previous film there are neat touches like the Admiral uniforms that echo the admiral uniform Kirk wears in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Abrams does stick to his lens flares, so if those annoy you, well you aren’t going to get away from them here. But I did find this film to be edited a little smoother, and actually have a lot less shaky cam going on it. In fact most of the action scenes and big special effects moments are top notch, another high point for the series.

The subdued colors are seen when the crew is not
on the Enterprise.

Fitting the name, the visuals in this film shy away from the popping color of the previous film. Instead a lot of the film occurs in the dark or with the primary colors being white, black, grey and steel. This fits the films approach to the political spectrums in the film. Kirk is presented facts that he feels are concrete. Black is black. White is white. But once he meets Khan, he realizes that none of that may be true, and that Admiral Marcus may be lying to him for reasons that are very much grey.

Much of the sound effect work continues to be top notch. Once again Ben Burtt that mastermind behind the amazing sound effects of Star Wars returns to supervise the sound design. We get a mix of the old and new and it works wonders in supporting the visuals of the film.

Michael Giacchino is back as the composer. His work for the 2009 Star Trek was really impressive. He continues his winning streak with Into Darkness. He brings back his bold and heroic theme for the Enterprise and Kirk. This time he uses many variations to keep things interesting. He also brings back Spock’s theme a couple of times, but not quite as fleshed out as we got in the 2009 film.

"What are you looking at, smooth head?"

Where Giacchino really shines are with this three antagonist themes. First up is the brash and aggressive music for the Klingons. While not quite as distinctive as Goldsmith’s Klingon theme from The Motion Picture, we get a theme that uses bold choral chanting – in the Klingon language! Next up is the theme for the Vengence. This theme is a little sad, but one that can turn aggressive very easily. We hear it quite a few times in the film, often mixing and playing with Khan’s theme – stressing the relationship between Khan and Marcus.

Khan does get a theme, one that is calculating, building slowly to greater and greater intensity. Giacchino uses it to great effect in the score, again playing it subtly when Khan is at work. One of my favorite moments in the film and in the score is when Kirk and Khan attempt to board the Vengence by propelling themselves bodily through space. Giacchino plays Kirk’s theme in counterpoint to Khan’s creating one hell of a musical ride that builds and builds in excitement. Giacchino is one of my favorite film composers working today and his work in the Star Trek franchise is consistently great.

Scotty pleads his case to Kirk.

The cast continues the fine job they started in 2009. Pine as Kirk gives us a very assured performance, with some small Shatner touches here and there. Quinto really understands Spock and his interplay with Kirk and Uhura makes for some interesting moments in the film. He also gets to shine a bit at the end when he faces down Khan in San Francisco. Karl Uban is just plain awesome as Bones. He gets a couple of key scenes, but I wish he had a bit more screen time. The same goes for Saldana as Uhura, Cho as Sulu and Yelchin as Checkov. While each character gets to contribute to the plot in some way, they really seem to be background to the primary conflict between Kirk, Marcus and Khan. Only Pegg as Scotty gets a bit more meat in his role. He is the voice of reason against Marcus’ mission and plays an interesting counterpoint to Kirk early in the film.

Carol pleads her case to the Admiral.

For the new roles in Into Darkness we have some key performances. Alice Eve as Carol Marcus is good in the underwritten role. Sadly she feels like she was added to have another girl in the movie who ends up standing around in her underwear at one point. Ouch did that moment feel forced (and Abrams has pretty much admitted it was). Peter Weller makes for fine commanding officer. His fear and distrust come through in spades, and he does a good job playing against Kirk and Khan. Another key role is filled by Bruce Greenwood reprising his role as Admiral Pike. He is a surrogate father figure to Kirk, and his actions act as a catalyst for the main crux of the film. Greenwood’s performance really helps these two films, especially his relationship to Kirk.

Khan doesn't plead to anyone.

Finally there is Cumberbatch as Khan. I think he does an excellent job in the role. He is calculating, menacing and passionate. All these elements rolled into one very dangerous individual who is driven to accomplish his goals. Cumberbatch plays the part to the hilt, and makes one of the best antagonists in the series. It is a different take on the same character, but still feels true to the character. It took me a couple viewings to separate his performance from the one in Wrath of Khan, but the movie works as well as it does because Cumberbatch is fearsome and yet we understand why he is doing what he is doing.

"The needs of the many... oh wait, wrong movie."
Or is it?

For the most part the script to Into Darkness works well enough. It delivers plenty of action scenes. It delves into the political thriller element with skill and presents us with an interesting core conceit. How far should a society go to fight fear and terror? Is it right to put innocents in peril or attack perceived enemies in territories under the rule of others? Do we let fear turn us into what we fear most? By the end of the film Kirk and the crew deliver the message that we shouldn’t fall into that trap. Admiral Marcus could take the higher ground, but instead gives into his fear. He brings Khan back, and in so doing creates a new enemy that turns out to be his undoing. In an effort to protect people from a perceived threat, Marcus causes the injury and deaths of many in San Francisco at the end of the film.

On its own, I think this core concept is a great one. Unfortunately the writers are locked into the Wrath of Khan template. And so they are forced to kill off a key cast member, because Wrath of Khan did it. Some people defend this as a way of reinforcing the mirror concept of the two timelines, and Spock Prime’s key scene suggests such a thing. That’s all well and good, but it doesn’t change the fact that Kirk’s “death” in this film feels unearned and resolved way too quickly.

Let the rage of a million Trek fans consume you!

When Spock dies in Wrath of Khan it had impact because of the years we spent with him in the television series, books as well as The Motion Picture. Leonard Nimoy was the embodiment of that character and his death had impact. On top of that bringing him back was the plot of an entire film The Search for Spock. That movie made the price for brining back a friend very high indeed. It felt earned in both cases.

Sadly Into Darkness feels like it is just mimicking those films because they were beloved. Kirk’s death feels flat because we haven’t been with Pine’s performance over years and several adventures. And his return just seems too convenient and pat. It isn’t a deal breaker for me, but it does harm the ending the film when it wants to deliver its biggest punch, it falls flat.

One of the more creative and thrilling scenes in
the whole franchise.

That said, I really enjoy Star Trek into Darkness. I think it delivers a story that does have impact and power (until those final sequences). I think Abrams’ film is better constructed and executed over all. And while it wasn’t quite the space adventure film I was hoping for, it makes for a film that sits along well with Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country in its take on political thrillers.

"Wait, you're a guardian of the what?"

"Wait, you're a Rider of what?"

The Enterprise prepares for some Vulcanology.

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Log Horizon: Season 1 (2013)

Introduction:

I’ve mentioned in other reviews that anime studios pull the same stunts that Hollywood studios do. You’ll get multiple studios attempting to tell similar stories in a couple years span. I saw it first hand with the space cowboy boom of the 90s that gave us Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star and Trigun. But it happened more recently with two series that tackled the concept of pulling a group of gamers into their favorite video game. I watched Sword Art Online a few years back and enjoyed it well enough. But a friend of mine told me to check out Log Horizon. It came out a year later and took things in a unique direction.

Summary:

One minute Shiroe (Takuma Terashima) was playing the video game Elder Tales, the next minute he was in the game. He is not alone. Anyone who was playing the game at that moment suffered the same fate. For some players this is a dream come true, for others it is nightmare. As the players begin to explore the world and learn how the new rules work they realize one thing – they can’t be killed. This opens up all kinds of ways characters can exploit the game and each other.

Shiroe is a strategist but he is also a decent guy. He joins forces with like-minded players in attempt to bring some order to the chaos around him. But new wrinkles appear where he least expects them. Are the non-player characters more than simple programs? Why does all the food in the game taste like stale crackers? Where did all the newbie players disappear to? And will the Goblin King quest still run even if no one is playing participating? Joining him in his journey is the cute ninja assassin Akatsuki (Emiri Kato), the loud and horny warrior Naotsugu (Tomoaki Maneno), and the elegant cat duelist Nyanta (Jouji Nakata). Together they form a team that will change the shape of the world. The guild’s name is Log Horizon.

Good Points:

• Creates a detailed world of game rules and mechanics – then uses them as story elements
• The story elements come together to create some surprising moments in the series
• Isn’t afraid to slow things down and have a key climax occur at the negations table instead of the battlefield

Bad Points:

• The visuals, sound and music are all pretty average
• Some of the characters fall into obvious anime tropes that are a little tired
• Viewers who haven’t enjoyed or don’t enjoy role playing video games may find this series difficult to get into 

Overall:

Log Horizon isn’t about the action and adventure of questing in the world of Elder Tales. It is about how people deal with this surprising shift of realities. At first the series feels like it is going into too much depth on how this fictional video game is played and how players interact with each other. But as the series continues you realize that many of the throw away episodes were actually building up to the big turning points in the series. Shiroe is an interesting character, one that thrives on challenge and uses his brain to overcome obstacles and help others. The series is worth a watch for anyone who enjoys role-playing video games and doesn’t mind a series that goes light on action but heavy on dialogue and strategy.

Scores (out of 5)

Visuals: 3

Sound: 3

Acting: 4

Script: 4

Music: 3

Direction: 4

Entertainment: 4

Total:  4

In Depth Review

The horizon that inspired the team name.

I don’t’ think Log Horizon is going to work for everyone. You see the characters holding their swords, magic staffs and fantasy garb and you expect some kind of high fantasy adventure saga like Record of Lodoss War or Fairy Tail. Or maybe you’re expecting something closer to Tron or even Sword Art Online, which told a purely fantasy adventure in a video game environment. But Log Horizon goes even deeper than those two films with the setting. Sword Art Online used the game world to provide unique visuals and interesting characters to interact with. Log Horizon uses the game world to build the story.

Here is an example. When the players eat food in the game, they notice that it all tastes like dry stale crackers.  All the wine, beer, or fruit juice tastes like water. But isolated ingredients have flavor. So if you pick up an apple and eat it, it tastes like an apple. But if you eat an apple pie – it tastes like stale crackers. Pretty darn annoying.

But our resident cat-man duelist, Nyanta, has a chef skill in the game. He discovers that if he uses the regular player menus to make the apple pie – stale crackers. But if he actually attempts to make the pie with his own paws, step by step, it tastes wonderful. Turns out that if you use the menus you get only the bare minimum of the skill you attempt to use. But if you physically attempt the task, and if you have a high enough skill level in the game, you can achieve amazing results. This doesn’t just go for food, but for any skill – including combat skills.

The setting is a mix of fantasy and modern decay,

The whole deal with the food becomes a major plot point. Few players know this secret. Shiroe uses it as a bargaining chip to get what he wants out of the other players and non-player characters. This is the kind of show Log Horizon is. There is action ,combat and fantasy creatures. But it explores the ins and outs of how this world works and how the characters (and Shiroe in particular) attempt to resolve the problems.

In order to do this concept justice the series moves pretty slowly. You get a whole episode focusing on game mechanics, so you get an idea of how a round of combat works in the old game and how it works in this new world. You get about half an episode talking about in game communication and how players can speak telepathically (using an texting type feature) but non-players characters cannot use that skill and see it as magic. Then you have the reveal that even though the players can’t truly die in the game, if they are “killed”, when they respawn in the cathedral, they actually lose some of their memories of their previous life.

Log Horizon has whole episodes that are mostly discussion and planning. Shiroe puts together the pieces of his latest puzzle and then executes his plan. We watch it all fall into place (or even go in an unexpected direction a couple times). Some of the most impressive plot climaxes are negotiations and political outmaneuvering. It is a rare thing to see in a fantasy series of any type. And I admit, I found the change of pace refreshing.

Akatsuki leads the charge into action!

Not to say that the series is devoid of action. Shiroe learns a lot during his first quest to rescue a friend from a hostile city. There is plenty of standard combat and explorations in these episodes. But they also provide vital groundwork for game mechanics that play into the series later on. Even silly episodes dealing with a local faire or a day spent on a farm with a non-player character are actually a tutorial of sorts.  From a writing point of view this was something I really admired. It takes some serious planning to go in this direction. There are no filler episodes, but they manage to vary the tone of the episodes to give things a little variety.

There is a drawback to this approach, and it comes in uneven pacing. I enjoyed the variety, but I can see some people finding the series too slow or filled with padding (which I would argue isn’t the case at all). The slice of life episodes do an interesting duel task of developing characters and telling us more about the world and game mechanics.

A hero or evil genius?

Alas, the characters aren’t terribly interesting. I mentioned that Shiroe is the bright point of the show, and he really is. He’s a nerdy guy with a keen mind and a good heart. But his plotting often puts him at odds with others. He’s an introvert who finds it hard to interact with others, and yet he is often forced to interact with Kings and powerful merchants. He’s a pragmatic guy, one that is willing to live in this strange world and figure it out. He doesn’t waste time in trying to figure out why this happened or how to get back home. Instead he focuses on making the best out of his current state and helping as many others as he can.

Some of the other characters refer to him as the Super Villain because of his plotting and planning. And like any good strategist, Shiroe attempts to see several moves into the huge chess game. Part of the fun of watching Log Horizon is seeing how these plans play out and how far Shiroe planned and had contingencies in place.

Yes there is a lovely princess, but
will she help or hinder the players?

Aside from Shiroe you have some stock characters that support the adventure. Akatsuki is a cute assassin who is dedicated to protecting Shiroe after they first meet.  Because he helps her deal with a difficult situation she declares her fealty to him like a classic ninja. There were some interesting angles this character could have gone, but they pretty much just make her the short, cute love interest. She ends up competing with the shorter and cuter love interest later in the show for a pretty dull love triangle.

Naotsugu is the hulking warrior who is also a bit of a clown. Here is another character they could have delved into a bit. But mostly he’s around to hit on the girls, make comments about breast size and get kicked in the face by an offended Akatuski.

Rounding out the guild is the cat-man Nyanta. He’s debonair, skilled with the blades and a pretty good dancer. He seems to be Shiroe’s trusted advisor. But other than him saying “Nyan” (which is Japanese for Meow) a lot we don’t get to know too much about him.

Instead we have a second tier of adventurers in Log Horizon who we get to know a little bit better. They are newbies that Shiroe encounters early in the series and they end up taking up larger role as the series progresses. This is fine because they are actually pretty interesting. Minori (Nao Tamura) leads this other band. We learn a lot about the game and the world through her eyes as a new player. She idolizes Shiroe, and following his teachings she becomes a valuable member of the guild. I liked her interactions with her brother Toya (Daiki Yamashita). In the real world he was confined to a wheelchair, but here he is a samurai with some impressive skills. The series could have dug a little more into that, but what you get is enough to invest you with these two.

Players can see the stats for everyone they meet.

Their band makes some interesting decisions during the course of the series. They are young and impulsive, so they don’t’ quite know all the rules. When they perform an action that was impossible in the old game, they reveal that the game has actually changed.  They also have an interesting adventure with a non-player character that leads to one of the big climaxes of the series. We learn that with enough skill a player may be able to write their own rules for the game!

That said there is no main villain in Log Horizon. There are challenges that the group and Shiroe face. Sometimes they come in the form of a physical threat, like the Goblin King in the middle the series. But most of the time they revolve around working with or against other players. Or dealing with the non-player characters like kings and merchants. Unfortunately, the final story arc is little hollow because it feels like it is all set up for Season 2.

The visual design of the series is solid but nothing that really stands out. It looks like they took a standard Japanese role playing game and used that style for the clothing and character appearance. It seems a little slap dash in places and certainly lacks the intriguing details of something like Vision of Escaflowne or Record of Lodoss War.

Even though players can't die, there are consequences
for losing a battle.

In addition the animation in Log Horizon is pretty standard as well. Since much of the series is dialogue and planning, they didn’t really have to stretch the animation budget. Some of the combat scenes are well executed, and the Goblin King battles are the best of the bunch. Nothing is horribly animated, but really I’ve seen better work in older shows.

Sound work is pretty much were you expect them to be. Some cool sounding effects for the magic attacks and the fantasy creatures. Plenty of clashing and clanging for the swords on armor battles. The music by composer Yasuharu Takanashi is solid. There is a theme that reoccurs for our heroes. It supports the scenes well enough, even getting a little silly for the slapstick moments (which are usually when the perv Naotsugu is getting kicked in the face by Akatsuki). A good score but not one that grabbed me like Yoko Kanno’s wonderful work on Vision of Escaflowne. But that may be the gold standard for anime fantasy music.

The Japanese acting works fine. The voices seem to fit the characters, and some of them are obviously having a really good time. There is an English dub of the first season, but I didn’t get a chance to sample it.

Cat man vs. electro man! Cat man will prevail!

With a bunch of average scores in many of the more artistic areas of the series, it almost sounds like Log Horizon isn’t worth seeking out. But I really enjoyed it. Looking at the construction of the series from a writing point of view was intriguing. I liked the character of Shiroe and seeing how he solved the myriad of issues he encountered. I love how the writers used the game’s actual mechanics to create and solve problems. I also liked how this series showed some realistic effects of being pulled into a virtual world. Some people just can’t handle it, and start lashing out at each other. Some completely give up, but since they can’t die they end up losing their minds or becoming subservient to other players. Then you had the non-player characters and their reaction to these “immortal beings” wandering around among them. Some are suspicious of the players. Some are cautiously friendly. Others are just plain hostile. It will be interesting to see where things go in season two between these two groups.

So yeah, I’m keen to see the next season. There are plenty of great story opportunities there. As I mentioned many of the characters have great potential for interesting stories too, so I hope we get beyond the tropes that were established in the first season. But I’ve learned one thing from anime series sequels and that is you usually get more of the same. But in this case that will be fine, because season one was very entertaining.

The adventures prepare for the next season...
I mean quest!

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