INTO DARKNESS

Took the boys to see Star Trek Into Darkness this weekend and they enjoyed it very much. A lot of spectacular action on the big screen. And regardless of Sarah's assessment, I was able to follow the plot, Quinto's dark eyes notwithstanding. Ha! Still, I was not as happy with this film as I was of the first Abram's contribution. I kept saying to myself, "I've seen this before," or knew what actions the individual characters would take (perhaps as it should be with people who love and and have watched every Star Trek incarnation). Perhaps the first installment set the bar high. Simon Pegg was wonderful. I like that the other characters get to do more this time. How was there was a fetching blonde scientist on board and no romantic entanglement (beyond a hint) with Kirk? There was some photoediting on her, but we will resist detailing it for those who did not notice. I was not totally taken by Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan, not that he was bad either. I liked the nods to the former show, such as mention of Nurse Chappell and the Triffids. The son of the legendary James Doohan had a smal part as transporter officer, which was cool. There were great scenes, such as the ship spiraling downward toward Earth as the crew tries to control its descent. And I liked the fight with the Klingons, but come on. . .Klingon special forces looked pretty weak in that segment (they should have been capable of causing a few casualties). I kind of hated the 'Kirk in the reactor" sequence, especially the scene with Spock. I would very much have liked more interior scenes of the Enterprise (I am kind of geeky like that, I love seeing where the regular crew works and lives). Still, I hope this franchise, and many more permutations, live long and prosper.

PLAY

Listening to the boys play often is very revealing of aspects of their personalities. After seeing the new Star Trek movie, terminologies and scenes have been incorporated into their fantasy space world, for so long dominated by Star Wars, although tempered somewhat by several seasons of Voyager that they watched with me. And of course there are a lot of funny comments, as they manuever their Lego-built starships into situations. I rememeber hearing, "Captain. Shield down to 60 %; shields down to 80%---shields down to 1080%!" What??? There was no explanation as to why they were increasing in power as they went down.

Joey likes to be in control, wants to be destroying, delights in action. "Bring out the ion cannons.!" I remember him responding to his brother saying "I'm going down," with "No. You can't." What? He often does not like it when Chimo tries to change the storyline. Chimo, for some reason, tends to like the backstory and also wants to rescue people (as in one scene where Joey was willing to leave the crew of a spacestation that was under attack, and Chimo kept saying, "But we can't leave them.") Joey was worried about attacking forces, while Chimo was saying "We don't have medical transporters!" Note, not transporters, medical transporters. Joey likes to take over ships Chimo has built and put men aboard and fly off for adventure; Chimo will spend a lot of time in the contruction of a space station (elaborately done, with ducting and all). Both boys have good imaginations though, which is nice.