Film Review: "Star Trek - Into Darkness" and "Man of Steel"

Christopher Kneipp reviews both movies.

In the last two weeks I have seen two movies, Star Trek Into Darkness and Man Of Steel, and was surprised to realise how much they had in common (warning, spoiler alerts ahead). Both were entertaining reboots of older franchises. Both were well acted and built up towards action filled climaxes. But, (and you knew there’d be a “But”,) where they both failed to grab me, they managed to do in exactly the same way.

Both movies used the bad guys from the second instalments in their original series. In Star Trek Into Darkness, the antagonist was Kahn. This genetically engineered super-baddie was first seen in the TV series and then again in the second Star Trek movie, The Wrath Of Kahn. Then you have Man Of Steel’s villain, General Zod, the same bad guy from the 1980 film Superman 2.

I’m not a big fan of the “this’ll make money,” motivation for resurrecting an old idea. Both movies contained scenes that were reflections of scenes from the originals, and in Star Trek some of the dialogue could have been cut and pasted from the original. Instead of giving a subtle nod to its predecessor, the film-makers seem to be trying to cash in on whatever made the original a success.

With a reboot, the film-makers must tread a very fine line between the expectations of those that hold a special place in their hearts for the original, and entertaining a brand new audience. They have to give enough back story to clue in the newbie, without losing the old school devotee by making them sit through a retelling, like one of Grandpa’s tales about the war. Unfortunately, I felt that both movies did not succeed in reaching either goal.

The plot line of Man of Steel borrowed heavily from the 1979 and 1980 Superman films, trying to squeeze as much Superman history into the one movie as they could. It kind of made me want to yell at the screen, “It’s Superman, dammit! Get on with the story!”

What the makers of both of these movies appear to have forgotten is, most people who choose to spend the money on a ticket to see a Star Trek or Superman film, probably have a pretty good grasp on the history of the characters. 

I’m all for recycling, making something brand new made from the old. This can work well, (see “The Dark Knight”) but reboots are tricky beasts and I came away from both movies feeling a little let down.

Don’t get me wrong, I was entertained by both films. I just have the feeling that the writers, directors and producers of both films forgot the first rule of fiction. Know your audience.