Last night I took my BFF Mike out to see the latest film in the Star Trek franchise, Star Trek Beyond. We saw the movie as part of a marathon, Star Trek (2009), Star Trek Into Darkness, and the newest instalment back to back, in IMAX.
First of all - IMAX is pretty much the best way to watch epic Science Fiction, the images move beyond enthralling and simply become immersive (also my inner thirteen-year-old was reawakened as the giant-sized screen works to make me feel smaller, like a kid again).
In the latest film (written by Simon Pegg and Doug Jung, and directed by Justin Lin) , the series moves beyond the original films and heads into new territory.
The film is a lot of fun, filled with high levels of action and a seriously strange new world, and although it is a sort of bitter-sweet experience, due to the recent passing of actor Anton Yelchin (who plays Checkov), I had a pretty great time. From my point of view it was a vast improvement on Star Trek Into Darkness and it brought back a crucial element to my science fiction adventure film experience...
It was a lot of fun!
For my oldest daughter's birthday last week, we saw our first IMAX 3D film, Guillermo de Toro's Pacific Rim.
The film, which was a heck of a lot of fun, and will hopefully introduce a whole new generation of kids to the Mech vs. Giant Moster film genre, focuses largely on the story of a burnt-out hero, called in from retirement for one last job.
My favourite characters in the film however, were the two monster (called Kaijus in the film) focused scientists, Dr. Newt Geiszler and Dr. Hermann Gottlieb, played by Charlie Day and Burn Gorman.
Dr. Geiszler (pictured right), is the specialist in the Kaijus themselves, how they work, how their bodies function, and is sitting at the corner of being a scientist to almost being a fan of the creatures.
Dr. Gottlieb (pictured left), is instead the scientist focused on the method by which these creatures have entered our world. He's more introverted than Dr. Geiszler and definitely seems more at home in the lab than in the field.
Rather than simply playing the two characters as comic relief (which, to be fair, the do more than their share of), the story actually allows them to get into some pretty dark places in terms of their study of the creatures, and in the end their work does have a significant effect on the story.
In the end, they're not the main characters, but they were by far my favourites.
