{"id":4437,"date":"2015-02-09T13:00:26","date_gmt":"2015-02-09T21:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=4437"},"modified":"2015-01-27T10:20:07","modified_gmt":"2015-01-27T18:20:07","slug":"mark-watches-star-trek-the-search-for-spock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2015\/02\/mark-watches-star-trek-the-search-for-spock\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Star Trek: The Search for Spock’"},"content":{"rendered":"

In\u00c2\u00a0The Search for Spock<\/i>, Kirk defies the Federation in order to find his friend. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Goddamn, these movies are making me emotional. IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S TOO MUCH. But let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s discuss some things because SPOOOCCCCKKKK.<\/p>\n

The Good Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

Right off the bat, I knew I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d have a good time because of the unexpected serialization in\u00c2\u00a0The Search for Spock.\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>Well, the title itself was kind of a spoiler, but not one that ruined the experience for me. I WAS FINE WITH IT BECAUSE IT MEANT THAT SPOCK COULD COME BACK. And yet, going into this film with this idea in mind, I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d see the events\u00c2\u00a0immediately<\/i> after the last film. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a great touch, a welcome surprise, and a rewarding way to handle this franchise. Part of that is because of immediacy; the emotions surrounding Spock\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death are still raw, and you can see it in the faces of these characters. Spock\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s loss is heartbreaking, and we never forget that, even as these people seek him out. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fascinating to me. Even though there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s confirmation from Sarek that Spock isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really dead, the crew never allows themselves to get excited about the possibility of resurrecting him. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re expecting disappointment.<\/p>\n

Of course, their muted reactions to all of this is also due to the circumstances of their mission. For the first time in the series, Admiral Kirk and his friends openly defy the Federation. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, THIS IS SUCH A HUGE DEAL, and\u00c2\u00a0The Search for Spock<\/i> treats it that way. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a pervasive theme of sacrifice throughout this film, and the first one we witness is Uhura, Bones, Scotty, Chekov, and Kirk sacrificing their careers in order to find Spock\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s body and bring it to Vulcan. One of the things that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so much fun about watching this is that this film \u00e2\u20ac\u201c probably more than the others \u00e2\u20ac\u201c feels like old friends banding together to cause mischief. Each of them gets a chance to shine in these early scenes, such as Sulu\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fight or Uhura\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s threats. Like the show and the past movies, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re still mostly in the background after this. (And I was a little peeved that Uhura got shoved offscreen for over an hour.) But there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a camaraderie here that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pleasing to watch, especially since we know how serious it is that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve all betrayed the Federation.<\/p>\n

Thematically, the film explores a spiritual cycle of sorts. This really is a movie about life, aging, death, and rebirth. While I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think the film succeeds at everything, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a massive scope to the underlying meaning of this journey. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ambitious, and for the most part, it works. The Federation is becoming younger, and its needs and goals are changing. What happens when Kirk finds out that the\u00c2\u00a0Enterprise<\/i> is being decommissioned? Well, he and his friends steal it. And when the time comes, they understand when the\u00c2\u00a0Enterprise<\/i> truly HAS served its function to them. The same goes for David, who tried to toy even further with the powers of Genesis than we previously knew. In doing so, he caused the Genesis planet to revive Spock\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s body IN THE FORM OF A CHILD. Alongside the planet, Spock ages rapidly. The science of it escapes me, but I understood this parallel journey. The point here is that everything ages, and everything eventually dies. I think that perhaps David was doing penance for his actions by sacrificing himself for Spock and Lt. Saavik. (I have\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 things to say about this.) He sacrifices himself, just days after Spock did so, and the cycle continues.<\/p>\n

I felt like this film was a lot more muted in terms of acting, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s okay. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a nice middle ground between the first and second films. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no moment quite like Kirk screaming about Khan. Instead, we get his building rage at losing David; we get his tearful reunion with Spock, which is FOREVER going to be one of my favorite scenes in this whole fictional universe. God, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done so, so well, particularly by using all the callbacks to the death sequence to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153resurrect\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Spock\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mind. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a clever way to re-use something that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gut-wrenching in order to represent his rebirth. (Wow, now that I say it like that, this really does have a lot of Christian imagery to it, doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s neat!)<\/p>\n

And holy shit, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m\u00c2\u00a0so<\/i> into the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153To Be Continued\u00e2\u20ac\u009d nature of the ending. I was so confused as to how they were going to deal with the\u00c2\u00a0katra<\/i> ceremony AND the destruction of the\u00c2\u00a0Enterprise<\/i> AND returning home in the span of twenty minutes, but I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a bold move to leave that up in the air. (Shit, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so excited for the next film, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all!) There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so much they need to deal with! Instead, we get more time at the ceremony and a longer reunion scene, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m fine with that.<\/p>\n

The Not-So-Good<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m normally into dramatic scenes being played without music (No Country For Old Men<\/i> is a brilliant example of this), but David\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death scene is just so tonally\u00c2\u00a0weird<\/i> here. It just\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 happens? Kirk\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reaction is where all the weight is, which is fine, but it was otherwise a very odd moment at the time. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s indicative of the larger issue I have within\u00c2\u00a0The Search for Spock<\/i>: the Klingon plot was SO BORING.<\/p>\n

Aside from the shocking self-destruct sequence of the Enterprise<\/i>, there was no need to ever have this plot. What does it add to the larger themes of the film? Couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t you have the destruction of the Genesis as the main conflict and still keep a great deal of this story? Regardless of this, I still thought that Kruge was so one-note as an antagonist that I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t bring myself to be interested in him. The film drops a ton of brownface makeup onto white actors (STOP DOING THIS), and deliberately invokes a lot of racial superiority metaphors in the process, and YAWN. I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care about this! The film borrows so heavily from the least interesting part of Klingon mythology, adding only\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 a really weird rat dog thing??? WHY IS THAT THERE? Why does Kruge kill that evolving worm? Are we supposed to think he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ruthless and heinous because of it? Why would you introduce a villain if they aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to do anything significant?<\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a huge dark spot in this film, which was quite good otherwise! Christopher Lloyd as a Klingon\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 ugh, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s too weird for me, too full of bad science fiction tropes that keep this entire plot from feeling like any old episode of\u00c2\u00a0The Original Series<\/i>. I wanted more from a film that did so many other things right.<\/p>\n

Anyway, I\u00c2\u00a0really<\/i> can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wait to see this next one. HOW ARE THEY GETTING HOME IN A VULCAN SHIP??? Are they all going to be cast out of the Federation??? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M SO EXCITED.<\/p>\n

The video for\u00c2\u00a0The Search for Spock<\/i> can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– Mark Does Stuff is now on Facebook<\/a>! Feel free to Like the page, which I’m running myself, for updates and SILLINESS.
\n– If you would like to support this website and keep Mark Does Stuff running, I’ve put up a detailed post explaining how you can!<\/a>
\n– Please check out the MarkDoesStuff.com<\/a>. All Mark Watches videos for past shows\/season are now archived there!
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features will be\u00c2\u00a0The Legend of Korra<\/i>, seasons 2 – 4, series 8 of\u00c2\u00a0Doctor Who<\/i>, and Kings<\/i>.<\/b>
\n– The 2015 Mark Does Stuff tour is being announced!!! Check my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page<\/a> often to see if I’m coming to your city!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"