{"id":4989,"date":"2015-10-13T13:00:39","date_gmt":"2015-10-13T20:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=4989"},"modified":"2015-09-20T08:29:30","modified_gmt":"2015-09-20T15:29:30","slug":"mark-watches-star-trek-the-undiscovered-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2015\/10\/mark-watches-star-trek-the-undiscovered-country\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Star Trek’: The Undiscovered Country"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the sixth Star Trek <\/i>film, EVERYTHING IS MESSED UP AND DARK AS HELL AND IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S AWESOME. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch The Undiscovered Country<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For talk of racism.<\/b><\/p>\n

So, this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just an improvement over The Final Frontier<\/i>. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just a damn good story. I have a few things to nitpick and a lot of things to praise. LET\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S DO IT.<\/p>\n

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

So, Star Trek<\/i> isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t so good with race, are they? Like\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 historically they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re pretty terrible at addressing it. The Original Series<\/i> was often full of some bad implications, and all of the non-white characters were part of a secondary cast that rarely got attention of their own. I was pleased to see Sulu elevated to the role of Captain; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of the coolest parts of this film. But holy shit, the more I think about that reference to Guess Who<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Coming to Dinner<\/i> line, the less I like it. You realize Nichelle Nichols is like\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 right there??? Sitting off to the left of Chekov? Miscegenation is not the same thing as the Klingon-Federation conflict. Not now, not ever<\/i>.<\/p>\n

That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s especially the case when you consider that a white actor was given a role that required him to darken his skin and be given a name like Chang<\/i>. Look, I think Star Trek<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s use of the Klingons is always going to be a problem no matter which way you think of it. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re always darker than white humans, and while The Next Generation<\/i> has done incredible things to deconstruct this narrative, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always going to be a representation of the normal versus the Other. Now, Christopher Plummer is damn fantastic as the Shakespeare-quoting General Chang. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a very absurd characterization, but it works if you view the Klingons as consuming human art, but claiming it as their own. Which is very ironic, of course! That being said? It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make that mutually exclusive with the racial implications. I can find Plummer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s performance entertaining as an antagonistic and recognize that this film has a perplexing relationship with race. I mean, one of the most vehement voices against Klingon-Federation peace is\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 a dark-skinned black man? I get that maybe the show was trying to make some sort of ironic commentary, but come on<\/i>.<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll talk about that more in a second.<\/p>\n

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

God, WHO WASN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T IN THIS FILM??? Iman, Christian Slater, Christopher Plummer, Brock Peters, Kurtwood Smith, Kim Catrall\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I LOVE IT. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a diverse and talented cast, and that made the performances all the more electrifying.<\/p>\n

Starting from that, I want to talk about how hilarious it was that I thought I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d never truly learn what Spock was referring to in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Unification, Part II.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a great tie-in to this episode because it provides a brilliant context to his behavior in that episode. Spock didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to lead other people into danger, and now we learn what the danger was. The Undiscovered Country<\/i> is a political thriller that works as well as it does both because it explains a huge chunk of the context of The Next Generation<\/i> AND because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s escalated so effectively. The opening scene is a spectacle, namely because of the combination of the reveal of Sulu\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new position and the jaw-dropping special effects. (They looked great in HD, for the record.) From there, I never felt like this film crawled along. (Of course, my perception is obviously different than most people, since I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think The Motion Picture <\/i>was boring or sluggish.)<\/p>\n

I loved that the look for this film was so dark, especially since it accented the tone of it all appropriately. This is a story that deals primarily with fear and prejudice. Given the Klingon history with the Federation \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and with Captain Kirk specifically \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it made sense that so many people would be utterly averse to making peace with the species. Even though events forced their hands, could they be trusted? The conspiracy that develops because of that demonstrated that many different species and peoples believed that the change Chancellor Gorkon wanted was dangerous, foolish, and impossible. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a perfect companion to the events of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Unification,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it?<\/p>\n

Even Captain Kirk is not without some criticism from the film itself, and I thought this was a bold and rewarding step for the series. His prejudice against the Klingons was not just due to decades fighting against them; he lost his son David during the events of The Search for Spock<\/i>, and Klingons were responsible for that. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why Chang\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plan works so spectacularly: he uses Kirk\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s prejudice against him in order to make it seem like the Enterprise<\/i> murdered Gorkon. The events seem plausible, which is why so many people buy it. Of course, the folks on the Enterprise<\/i> know that this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t what happened, but with all the circumstantial evidence so spectacularly against McCoy and Kirk, how could they ever prove themselves innocent?<\/p>\n

God, the scenes on the gulag planet were SO GOOD, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. I love how dark and gritty everything looks, and I love that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re contrasted with the murder mystery vibe up on the Enterprise<\/i> as Spock leads the crew in rooting out the assassins. I do love a good perseverance plot on Star Trek<\/i>, and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just so much going on. I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of the reasons that this film flew by for me. There was a fantastic balance between the storylines. We get worldbuilding for Rura Penthe, as well as Iman as a shapeshifting two-timer who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s out to get a full pardon. We get to see Spock\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s relationship with Valeris, the second Vulcan to ace their way through the Academy. Hell, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s even time to see what kind of captain Sulu\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s made.<\/p>\n

But lord, that conspiracy<\/i>. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a hell of a story, and I honestly did not suspect Valeris. At first, it didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem to make sense to me. How could a being so logical do something so devious? Well, I think it was necessary to contrast Spock and Valeris to show us how Spock makes choices that are more human than Vulcan. It might have been logical to oppose Klingon peace, but as we see far into the future, Spock knows that faith<\/i> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a concept that the Vulcans rarely bother with \u00e2\u20ac\u201c can mean putting aside one\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s logic in the hope of a better future. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what he does here when he gets Captain Kirk involved in this nightmare: he deliberate eschews logic in order to pursue a maybe<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Valeris, Chang, and her counterparts are not interested in such a thing, unfortunately, and they were certain the best option was to sabotage the entire peace proceedings and guarantee a separation between the two worlds. They believed peace wasn’t possible, so they tried to guarantee it wouldn’t happen in the first place. It was an attempt to make a self-fulfilling prophecy, which is just so horrible to think about. Of course there can’t be peace between the Klingons and the Federation when you do shit like this! But that’s how shortsighted these people were. Murder and terrorism were better options<\/i> than an attempt at peace!<\/p>\n

The ending to The Undiscovered Country <\/i>is a little cheesy for my tastes. How did those people at Khitomer know what had transpired? They just applauded Kirk after he said a few things that could not have fully informed them. Still, I like that this explains how the Klingon alliance came about, and I do think it’s a fantastic end to the Original Series<\/i> films. In a lot of ways, it represents why this crew matters and why their stories should be told. I’ll miss them, certainly. But I’m also very happy to be in the Next Generation<\/i> universe. This is how I’ll bid farewell to Scotty, Bones, Spock, Chekov, Sulu, and Kirk, and it’s a fantastic way to do so.<\/p>\n

The video for The Undiscovered Country<\/i> can be downloaded here for $1.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

– I am now on Patreon<\/a><\/b>!!! MANY SURPRISES ARE IN STORE FOR YOU IF YOU SUPPORT ME<\/a>.
\n– The Mark Does Stuff Tour 2015 is now live and includes dates across the U.S. this summer and fall Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\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 for Mark Watches will be the remainder of\u00c2\u00a0The Legend of Korra<\/i>, series 8 of\u00c2\u00a0Doctor Who<\/i>, and Kings<\/i>. On Mark Reads, Diane Duane’s Young Wizards<\/i> series will replace the Emelan books.
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"