The Geedord Files

My wife dragged me to see the Twilight movie this weekend.  I have not read the books and went into the move with a fair bit of trepidation, kind of like when I got drug to Titanic by an old girlfriend.  The movie seemed to be a tween angst-fest that would be a combination of Dawson’s Creek and Interview with a Vampire.  After watching the movie I have to say that I was pleasently surprised.  The movie was an obvious adaptation of a much longer book, and this is the good and bad side of the work.

On the positive side the movie takes a refreashingly positive spin on the vampire legend.  Though we still have blood-sucking and death, there is an almost reverent tone placed upon the condition.  Sometimes the vampires fall into the shlock of self-loathing, but for the most part they stay above the cheap pity play.  The second positive is that the movie hints at a much deeper book, though this is also the major flaw.  The movie hints at this deeper work, but fails to grasp the true sense of adaptation.  This idea is best grasp by the more recent Harry Potter films and Twilight’s producers would do well to take these lessons.  Focus on the main story and let the detritus fall beside, without the context of the book, if takes away from the story.

The major flaw of the movie itself was the pacing.  I felt as though too much time was spent on the beginning of the story and the end seemed rushed and underdeveloped.  The main antagonist (James) was no more than a 2D cutout of a villian due to this underdevelopment (as were the other members of the Cullen Clan).  The story would have done well to remove much of the secondary story (dad, school friends, etc.) and focused on the development of the main focus.  It is obvious, though I haven’t read the books, that the Cullens, the Native Americans, and James’s cohorts will more important in the future, while the school will disappear soon.

I would say this is a decent popcorn movie that lacks the focus an adaptations needs to really be good.  It accomplished the dual goals of keeping me interested with no prior knowledge and actually making me interested in reading the books.

I saw the new Star Trek trailer the other day and had a few impressions from the perspective of a casual fan.  First let me say that I am not a hard-core fan (though I am friends with quite a few), I am looking at this as a fan of SciFi and with a love of the original series.  It is always a danger when a beloved canon is taken up by a new generation and there are always people who will be in the polarized camps of love and hate for the changes.

Having seen the trailer I will say I am enthusiastic to see the final product.  I think the retool of looking at the early years allows for some very good character development.  The new movie is obviously going to be a special effects nerdgasm and overall I am pleased with the new aesthetic.  The new Enterprise bridge looks to be a nicely done upgrade with some reverence for the source material.  The space battles look impressive and there is going to be plenty of the action we demand from our modern SciFi epics.

The casting that we have seen has been excellent.  Chris Pine exudes the smarmy arrogance that would have been a young Kirk (what do you expect from a character whose middle name is Tiberius).  This is not a dark angsty Kirk, but rather a cocky and defiant Kirk, key to the later character that often goes outside the regulations of Starfleet.  Heroes Sylar has so far been shown to be a great Spock, but those are some very large shoes to fill.  I am more interested to see the secondary characters like Scotty and Chekov.  The original series was designed with a little camp in those characters and it will be interesting to see that camp spirit balanced against the epic feel of the movie.

In sum I would say that I am anxious to see the new movie and hope it lives up to the promise of the trailer.  Yes, hardcore fans will be upset with some changes to canon, but I think some changes are fine as long as the spirit of the original series is kept.  I just hope it isn’t screwed in the polishing or translation (think Legend of the Seeker)