ST JJ Abrams to direct Episode VII

I actually like elements of the 9/11 allegory, but overall they fall flat as they are 10+ years removed (not a lot of risk taking here), and they are handled in a fairly ham-fisted manner. Love the first of JJ's Trek films, despite the technical excesses, but I find myself liking Into Darkness less the more I see it. There are some spectacular action set pieces, but really the only thing really holding the film together is Cumberbatch's performance. He makes the character engaging, and at times sympathetic, but he is wonderfully over the top when needed. Unfortunately it's lost in a muddled script.

Yancy

 

I don't mind that Into Darkness' political allegory is a tad behind the curve, that's generally what happens with Trek anyway. I thought that this one tried to be more "about something" which is what is underneath most great Trek political allegorical stories. Although I will give the advantage of "Star Trek" being a more cohesive experience, even if it does mostly dispense with the political allegory of Trek (instead, it falls under the umbrella of various Trek time travel / alternate universe stories only this time there isn't really any time travel in it!)

 

However, the allusion to the question of the morality of drone warfare is far more current. I don't know if the film actually set out to be a "9/11 allegory".

 

So now youre even criticizing STID for subtext that you yourself have projected onto it?

 

The 9/11 allegory in "Star Trek" is the destruction of the Kelvin / Vulcan. 9/11 allegorical element in to "Star Trek Into Darkness" is about the assassination of Bin Laden. Logically, one can extrapolate that the next Trek movie will be about adaptations and representations of 9/11 through pop-culture. The circle is now complete.

 

Media taking shots at JJ Abrams mystery box when it comes to casting..

http://badassdigest.com/2014/04/07/chewbacca-will-be-coming-back-for-star-wars-episode-vii/

Jeff Sneider ‏@TheInSneider 1m
@devincf Part of me thinks Disney isn't hiding so much as, they have no clue what's going & JJ is keeping them completely in the dark...

 

I do agree with Devin. I cannot see any point in keeping the cast hidden now, as well as returning cast members will all know will be in the film. Just bloody tell us who’s in the film. No need for character names, just the actors. There is simply no reason for such an absurd level of secrecy. At least no reason that I can think of. I mean, Peter Mayhew returning as Chewbacca shouldn’t really be big news, but because of this utterly ruthless shroud of secrecy JJ's got going on, it’s now turned into big news. It’s ridiculous. And no, its not “fan entitlement” (which is an incredibly patronising term, BTW), its annoyance at a ludicrous level of secrecy that shouldn’t be as severe as it is. It’s as simple as that. Rant over.

 

I agree entirely with Devin. The tweets from Jeff Sneider also sound a little ominous.

 

Secrecy suggests a lack of confidence. Trusting VII to be good is like trusting a stranger.

 

Actually I dont necessarily want character names. But nice hints to go along with each new cast member like "a young Skywalker" or "a ruthless villain" will do and help get our mouths watering just enough.


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I believe Alan Horn when he says they're still casting. In fact, I think they're looking for their main character. Abrams has a history of casting the biggest roles last, and waiting until the very last minute to do so.

I don't blame them for not announcing until they have a protagonist. If they go ahead and reveal what they have now, the big story will be how they haven't found a lead yet. That's much worse press than a few grumblings on Twitter. When they do finally release, they want the story to be on how interesting their choices are, including their main character.

 

Exactly. If they announced just a few cast members right now with a clarification that it's not everyone, the inevitable interpretation of the story will be that the film's in trouble because they can't find all of the cast members they need. It's in their interest to let the grumbling stay on fan forums and Twitter, make a full, official announcement when they've got everyone, and not leave room to read between the lines.

 

Hopefully, you're right.

 

They way I am understanding it is that most of the cast is in place. With reports from last week that they are still holding auditions for the lead role or one of the leads, ,it actually makes sense they haven't announced any cast members just yet. Normally a studio starts by announcing the lead or leads and then works their way down through the cast announcing the supporting roles after that. I dont recall a production that has started casting announcements by revealing supporting cast members first before the leads are known. If they had the leads locked down first, then we may have had some cast members officially confirmed already and then they would release supporting members as they sign. But since it appears to be the lead role still not locked yet, they are sitting on everyone else for now. Just my take on it.

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Then they should be made to. I'm really tired of modern audiences complaining that any film made before the 2000s is "slow" and "boring". Heck, even when ANH SE came out, I remember some younger people complaining the first 20 minutes of the movie were just boring scenes of robots walking around. People don't seem to realize that you need those slower scenes in a movie, even a sci-fi adventure movie, in order to care what happens to the characters at the end. There's a reason there's zero emotional investment in the movies of Michael Bay and most other modern blockbuster filmmakers - they just can't be bothered to spend the time to establish the characters and story because they're so afraid of boring the audience.

Having said that, I think JJ does have it in him to make a slower paced film. Super 8 certainly did a good job of establishing the kids and their world before introducing the sci-fi element (in fact, he probably did a better job of the former than the latter). I'm not saying that EVII has to have lots of scenes of politics and Jedi speaking very slowly, but I hope JJ tones down the frenetic quality he brought to ST a little and just focuses on the characters for the first half of the movie. Save most of the fast-paced action for the second half (just like Lucas did in ANH) so we actually give a damn by then.

 

And who's going to make them, you?

Seriously, though, I don't think that's the answer. The "new generation of filmmakers" to whom Lucas has passed the torch needs to walk a line between harkening back to the feeling of the OT without sacrificing the pace and style of the times, IMHO.

 

what's the difference between an entitled little kid yelling at his mom at the supermarket because he "has to have a candy bar" and a Star Wars fan?

150 pounds.

BA DUM TSSSSSSS.

 

I agree... I think the ST has to be its own thing without sacrificing quality too much. We have to accept that, broadly speaking, the pace of action/entertainment films have picked up speed since the OT (and even the PT), so the ST will need to reflect modern sensibilities. Saying that, I think the OT certainly seemed paceier and action orientated than its contemporaries... so these things are relative.

 

Yeah, I remember when I heard Matt Damon was cast as Jason Bourne, and I thought, "Matt Damon? That guy? He'll never pull off a spy thriller!"

 

Tatoonie, Original Trilogy Main Characters, John Williams. Looks like JJ is about to make his George Lucas Homage film with "Episode VII" like he did for Speilberg with "Super 8".

 

^ Yes, I'm getting that vibe. TBH, I wouldn't mind that so much, but it’s imperative that it’s also its own film and the first of a trilogy.