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'It's courageous of you not to try and imitate William Shatner...'

posted 12 years ago by GordonGekko_
7 replies | jump to latest

I found it interesting that one part Chris Pine said people came up to him and would say something along the lines of, 'it's so courageous of you that you didn't try and imitate Shatner', or something like that. What's funny to me is that it's true that Chris Pine made Kirk's character his own in the 2009 reboot, but through either poor direction or personal choice, Karl Urban tried to imitate DeForest Kelley's mannerisms and even dialect as 'Bones'. To me that was one of the biggest faults of the 2009 reboot. I get squeamish when I watch Urban's scenes because he is forcing something that is just...wrong.

Abrams should have told Urban not to try and impersonate/imitate 'Bones' from TOS.

That's just my opinion.

[–] ScreamingPelican 12 years ago

And my opinion is Urban was one of the best parts of the movie.

But thats the great thing about opinions is that we both have one and neither one of them is wrong.

"Don't ask me, I only work here"

[–] jgroub 10 years ago

I completely agree with you about Urban - he really helps make the movies for me.

Some of the characters that really can't really be imitated from the original. There's not enough material there to imitate Sulu or Uhura, so the new cast can do their own take. Pegg could have done his Scotty a lot more Scottyesque, but to my mind, chose not to, and his take on Scotty is excellent.

But to my mind, Bones has gotta be Bones, and Spock has gotta be Spock, and the new guys do very well with that. Kirk "only" has to be heroic, and Pine has got that covered. To me the true hearts of the series were Spock and Bones, especially their arguments.

I want the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.

[–] six-of-one 12 years ago

I dunno. I didn't find myself too hung up on either performance. I just know overall I loved the film and enjoyed all the performances. I thought all the actors did a great job filling iconic roles and to me, the film struck the right tone of creating something new while still respecting the original in a way that echoed of the past.

[–] FierceCritter 12 years ago

I loved Urban's take on McCoy. I found his performance delightful and it made the movie for me.

Bones is second to only Spock as far as the importance of capturing some of the actor's original mannerisms that made the character what it was. Scotty, Uhura, Sulu, Chekov and even Kirk leave room for more of a fresh take on the characters (Pine imitating Shatner's unique pause-filled delivery would have been disasterous). But McCoy and Spock, well, the way Kelly and Nimoy played them has BECOME the characters in a way.

[–] liscarkat-2 12 years ago

Urban was either one of the greatest faults of the movie, or one of the best things about the movie. Both cannot be true. One opinion or the other has to be wrong.

[–] whokilledreno 12 years ago

___________________________________

Urban was either one of the greatest faults of the movie, or one of the best things about the movie. Both cannot be true. One opinion or the other has to be wrong.

___________________________________________

F-F-F-F-F-F-F-F-F-F-F-F-F-F-F-F-F-F-FFFFFIGGGGHHHTTT!!!!

denah-dudududududu-denah denahh---

[–] BehindTheBeat 12 years ago

Think about it though. The Kirk of TOS and the Kirk of the reboot are supposed to be different, because the trajectory of their lives is now different. Bones being slightly older arrives at Starfleet as a "fully formed" grown up. His life would not have changed because of the events at the beginning of the new movie.