Star Trek
 

Really guys, no Trek thread yet?!

Well, okay then, I'll hold off a bit on in-depth discussion until some more people have seen it.

Initial reactions:
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BLACK HOLES DO NOT WORK THAT WAY!

Other than that, one fun ride! It needed about ten more minutes somewhere in there for a little more character development for Sulu, Scotty, and Chekov (...Maybe not Chekov--ohmygod annoying). But I'm not sure how they could have kept the momentum and desperation of the plot if they had that, so... eh. But certainly, needs more McCoy. Karl Urban was hands my favorite part of movie, and it's a real pity his role is completely marginalized right about when he becomes CMO.

So yeah, whether you like Star Trek or not, I recommend it. More than anything, it's fun!

EDIT: Also, I saw it in IMAX, so... nyeah. See it that way if you can, seriously!

Don't forget SUPERNOVAS DO NOT WORK THAT WAY. And why did they even have to drill a hole to the center of the planet to drop the Red Matter in? Surely black hole juice would be just as effective if dropped on the surface? What were they thinking giving Spock that much of the stuff anyway?

Yeah, plot was pretty dumb but the character stuff was great. I agree its a pity they couldn't have given a little more attention to Sulu, Scotty, Chekov and McCoy. I liked Chekov though (I can do that!), even with the playing up of the wessels. Karl Urban was fantastic.

A lot of fun little references too. And a lot of scenes were just hilarious like the Vulcan bullying and how Spock gets the girl.

I almost burst out laughing when I first saw the Romulan ship though. It's not just spiky. It's made of spikes.

Also I saw it for free on an IMAX screen on Wednesday. Go me!

Ha ha, yeah. It's funny how basically everything to do with the bad guy in this one was just completely ridiculous.

Though, you know, the Trekkie in me was a little curious how the Federation knew that ship was Romulan, and young Spock even makes reference to their shared ancestry when in the Original Series they actually make that discovery years after this movie takes place. I mean, it's not that big of a retcon, and it doesn't make that big of a difference, it's just the one that stood out most for me.

While we're talking about ships, I gotta say, I loved the redesign of the interior of the Enterprise. Specifically the bowels of the ship. Catwalks and massive machinery... it's just so much more visually exciting compared to the simplicity of the original. I only wish the camera (and plot) could have stayed still long enough to get a look at the more habitable parts of the ship aside from the bridge (ie, sickbay, the corridors, etc).

I'm thinking there are quite a few plotholes.

Like, dude, Nero? You went back in time. Instead of going crazy and killing everyone, why not, I dunno, TELL THE PEOPLE A SUPERNOVA IS GOING TO HAPPEN IN 129 YEARS. That'd be pretty damn simple, don't you think?

Or the fact that, in Star Fleet, all you need to be a captain of a ship is to be nearby when the Captain dies. Kirk was on suspension, and the only reason he got to be Captain was because he verbally assaulted the current Captain and almost got choked to death. There...really was nothing signifying that he had a right to the role other than the old dude had a creepy fascination with Kirk's father.

Aside from Pike promoting him to first officer, no?

But yeah, the plot holes, they are numerous!

"Kirk, you're first officer." "...why?" "Because I said so." "Sir, there are hundreds of well-trained cadets on this ship who not only have far more experience, but are also, y'know, STILL ACTUALLY ENROLLED in Star Fleet." "...and?"

You need to stop listening to that pointy eared bastard Raiden.

Everyone loves a rebel!

That engine room was ca-razy.
 

To the first: He had plenty of time. Presumably he still could / would once he was done with his revenge. Personally, I was more concerned with the "this is just one of our mining ships" silliness. How do you go from the elegant and awesome warbird design to... that fucked up near-Giger ship ? Oh, and that the Romulans are a terrific race but in this movie get represented by an angry child, at least mentally, rather than a collected and calculating villain .

To the second: Kirk's dad was the first officer, I thought, making him the logical choice. As for Kirk, was he actually on suspension or just told to get off the bridge? I honestly don't remember the exact wording, as I was more waiting for Kirk to double-fist-punch someone, get his shirt torn, and make love to whatever new female character was going to arrive/a Romulan.

It was very good, although I disagree with a lot of the directing decisions & some of the visual elements. Fast paced space battles are one thing but in old(er) Star Trek films you could always tell what the hell was going on. JJ Abrams work here was your typical summer-action-movie close-up-and-shaky-camera-make-you-sick space-battles - a problem we suffer in Transformers and basically any action movie.

The casting & acting was pretty great as well as the writing, even if the overall story was difficult to follow - Reading the comic book tie in makes it make a LOT more sense (as I have) but then again I don't feel like that should be nessecery. Star Trek villans and plots are usually a lot more discernable, and it's a shame they didn't 'make it so' becuase this was probably the coolest thing they've done with Romulans since, well, ever.

It seemed like everthing really went out of the way to make this different from the established Trek universe, not nessecerily from a storyline standpoint but just visually, you know? The 'Feel' of things. I can't decide if I'm ok with this or not. On the one hand, if you want to tell a story with these charecters again, you need to make it different, you need to make them relevant. On the other hand, I feel like it took away a lot of what made the property unique - there was not a lot that was iconic in the design of the ships and shuttles, or, really, in the approach of the director.

All in all, the 3 man mission with Kirk, Sulu, and whats-his-face made it entirely worth while. I also really love how they established Kirk's relationship with each character, I could feel him bonding with his future crew from my seat. Oh, and that opening scene? I was gettin' a little choked up I have to admit! Very emotionally satisfying throughout and made up for continuity problems IMO.