You Saw Star Trek. Whatcha Think? ***SPOILERS ALLOWED***

[MattRobertson]

You saw the movie. I will have your thoughts.

[stevesrt8]

I'm having trouble with the mind meld!

[CoolVanilla]

Why oh why did they default to the typical 'wronged-villain-set-on-revenge' story? Haven't we been there enough already? I got the feeling they didn't want a complicated plot because they didn't want to distract from the effects. Either that, or they figured an audience that would be receptive to a 'reboot' would be a simple audience. Either way, there was no substance.

I found the 'disappeared for 25 years' thing hard to swallow too. Someone who's supposedly mad isn't going to just disappear, nor will it take him 25 years to exact his revenge. Can't believe his crew would sit around waiting with him either... especially a ship full of humble miners.

The drill; are we really to believe that all the defenses of Earth's solar system (and Vulcan for that matter), nay the entire Federation itself, couldn't come together somehow and take out even a tiny part of the 5000 meter long tether? Again, hard to believe that a mining ship from 125 years in the future would have such devastating technology as to render an entire world defenseless. Hell have a drone set a collision course and be done with it.

The Spock/Uhura love fest felt WAY out of place. I don't get that at all.

Since when has Sarek ever been so supportive of Spock? Sarek essentially disowns Spock when he joins Star Fleet, he doesn't support him. And given the timing of everything, this would have been a shared timeline between the movie and TOS.

Maybe hardest for me to swallow of all was how Kirk jumped from a "grounded" third year cadet to captain in about 20 minutes. And not just captain, but captain of the Federation flagship. I realize the guy is good, but come on now...

Things I did like included the lighting on Pikes face when he was in the Captain's chair. Had to laugh that they threw that in. I also liked how a "redshirt" got whacked almost immediately, and how Pike ended up in a wheelchair (although not completely paralyzed). "...all she's got" found its way in, and I really enjoyed the "Damnit Jim..."s. I also thought Pine did a great job throwing in the occasional honor to Shatner in delivery, look and stance. Very well done on his part.

There's lots more I didn't like, knit picky type things; the Kelvin held 800 people?!, the Enterprise is watercooled?, how did miners figure out when and where old Spock would show? Why soooo much 'red matter', when all it takes is the tinyest spec? etc

Overall, I give the movie a B-. I think the best thing about it is that, by appealing to a not-so-Star-Trek audience, it probably has rebooted the franchise. Even if that reboot came at the expense of the real-Star-Trek audience. As they say, even bad sex... or is that pizza?

[viper3ez]

i'm not a star trek fan so i enjoyed it. all your points are valid to me nevertheless even though i never seen the original.

i liked the comedy effect in several scenes and i also like how the whole movie was centered around deviant behavior.

but the whole future/present setting threw me off a few times. kinda hard to keep up with so much future/past travelling.

i loved kirk nevertheless. for some reason, i tend to identify with deviance from the goog guys in movies.

all in all is only a movie to me and i liked it

[viper3ez]

not seen the old ones as i'm not a big fan.

was entertaining if thats ur reason for seaing a movie but if you are into analyzing movies or are a big star trek fan, you might have issues with some parts

[CoolVanilla]

Merged mine with Matt's.

[MattRobertson]

Bubblegum. Popcorn. Wasted opportunities and weirdness. Thats Star Trek 2009 for me.

They sure did try hard. And they had probably the biggest cinematic shoes to fill in the history of the movies. How do I organize this? Lets try it character by character.

Kirk
I had the most reservations about this character going into the movie. Looking at the guy in the still shots, he just looked ALL wrong. A kid visiting his dad's office. Did Pop let him sit in that chair while he went off to the bathroom for just a minute? "Don't touch anything or you're grounded". However, I have to say the guy did a good job, and I can now see him growing into the part, which is probably the desired effect. However well the actor played the character, though, the plot didn't do him justice. More on that later.

Spock
Another one I didn't buy into from the stills or trailers. However, here again the actor does a very good job. His voice is wrong (too soft) and his take on the character has a decidedly different slant to it. Nimoy was a pilgrim among heathens, looking down from above, the master of the wry and ironic observation about the frailties and foibles of humanity. The New Guy has yet to find himself and, at present, is rather well-loaded with self doubt. Some of his demeanor is explicable given the personally devastating events he has just lived through. I did very much like the revised Spock/Sarek treatment on their relationship.

McCoy
Nailed it. Absolutely nailed it solid to the wall. Fantastic, enjoyable performance and well served in the script and plot. (Best line, under his breath: "Pointed-eared hobgoblin!")

Sulu
Not much to do in this film, but I liked what they gave him.

Scotty
Hated what they did with the character. More than any other cast member besides Nimoy I've got a lot of goodwill built up towards this actor and he was just not given material that was fair to his character. He was purely comic relief. A buffoon to a point, and that ain't Scotty. Someone coming into the franchise fresh isn't going to have that prejudice.

Checkov
I think the "how old are you?" question should have been asked right up front by Cpt. Pike. Armed with that knowledge I would have been much more willing to put up with this guy's dialog, which was getting on my nerves.

Uhura
Oh my God this chick is hot. Which is unfair to the actress, who does an excellent job playing one of the most culturally significant characters of the 20th Century. Smokin I tell ya.

The Sets
Loved some. Absolutely hated some. The panoramic urban shots were the most detailed, spectacular and realistic that I have ever seen.

Loved the use of Vasquez Rocks (yet again... it wouldn't be Star Trek without a scene here worked in somewhere) for Amanda's panoramic view scene. thanks to the miracle of cgi they managed to make it look different enough not to piss you off.

Hated the bowels of the Starfleet ships. Cue the two In Living Color critics: "Haaaaaated it". They used the inside of a couple of factories. Now, in 2009 you don't need to do that, especially when your effects budget is what it is on this flick. So this was a creative decision. Sorry but steel girders, boilers, catwalks, 3-story tall roofs and concrete floors are NOT my idea of what the inside of a spiffy spaceship looks like. And it wasn't just the Engineering deck that had that look. And the Bridge area was all spacey again, so we had a nice dose of inconsistency there.

And ... the Enterprise. Here is the Grande Dame of the franchise. If you screw up nothing else, don't botch this.

...

They put two big ice cream cones on in place of the warp nacelles. Berry flavored from the looks of the big roundy parts in the front. WTF were they thinking? And they attached them with a couple of swoopy things all the way to the back. So much for proportional balance. Looks like $hit. I should have been consulted before they did this.

The Plot
I can see why Nimoy was reportedly so overcome with emotion when it was outlined to him. The scope of it is spectacular from his character's perspective. If they do this right, its an incredibly moving tale.

Only they didn't. Its treated in entirely pedestrian fashion. You start at the beginning. You move with workmanlike efficiency to the middle and you expediently get to the end. Keep the scenes coming at 75 mph. Not 90 cuz thats too fast. Just keep up a steady fast pace, hit the high points in order and we'll be done in two hours and nine minutes.

No real surprises anywhere. Anywhere.

Except for who Uhura is hot for, and who's hot for her back. You can't make a good movie out of just that. Its just another good moment, and there are, to be sure, many of those nice moments.

EDIT: Oh and another one was how Starfleet must be populated with chimps or something cuz this guy who was about to be kicked out suddenly gets command of the federation flagship with a big ceremony. Can you say "uh oh we're outta time. Give him the ship so we can do the sequel"? And thats not bad enough. Pike makes him first officer why exactly? And Starfleet discipline is pretty free and easy what with all the brawling on the bridge. Thought it was a Klingon ship there for a minute.

Take the Spock Flies The Spock Ship scene. You don't need a mind meld to see their heroic plan right from the start. Neither does Eric Bana ("Fire Everything!"). He doesn't look all that pissed as he sits there and lets himself get munched up. Perhaps the most undramatic finale imaginable. And oh my lookie they got caught in the black hole. Gee do ya think they'll get out? Duh of course they will or there's no sequel. Boooorrrrrinnnnggggg. At least it was the way they handled it.

Oh and those Romulans... WTF is up with them? Is it chilly on the ship so they need those really thick overcoats? Somebody has been watching really old movies: Nosferatu, with tats. How very not original

The Result
A disappointment. Mostly due to the way the plot was handled. I could have put up with the union factory inside the star ship. The giant ice cream cones I might have even gotten over with time. But the treatment of the story just plain sucked.

[ZeGuru]

nerds.

[MattRobertson]

No.

Geeks.

Get it right :D

[ZeGuru]

Sorry, by bad. I'm kind of excited to see the movie. Any time I catch the original episodes on TV, I end up watching them (usually at 1am in the morning). As far as having smoking hot chicks, well, that's spot on with the original.

[CoolVanilla]

Oh and whats up the the Orion? They didn't even touch on her... uhm... power. There was nothing about that chick that was vicious or seductive. That could have been anyone Kirk was about to bang.

Another missed opportunity

[TheBeastMaster]

As a trekkie, my head hurt from how much that movie completely (inhaled vigorously.) That pos was even worse than ST9 and 10,and that's saying a lot. Can we stop retardly trying to mix actors from other series in to the current one? Seeing as how most people clapped at the end,all I can hope is that it makes enough money to justify St12, which hopefully won't (inhale vigorously).

[MattRobertson]

As long as we're picking nits, WTF was up with the RED HAIR on the green girl? I mean, that character type combined both seduction and naughtiness ... and menace. The black hair worked with that. Ya think that the original costume/makeup dept tried on a few different wigs, maybe, and decided that black fit the character best? Probably since the original Orion girl had many non-Orion persona and most of those were blonde.

J I disagree with you on a lot of the canonical changes... with a reboot, you have to expect that they are going to try and 'fix' a lot of things. The romance between Spock and Uhura, the revised Sarek/Spock relationship (especially after what they have both just lived thrugh)... I think it all goes hand in hand with a reboot and you have to take that part and embrace it as new and ... just different.

Its the stupid stuff that was allowed to go in despite incredible budgets and excellent talent that pisses me off.

That and those damned ice cream cones.

wt... F?

[CoolVanilla]

J I disagree with you on a lot of the canonical changes... with a reboot, you have to expect that they are going to try and 'fix' a lot of things. The romance between Spock and Uhura, the revised Sarek/Spock relationship (especially after what they have both just lived thrugh)... I think it all goes hand in hand with a reboot and you have to take that part and embrace it as new and ... just different.

Spock/Uhura: What did it add to the story? Was it an attempt to show just how conflicted Spock is? Don't we already 'get' that from everything else? And do we REALLY believe a Spock who is willing to destroy Kirk (as evidenced by his reaction to the Kobiashi Maro) is a Spock that would allow himself to fall in love... with a student no less?

Just seems to me they tried really hard to find a way to involve the Uhura character more, and romance was the easy way out. And in the process they gutted an enormous part of 'who' Spock is in the Star Trek universe.

And another thing... the Kirk/Uhura kiss in TOS was history making. It was a milestone in American culture. Few TV moments have been bigger, in any series at any time. By creating a love affair between Uhura and Spock at this stage, to me, treads directly on that hallowed kiss... does it happen in this 'new' Star Trek? Does it have the same impact if it does? Bad call to go there, in my opinion.

Spock/Sarek: again it seems like they're tearing out a huge chuck of what makes Spock, Spock. His conflict with dear old dad is at the center of the conflict with himself. Its part of what makes him so interesting. To abandon it is, to me, abandoning Spock as we know him. Its too much, even for a reboot. And why not create the conflict, and then use mom's death to resolve it? That could have really added to the emotional impact if estranged son and dad come together because mom dies, no?

Now I'm off to Baskin Robins. For some dam reason I'm craving a waffle cone...

[MattRobertson]

See, here I think you are being the Star Trek fan that they knew they were going to piss off. Its a reboot. If you try and reconcile the timeline between both... you will find a bazillion things wrong. I mean... One attack on one starship 25 years prior resulted in those UnderArmour uniforms? How did that happen? Shouldn't they be wearing TOS uniforms now, that they can change in a sequel?

Its a reboot and you have to get over the little and big things and realize that this is going to go in an entirely new direction for an entirely different audience. And entertainment is about a paying audience. Thats the thing a lot of Trek fans miss. Its only a TV show and not a for-real universe. This is the franchise's one shot to introduce new dynamics and go into new directions. Kirk was a Cold War hero meant to be watched by people who had different contemporary issues that their entertainment keyed off of.

So I can forgive the changes to a point if it isn't just flat out stupid or poorly done. The inside of the ship was poorly done. I mean... 3-story rooflines where the equipment ends at 1 1/2. Gee that makes plenty of sense on a vehicle where use of space means something. And crew sitting at workstations in a big hallway with great big tanks running down... a factory aisle? doh.

One thing that DOES compromise the Uhura character is that we see she slept her way onto the Enterprise. Not via the dialog, but when we see she's hooked up with her commanding officer, the guy making the personnel assignments... well that doesn't work so well for me.

Oh and that famous interracial kiss never happened. People always talk about it but the scene cut away before they got busy. The 1960's were such progressive times (not).

Oh and WTF was with the Nokia product placement? I can tolerate the Budweiser since, of course, beer is always good. But this is a post-apocalyptic society, dammit.