Dirk Funk
Evil Penguin
Well, I went to see Star Trek Thursday night. I have to say it was a fantastic piece of work! I was too tired after the movie to write a review, and was too busy yesterday, so here it is. What really got me wasn't just the fantastic special effects, and audio work, but the way the characters related to each other. It was also refreshing to see characters act like real people, not caricatures, or idealized heros/villians. The flaws "good guys" are glaring and out in the open. They're complex, just like real people. Good guys can be assholes too. We see the internal conflict of logic and emotion in Vulcans. Especially Spock.
All in all, this was a fantasic movie, and this lifelong Trek fan gives it 10 out of 10. Two thumbs up, and an extra up my ass.
His relationship with Uhura was particularly interesting. I loved when Kirk offered to rescue Nero toward the end of the movie, and Spock asked him hat he was doing. Kirk then replied that it would be logical to give him an opportunity to turn himself in. Spock replied "No. Not this time." Nero wasn't some super villain with a grandiose plan of galactic domination, he was a grieving widower who just lost his planet and family, and lashed out at the man he thought was responsible. Again, a very realistic way of doing things.
I thought the way Abrams rebooted the series was genius and fit well with established Trek canon. Spock attempts to help the Romulans stop a Supernova that threatens Romulus. He's too late, and it destroys Romulus. Nero sees it happen and holds Spock responsible. He tries to blow Spock's ship up, and instead is sucked into the black hole created by the Red Matter. Spock follows. The go in seconds apart, but Spock emerges 25 years later. Nero arrives at the time of Kirk's birth, and engages the Reliant. He captures and kills the Captain. This changes the timeline, as it causes Kirk's father to command the Reliant. He is able to evacuate everyone from the ship, saving everyone including Kirk's mother. Kirk is born on the shuttlecraft.This means Kirk grows up without his dad, causing a profound change in the timeline. 25 years of that ripples forward, causing massive changes, Nero captures Spock and the Red Matter, and decides to show Spock what it felt like to lose everything. This is where I truly feel that Abrams had a big pair of brass balls. Nero destroys Vulcan. No reset button. It's permanent. Only a few thousand Vulcans are able to escape. Amanda dies. No more Vulcan in this new series. Very gutsy move. In this timeline, TOS, TNG DS9 and VOY will not exist. (At least not in the same way) Enterprise happened before, and is still part of this reality. This is further solidified by Scotty, who was sent to Delta Vega 3. (3? don't remember) because he demonstrated his Transwarp beaming technology with Admiral Archer's dog.
The special effects were great, and the audio work was terrific. The visuals didn't have a cheesy CGI look to them. They really looked good. The casting was terrific. Every person they cast for the roles were dead on. The only exception being Chekov. This is the only complaint I had with the whole movie. His accent sounded fake, forced and was annoying and distracting. I'm just glad he wasn't a main character. The weaponry behaved differently than in other Trek movies and series. Mostly consisting of short, rapid fire bursts. We also see the ship mounted phaser arrays as movable turrets. The Warp drives, interestingly enough seemed to behave more like BSG FTL drives than earlier Warp drives.
I thought the way Abrams rebooted the series was genius and fit well with established Trek canon. Spock attempts to help the Romulans stop a Supernova that threatens Romulus. He's too late, and it destroys Romulus. Nero sees it happen and holds Spock responsible. He tries to blow Spock's ship up, and instead is sucked into the black hole created by the Red Matter. Spock follows. The go in seconds apart, but Spock emerges 25 years later. Nero arrives at the time of Kirk's birth, and engages the Reliant. He captures and kills the Captain. This changes the timeline, as it causes Kirk's father to command the Reliant. He is able to evacuate everyone from the ship, saving everyone including Kirk's mother. Kirk is born on the shuttlecraft.This means Kirk grows up without his dad, causing a profound change in the timeline. 25 years of that ripples forward, causing massive changes, Nero captures Spock and the Red Matter, and decides to show Spock what it felt like to lose everything. This is where I truly feel that Abrams had a big pair of brass balls. Nero destroys Vulcan. No reset button. It's permanent. Only a few thousand Vulcans are able to escape. Amanda dies. No more Vulcan in this new series. Very gutsy move. In this timeline, TOS, TNG DS9 and VOY will not exist. (At least not in the same way) Enterprise happened before, and is still part of this reality. This is further solidified by Scotty, who was sent to Delta Vega 3. (3? don't remember) because he demonstrated his Transwarp beaming technology with Admiral Archer's dog.
The special effects were great, and the audio work was terrific. The visuals didn't have a cheesy CGI look to them. They really looked good. The casting was terrific. Every person they cast for the roles were dead on. The only exception being Chekov. This is the only complaint I had with the whole movie. His accent sounded fake, forced and was annoying and distracting. I'm just glad he wasn't a main character. The weaponry behaved differently than in other Trek movies and series. Mostly consisting of short, rapid fire bursts. We also see the ship mounted phaser arrays as movable turrets. The Warp drives, interestingly enough seemed to behave more like BSG FTL drives than earlier Warp drives.
