CaptainWacky
I want to smell dark matter
It was good.
Completely held my attention from start until finish, no slowdown, no boring takly bits (the few talky bits were good), no tehcnobabble that took me out of it (though I don't have a clue what "red matter" is). Yeah, it would have been nice to have a few quieter moments but they had a lot of characters to introduce and move into position so I guess we'll have to wait for the sequel for that.
CHARACTERS
Kirk: Chris Pine did a really good job. He was charismatic and likable even when he was being a bit jerklike. The lines which seemed like they could be cringeworthy from the trailer worked in the context of the movie ("buckle up" being to Bones at the end because he gets spacesick as established earlier and not just some random catchphrase.) Kirk becoming Captain at the end was a bit hard to believe even after he saved Earth. They could have held that back until the next movie. I hope there was at least a month or somethin between his promotion and taking the Enterprise out for the first time at the end. I guess one complaint is it was hard to imagine him bedding a bunch of alien women like Shatner's Kirk (yes there was the Orion but she was a slut anyway apparently) but he's still young.
Spock: Quinto was good. He did seem quite a bit different from the original series Spock. Maybe because he's embraced his human side earlier. He did a good job with the "Spock's emotional but not showing it" scenes like when he was staring at the transporter after his mum didn't make it.
Old Spock: Just seeing Nimoy was great and a bit emotional. And the voiceover at the end was perfect. He did look REALLY old though but I suppose Spock is really old even for a Vulcan. It would be cool if he's in the sequel in a knd of mentor role since Sarek wasn't up to much.
Bones: Karl Urban was perfect. Would have been cool if he'd had more to do and more stuff with Spock but there was one scene with him/Spock and Kirk where they had some pretty good discussion and banter going (or a couple of scenes I'm missing up.)
Uhura: There was a total lack of women in the film so I think they must have beefed her role up as she got quite a lot to do. I think Zoe did a great job and is obviously quite the hottie too so no complaints. Although I would have liked a bit more background on the Spock romance.
Scotty: Pegg did a good job with the accent. I liked the "get tae..." line to his little friend as it sounded authentic. I do think they tried to cram in a bit too much characterisation in too short a time with Scotty though. The "exciting!" bit felt out of place after the tense Kirk/Spock showdown and didn't even get much of a laugh. The "I'm giving her all she's got, cap'n!" was more appreciated. How did he suddenly end up as chief engineer when in the previous scene he'd been operating the transporters? Maybe I missed the chief engineer dying or something. Do you think he was shagging his little friend on Delta Five?
Sulu: Didn't really get enough lines or stand out. The sword fight was a good action sequence.
Chekov: Have to admit I found him annoying. Yes, Chekov was annoing in the original series but this is supposed to be an update so they should have toned down the accent a bit.
Amanda: She got like two lines! I liked Spock's reaction to her death but I expected more.
Sarek: I think he was the biggest disappointment and poorest casting. Didn't feel like Sarek at all. I did like the scene with him telling Spock why he married Amanda but that was just good writing.
Pike: Excellent! One of the best acted characters. Shame he ended up in the wheelchair but at least he can still talk.
Nero: Eric Bana was really good and conveyed quite well that Nero not only didn't give a fuck about anything anymore but that he was also quite mad. His reasons for wanting "revenge" (on the only person who tried to help him) didn't really make much sense but since I got that he was just playing him as someone who lost his mind it was okay. Would have been nice to see more of him.
EFFECTS: Great, obviously! The Enterprise looked great and I want a desktop of it in front of Saturn.
MUSIC: Was good but I was kind of expecting classic Trek music to kick in at times due to CONDITIONING. Like when they first saw the Enterprise I was hearing the TMP music in my head but it never came. The theme at the end was great though.
PLOT STUFF: A bit lacking and some bits were maybe hard to follow (where was the Fleet at the end? why was it just the Enterprise at Earth? I think I missed a line) but the whole mood of the movie was what made it and the characters and performances.
MINOR NIGGLES: The climatic battle could have been more of, well, a battle. The Enterprise didn't really "fight" the Narada though I suppose that makes sense since the Narada would have destroyed. The Jellyfish was cool so I suppose it was fair tha the Narada was defeated by another ship from the late 24th century.
The whole bit with the stolen car was well shot but pointless. They should have just skipped right to Pine's Kirk.
They stole the "there's always a bigger fish" moment from Phantom Menace (and probably any number of movies) and the ice monsters were a bit unnecessary. As was the bit with Scotty in the water pipes.
Would have liked more references to 24th century Trek. Like when Spock mind-meled was COULD have seen a quick flash of Picard or Data or the Enterprise-E or something (really quick). And the black Vulcan with him could have been Tuvok. Or something.
BUT ON THE WHOLE IT WAS PRETTY FUCKING GREAT and about as good a relaunch for Trek as could be hoped for. HURRY UP AND MAKE THE SEQUEL.
Completely held my attention from start until finish, no slowdown, no boring takly bits (the few talky bits were good), no tehcnobabble that took me out of it (though I don't have a clue what "red matter" is). Yeah, it would have been nice to have a few quieter moments but they had a lot of characters to introduce and move into position so I guess we'll have to wait for the sequel for that.
CHARACTERS
Kirk: Chris Pine did a really good job. He was charismatic and likable even when he was being a bit jerklike. The lines which seemed like they could be cringeworthy from the trailer worked in the context of the movie ("buckle up" being to Bones at the end because he gets spacesick as established earlier and not just some random catchphrase.) Kirk becoming Captain at the end was a bit hard to believe even after he saved Earth. They could have held that back until the next movie. I hope there was at least a month or somethin between his promotion and taking the Enterprise out for the first time at the end. I guess one complaint is it was hard to imagine him bedding a bunch of alien women like Shatner's Kirk (yes there was the Orion but she was a slut anyway apparently) but he's still young.
Spock: Quinto was good. He did seem quite a bit different from the original series Spock. Maybe because he's embraced his human side earlier. He did a good job with the "Spock's emotional but not showing it" scenes like when he was staring at the transporter after his mum didn't make it.
Old Spock: Just seeing Nimoy was great and a bit emotional. And the voiceover at the end was perfect. He did look REALLY old though but I suppose Spock is really old even for a Vulcan. It would be cool if he's in the sequel in a knd of mentor role since Sarek wasn't up to much.
Bones: Karl Urban was perfect. Would have been cool if he'd had more to do and more stuff with Spock but there was one scene with him/Spock and Kirk where they had some pretty good discussion and banter going (or a couple of scenes I'm missing up.)
Uhura: There was a total lack of women in the film so I think they must have beefed her role up as she got quite a lot to do. I think Zoe did a great job and is obviously quite the hottie too so no complaints. Although I would have liked a bit more background on the Spock romance.
Scotty: Pegg did a good job with the accent. I liked the "get tae..." line to his little friend as it sounded authentic. I do think they tried to cram in a bit too much characterisation in too short a time with Scotty though. The "exciting!" bit felt out of place after the tense Kirk/Spock showdown and didn't even get much of a laugh. The "I'm giving her all she's got, cap'n!" was more appreciated. How did he suddenly end up as chief engineer when in the previous scene he'd been operating the transporters? Maybe I missed the chief engineer dying or something. Do you think he was shagging his little friend on Delta Five?
Sulu: Didn't really get enough lines or stand out. The sword fight was a good action sequence.
Chekov: Have to admit I found him annoying. Yes, Chekov was annoing in the original series but this is supposed to be an update so they should have toned down the accent a bit.
Amanda: She got like two lines! I liked Spock's reaction to her death but I expected more.
Sarek: I think he was the biggest disappointment and poorest casting. Didn't feel like Sarek at all. I did like the scene with him telling Spock why he married Amanda but that was just good writing.
Pike: Excellent! One of the best acted characters. Shame he ended up in the wheelchair but at least he can still talk.
Nero: Eric Bana was really good and conveyed quite well that Nero not only didn't give a fuck about anything anymore but that he was also quite mad. His reasons for wanting "revenge" (on the only person who tried to help him) didn't really make much sense but since I got that he was just playing him as someone who lost his mind it was okay. Would have been nice to see more of him.
EFFECTS: Great, obviously! The Enterprise looked great and I want a desktop of it in front of Saturn.
MUSIC: Was good but I was kind of expecting classic Trek music to kick in at times due to CONDITIONING. Like when they first saw the Enterprise I was hearing the TMP music in my head but it never came. The theme at the end was great though.
PLOT STUFF: A bit lacking and some bits were maybe hard to follow (where was the Fleet at the end? why was it just the Enterprise at Earth? I think I missed a line) but the whole mood of the movie was what made it and the characters and performances.
MINOR NIGGLES: The climatic battle could have been more of, well, a battle. The Enterprise didn't really "fight" the Narada though I suppose that makes sense since the Narada would have destroyed. The Jellyfish was cool so I suppose it was fair tha the Narada was defeated by another ship from the late 24th century.
The whole bit with the stolen car was well shot but pointless. They should have just skipped right to Pine's Kirk.
They stole the "there's always a bigger fish" moment from Phantom Menace (and probably any number of movies) and the ice monsters were a bit unnecessary. As was the bit with Scotty in the water pipes.
Would have liked more references to 24th century Trek. Like when Spock mind-meled was COULD have seen a quick flash of Picard or Data or the Enterprise-E or something (really quick). And the black Vulcan with him could have been Tuvok. Or something.
BUT ON THE WHOLE IT WAS PRETTY FUCKING GREAT and about as good a relaunch for Trek as could be hoped for. HURRY UP AND MAKE THE SEQUEL.