Just saw it. After watching all of the TV series [plural] (with the exception of the majority of Voyager...yech!) and the movies I have to say that it was a near miss. The movie ALMOST captured the essence and feel of Star Trek...but not quite. The acting was excellent (especially the guy who played Spock...right on!), the visuals were of course awesome...but the writing! Terrible!! They sped through the movie, glossing over important transitions and character development:
Spoiler (highlight to read): I very much doubt that a bunch of fresh-out-of-academy cadets could take over senior positions on a starship immedaitely! Plus, Kirk still acted like an immature kid. While some of the classic Kirk character retains that immaturity there was no growth shown at all to this one, despite his experiences during the movie. The worst, though, was when Kirk, stows away onboard. Out of the blue he manages to get the commanding officer (Spock) removed on a technicality after clearly proviking him, and now the entire crew trusts him and follows his leadership? They didn't see Pike promote him to first officer and had no idea that anyone in Starfleet had the least bit of confidence in him. There wasn't even a hint (besides the quip from Uhura) of them being reluctant to follow him. That was a bit too much for me to swallow.It was clear that the production team's goal was to create a modernized Star Trek that today's audiences would eat up while simultaneously trying to be faithful to the Star Trek "experience." In the process, unfortunately, they left behind some very important aspects of the show. For one, Star Trek (the original and to a great extent some of the later series) was about social commentary and about the human condition. It was a big deal, for instance, that the first interracial kiss on TV happened on Star Trek. Those themes were entirely absent from this movie. Also, it felt to me like they focused on flashy special-effects, sets and action sequences and left out the good writing, carefully constructed plots, character exposition and development, and the many nuances of acting that normally made the TV series [plural] great.
So in the end I had a great time watching the movie. I will probably buy it, I enjoyed it so much. But despite the hard work that went into making this movie a Star Trek film, it doesn't quite do justice to what Star Trek really is about.
Last edited by JdeFalconr (2009-05-09 19:44:00)
