Musings on the new Star Trek movie (with spoilers, naturally)

[pbray]

Last night jpsorrow and I went to see the new Star Trek movie. It was very good--I'd recommend it for sci-fi/action movie fans, not just Trekkies.

A couple of things struck me about the movie--

I deliberately hadn't read the reviews or followed any of the internet rumors, so other than seeing pictures of the pretty, pretty boys they'd cast, and hearing that "It would be a complete reset of the universe" I wasn't sure what to expect.

Then again, as a Trekkie since the 70s, I had certain expectations of the franchise. One of my expectations was the reset button. The emotional impact of Vulcan's destruction and the death of Spock's mother was lost on me because I fully expected that by the end of the movie they'd pull a Star Trek reset. You know the one, "slingshot around the sun" or in this case drop through a singularity, and then go back and fix the past. They've done this ever since the original TV series. So in the end I was genuinely shocked that they didn't go back to fix everything, and the Star Trek universe at the end of the movie is very different from the one I'd grown up knowing. Other fans around me expressed similar disbelief.

The reimagined Kirk was part John McClane (Die Hard) and part Mary Sue. Particularly unbelievable was the point where Captain Pike named Kirk as First Officer, a position that requires the trust of both the acting captain and the ship's crew, something that Kirk had in no way earned. And that somehow this appointment to first officer wasn't invalidated by Kirk being arrested and thrown off the ship? Funny, how academic suspension precluded him from being called into active service, but charges of mutiny are later waved aside....

I wasn't fond of Kirk's characterization as a Lothario, nor of a future where men still engage in bar brawls over whether or not one guy is hitting on a woman, while the woman in question simply watches from the sidelines wringing her hands and begging them to stop.

Other than that, there were points in the movie where the laws of physics sobbed softly on my shoulder, and a few times where the various captains showed remarkable lack of forethought--(If an evacuation looks likely, start prepping now, don't wait until last minute) or (Back away from the growing singularity, don't hang out just so you can mock your enemy.)

And yeah, I could go on and dish plot holes. But the point of this is that I care enough to nitpick. For all the flaws, I liked the movie. Better than any of the odd numbered Star Trek movies, better than anything they've done recently. I'd go see it again, and probably will.

P.S. And Leonard Nimoy? Awesome. He dominates every scene he's in, as well he should.

Comments

[vespican.livejournal.com]

I read the spoilers, even though I haven't seen the film. I'll probably forget 99% of them before I get a round to seeing it anyway.

I've been a Star Trek fan since the original series was on network TV, but I do want to see this one. I think it might do some of what I originally thought Star Trek: Enterprise was going to do. As to changes in what we've accepted through the years as the way it was (will be), this is first and foremost, ENTERTAINMENT. Creators of entertainment empires, or those who inherit them, certainly have the right to change things. Of course, not everyone will agree will all the changes. I'll withhold judgement on my part until after I've had a chance to see the movie. Until then and hopefully afterwords, I'll try to keep an open mind.
Dave

[jjschwabach.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed it. I liked making Chekov young enough that Starfleet must've needed a note from his mother to put him on the bridge of their flagship. Sort of thumbing their noses at Wesley. ("That's not a prodigy, Mate. *This* is a prodigy.")