I first became aware of Star Trek (the TV series) around 1970, and became a huge fan of it shortly thereafter. Now, when I say huge fan, I don’t mean still-living-in-my-parents’-basement huge fan; just that I would go to my TV every Saturday night at 10:30 pm and watch the reruns religiously. My parents thought it was safe enough, so they never gave me any hassle about it. My dad even drove me and a friend to one of the first Star Trek conventions they ever had here in town, and it was great! They screened episodes and showed 2001: A Space Odessy before having Nichele Nichols come out and give a talk about her days on the set and answer questions. Ah, childhood memories…

Well, fast-forward to the present and many, many changes have ocurred to both me and Star Trek. Though still a fan of the original series and Star Trek:TNG, I never really latched onto the other series in the franchise (Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise) and I felt that the last few movies were terrible. In short, I had about given up on the franchise. I especially didn’t like the fact that Deep Space Nine didn’t even involve a starship which was traveling through the galaxy. So, when it was announced that the next film would be a “pre-quel” to the original TV series, I was interested.

The film opened last weekend to huge box office numbers, and I went to see it with muted expectations. I was hoping for the best, while preparing for the worst. As it turns out, I didn’t have much to worry about. While the script does change some pretty basic foundations of the Star Trek myth, it does so in a way which will allow the future stories to go beyond the original TV Series stories. Spoilers appear starting now, so if you have not seen the movie yet, you may want to stop here.

WHAT I LIKED:

• I like the fact that they didn’t go crazy with the re-design of the Enterprise. They did change a couple of things, but it really looks like the TV series starship (on the outside), just done with better special effects.
• I liked the new design of the Star Fleet docking station orbiting Earth.
• The view screen on the Enterprise bridge, with its integrated HUD displays, was a welcome dose of reality. Heck, 21st century fighter jets have HUD displays; surly 23rd century starships would have them.
• I really liked the new dynamic between Spock and his father. It was easier for me to relate to Sarek in this movie than in the past.
• I really enjoyed the parts with Captain Pike. He was portrayed exactly how I would expect a senior line officer to be.
• The “space jump” scene was a blast!

WHAT I DID NOT LIKE:

• The entire premise of the movie is a bit shaky. The planet Romulus is destroyed by a super-nova before Spock can prevent it. However, the device Spock used to try and save Romulus creates a black hole, sending both Nero (the Romulan bad guy) and Spock back in time 25 years. Nero then plots revenge on Spock. Excuse me? Uh, if what Nero wants is to save his beloved Romulus, and he has been transported back in time, why not just try again, this time having twenty-five years to get the timing right?
• The whole romantic angle between Spock and Uhura was unsettling. Plus, it didn’t really serve any purpose for the plot. What was the point?
• Scotty’s entire purpose for being was comedy relief. I think he should have been portrayed a little more seriously.
• The Enterprise was and always will be too big to be capable of planet-fall. When constructed, it will be built in space, not in an Iowa cornfield as depicted in this movie.
• Finally, Kirk got his ass handed to him entirely too much in this movie. No, I don’t expect him to win every fight, but I don’t think he won a single one in this movie. If he is going to become the resident Starfleet BadAss Captain, he needs to start building that reputation now.

All in all, I really liked the movie and hope they do another one just as good. Have you seen it? What did you like or dislike? Tell me in the comments.

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This entry was posted on Monday, May 18th, 2009 at 8:39 pm by Nick, and is filed under Entertainment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.