Star Trek Review
There might be spoilers so if you haven't seen the movie, come back on another day.
***
Everyone else seems to be talking about this movie so I might as well fall into line too. Unlike all the rah-rah reviews from elsewhere, I was not that easily impressed. This is primarily because I am a stickler for credibility and plot logic. Smoke and mirrors did a good job of masking the inaccuracies, but I still noticed.
Star Trek is more fantasy than SF and more character driven than it is plot driven. Characterization was excellent. Except for Uhura, they really did do justice to the original crew.
Uhura, sadly ended up in the sex kitten role which stirred my dander to no end. Did the woman have no purpose on that ship but to chase after her love interest? They alluded to her mastery of language yet they did nothing to build on that.
Oh, yeah.
She intercepted a highly classified message---yet failed to deliver it to her superiors or headquarters. She mentions it after the fact and only to corroborate Kirk's allegations.
Somebody give me an aspirin. I was really angry at the waste of talent.
Time travel: Star Trek is famous for concocting incredulous ways to go back in time. (Slingshot around the sun, anyone?) They did it again, but the story moved so fast that most of the non-SF fans missed the planet sized logic holes.
But that's okay. Everyone gets one pass to disregard believability. Even if it was a whopper.
They did do one thing right and that was breathe new life into the franchise through the use of alternate reality. This was a brilliant move that was both elegant and efficient.
They also did a wonderful job in re-introducing the crew.
Kirk was okay. A little too hotheaded for captain material. And how the hell do you get promoted in ONE day?
Spock was nearly perfect--even better than the original, though I thought an actor with a deeper voice would have worked better. Spock sounded a little too boyish at times.
McCoy was adorable and my favorite of all the crew. I was ready to dismiss him because I didn't think anyone could do the original justice, but he pulled it off flawlessly.
Chekov, Sulu and Scotty were spot on. All of them were delightfully fresh, yet loyal to their origins. (I was hoping Chekov would mention a Russian Shakespeare or something, but oh well.)
Uhura missed the space port by a mile. Disagree if you want, but I thought she had too much potential to be cast as simply a love interest with no discipline to duty.
I loved the gentle nods to the original. But I wanted to replay the scene where Scotty mentions Archer's beagle. (Only true Star Trek fans will know this.) There's a hundred year difference between this Enterprise and Archer's time, so unless Archer lived to a ripe old age, I don't think Scotty could beam Archer's beagle anywhere.
I'll be buying the dvd if only to catch the little references. If you want to know about other galactic sized misfires, check out Sci Fi Wire.
***
Everyone else seems to be talking about this movie so I might as well fall into line too. Unlike all the rah-rah reviews from elsewhere, I was not that easily impressed. This is primarily because I am a stickler for credibility and plot logic. Smoke and mirrors did a good job of masking the inaccuracies, but I still noticed.
Star Trek is more fantasy than SF and more character driven than it is plot driven. Characterization was excellent. Except for Uhura, they really did do justice to the original crew.
Uhura, sadly ended up in the sex kitten role which stirred my dander to no end. Did the woman have no purpose on that ship but to chase after her love interest? They alluded to her mastery of language yet they did nothing to build on that.
Oh, yeah.
She intercepted a highly classified message---yet failed to deliver it to her superiors or headquarters. She mentions it after the fact and only to corroborate Kirk's allegations.
Somebody give me an aspirin. I was really angry at the waste of talent.
Time travel: Star Trek is famous for concocting incredulous ways to go back in time. (Slingshot around the sun, anyone?) They did it again, but the story moved so fast that most of the non-SF fans missed the planet sized logic holes.
But that's okay. Everyone gets one pass to disregard believability. Even if it was a whopper.
They did do one thing right and that was breathe new life into the franchise through the use of alternate reality. This was a brilliant move that was both elegant and efficient.
They also did a wonderful job in re-introducing the crew.
Kirk was okay. A little too hotheaded for captain material. And how the hell do you get promoted in ONE day?
Spock was nearly perfect--even better than the original, though I thought an actor with a deeper voice would have worked better. Spock sounded a little too boyish at times.
McCoy was adorable and my favorite of all the crew. I was ready to dismiss him because I didn't think anyone could do the original justice, but he pulled it off flawlessly.
Chekov, Sulu and Scotty were spot on. All of them were delightfully fresh, yet loyal to their origins. (I was hoping Chekov would mention a Russian Shakespeare or something, but oh well.)
Uhura missed the space port by a mile. Disagree if you want, but I thought she had too much potential to be cast as simply a love interest with no discipline to duty.
I loved the gentle nods to the original. But I wanted to replay the scene where Scotty mentions Archer's beagle. (Only true Star Trek fans will know this.) There's a hundred year difference between this Enterprise and Archer's time, so unless Archer lived to a ripe old age, I don't think Scotty could beam Archer's beagle anywhere.
I'll be buying the dvd if only to catch the little references. If you want to know about other galactic sized misfires, check out Sci Fi Wire.
Comments
Got "Touch of Fire," and I'm happily reading it.
I'm bothered by Uhura's role as much as you are. If characters have to be changed as much as this movie did to be viable, I'd rather a new franchise be started than to mess around with what has been established for decades.
Cheers,
Amy
Ref: Uhura
The original Star Trek was renown for the "good old boy's club". Throughout its evolution they had gotten better about giving women beefier roles so I was greatly surprised to see this turn of events.