** 'Ere Be Spoilers ! **
Saw the new Trek movie yesterday. It was cool.
I thought Chris Pine would be too pretty to play Kirk, and he still kinda is, but he did an excellent job. I heard he didn't watch any of Shatner's performances beforehand (how that's possible, I honestly do not know, unless he's been living under a rock), yet managed to do a convincing Kirk.
The boy that played young Kirk kinda looks like Spaghetti Jimmy from the Visa card commercial, but apparently isn't.
It wasn't until I watched “The Menagerie” again, that I realized how much New Spock really does look like Old Spock. Quinto was perfect for the role. I do wish he'd get rid of the birth control eyeglasses though.
New Zealander Karl Urban is usually known for playing hulking, tough guys in Lord Of The Rings, Chronicles Of Riddick and Doom, and I couldn't imagine him as McCoy, but he really came through. He must've lost half his body weight for this part. He looked and sounded just like him though. “I'm a doctor, not a nuclear physicist!” He nailed it.
Effects were incredible. Of course.
It was cool to see the original Enterprise fly again.
The new time line quandry didn't bother me until the end of the movie when I realized they weren't returning things to the way they were – it was just left as an alternate reality for Trek.
When Nero captured Captain Pike and had him strapped to a slab, surrounded by water, I really thought they were going to make a Hollywood-ized “waterboarding” statement. Thankfully, they did not. It would've ruined the film and franchise entirely, and unnecessarily.
Also, why does Hollywood think every action film needs a love story? Every movie does not need this formula:
Special effects? Check.
Way too handsome actors? Check.
Lots of explosions? Check.
Dopey love story that does nothing to advance the plot? Check.
I am sad that Vulcan is gone. This really kinds screws with Trek canon. I would've preferred they stayed true to Star Trek history, and wrote a prequel around that. But, I can see both sides to this argument.
This movie is well worth seeing, and I am looking forward to more adventures with this “new” crew. I give it an A-
