Star Trek (Review)

Finally got a chance to see the new Star Trek movie. Read more to see my (very) spoilery review. The short (and un-spoilered) review is it is a near perfect movie, fantastic in almost every way. A definite go see, go see right now. Trekkies old and new will love it.

Now, on to the spoilers and bitchings!

I really have only three things that I find fault with this movie.

1. Time travel. This was done in the movie for a few reasons, partly to facilitate the whole issue of having the “new” Star Trek follow the “old” Star Trek’s timeline. What fun would it be to have the “new” crew doomed to repeat the same stories as the “old”? The whole time travel thing was handled fairly nicely, allowing Leonard Nimoy return (fantastic by the way), and allowing the new crew to veer off into their own path (and hopefully successful series of movies!).
2. Light Blooms. Come on JJ, I know they look cool, like lens flare in early video games when video cards got enough power to render lights nicely, but come on man, give it a rest. About the only thing visual that I could find fault with amidst the abso-f-n-lutely awesome special effects.
3. Last thing is my biggest real complaint…. Uhura. Wonderfully cast, a great actress (giving Zoe Saldana her props), but why why why was she kissing Spock? Seriously, even given the whole “comforting” thing about the whole “sorry your whole planet was blown up” thing, at what point would you see Uhura standing on the transporter pad, in front of other people, smooching with Spock. At what point would you see Spock doing that either, even being half human?!
   My biggest thing about this for me is it minimizes her character. Maybe minimize is the wrong word. In the original series and movies Uhura was never a girly-girl, never told to stay back when the men went to fight, never had to be shown how to do something, and was always as equal as any of the other characters. And for an a) African American and b) Woman in a series started in the 60s, that was huge. She was involved in the first interracial kiss on TV! She was the inspiration for Whoopi Goldberg! Now she’s the touchy-feely girl swapping spit with Spock in completely inappropriate places? WTF?!?!
   Hopefully she’ll be her old self in the next movie.

So outside of my character, visual, and plot bitches, the movie was, in a word, awesome. Best sci-fi I’ve seen in years I think. Great plot, awesome characters (all the main characters, their taglines, and characteristics were captured perfectly), gorgeous visuals… all top-notch, a-1, grade-a. Go see it. I can’t wait to see it on some huge TV screen in Blueray or something.

So yea, I liked it 🙂