Just got back from it and what can I say, it was amazing! The movie theatre was packed full; it looked like every seat was sold. It's nice to see
Star Trek getting so much attention for once. There were even two fans wearing TOS uniforms! I would have never seen
that coming.
Overall the reactions after the movie were positive. I overheard some conversations. One guy commented on the cast and how perfect he found it. And I have to agree, the whole cast was perfect. I can't think of any weak link there. Although, if I had to name
someone I would say that I wasn't too impressed with Leonard Nimoy. I would have never thought that I'd say that, but somehow he just didn't feel like Spock. Maybe it was the new German voice they gave him (which was good, but it just wasn't Spock). I even found most of the dialog they gave him quite predictable and rather uninspired. I groaned at his 'volle Schubkraft' (I don't know what it was what he says in the original version; maybe 'full thrust' or something like that) in the scene where Kirk gets promoted to captain. I mean, what was that supposed to mean anyway?
One of may favorite characters from the original has always been Chekov. I just love the guy and Walter Koenig's performance. What I didn't see coming was that I would like the new Chekov just as much. Really, I just fell in love with this character all over again! I don't know about the original version, but the German dubbed version of his Russian accent was quite heavy and many people snickered in the theatre. But I liked him, because he seemed like an outsider and I think I can identify with that. In his first scene it even seems like Pike is making fun of Chekov. That made him really sympathetic to me. I really hope we see more of him in the sequel. Anton Yelchin was perfectly cast, really.
All the other characters were good, too, though. I loved Greenwood-as-Pike, no surprise there. The guy is just awesome. But I also liked Kirk, loved McCoy ('She got the whole planet!'
), found Sulu and Uhura okay, laughed at Scotty and really liked Sarek ('I married her, because I loved her.') I did expect more from Nero, though. Others have said it already, his character just lacked a believable motivation. What I also found quite weird was the last scene of Nero, where Kirk asks him if they should beam them aboard the
Enterprise. Nero says that he would rather watch his planet die hundreds of times over and over than coming aboard. I think that line really diminished the gravity of Nero's whole motivation to do all this in the first place. Even Bana's acting couldn't save that for me.
I have some minor problems with the whole plot, but nothing too jarring. I found the whole chain of events (Kirk getting dropped off at Delta Vega [seems like a rather unconventional penalization when they could have easily put him into the brig instead], coincidentally running into Ambassador Spock's cave, coincidentally meeting Scotty who coincidentally knows how to transport back to the
Enterprise) rather far fetched. That was just all too convenient and therefore distracting. I also find it rather hard to swallow that Nero and his crew waited for 25 years doing nothing, really!
All in all I think the movie would have worked better without the whole time travel angle. I understand why they had to do that, but I think the movie would have had more time to focus on what they really wanted to tell if they left it out. And really, the movie could really work without it.
I know many people love them, but I found the usage of the classic
Enterprise sound effects from TOS really distracting. I guess they thought it would be a nice homage, but I never thought they really worked well in unison with the new look of the ship. They just felt out of place. That's really a case where I wish they would have updated them even more.
And then there was this shameless homage to the Ceti Eel scene from
The Wrath of Khan. Again, I really appreciated the idea of that, but the fact that it was almost a by the numbers copy of the original scene really troubled me. It's one instance where I felt they should have come up with something more original.
Things I loved without any constrictions are the score by Giacchino (wonderfully grand music; I'll definitely buy it) and the whole scene with the
Kelvin. Boy was that an awesome scene! Everything was excellent there. I have never seen a battle in
Star Trek that felt so heavy and intense. Every impact of the
Narada's weapons let me grab the armrest even harder. And the music! Just epic. What I didn't quite get, though, was why they made it look like the
Narada was letting go of the
Kelvin's shuttles intentionally.
Oh, and the effects! Never has a
Star Trek film looked better. I loved the establishing shot on the
Kelvin. Wonderfully creative. Or the first time we see the
Enterprise; that was simply beautiful! The new warp effect just blew me away! How can one not love that? And really, there wasn't a single distracting lens flare in that movie. The cinematography looked gorgeous! Very interesting choice of shots in some scenes. I like how close Abrams is getting on the actor's faces.
In the end I voted 'Above Average'. I won't lie. I loved it, really. But it wasn't an excellent film. At least not to me. However, I will see it a second time. And I hope I'll get a chance to see the original English version this time.
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id anyone dislike this movie other than me? [Spoilers]
