it all started with a lousy premise
There are things about the movie I thought were fine, and other things that just made me wonder.
There had to be more going on than just "removing peoples pain" to get them to betray their loyalty to Kirk and Starfleet. A line toward the end of the film that Sulu, Uhura, Chekov and others had in some way "been released" I thought would have explained a lot about the secondary character actions.
Have Kirk ask Spock why in the shuttle bay he didn't simply shoot Sabok in the leg and crack him over the head? And have Spock give some kind of answer. McCoy was right there and sick bay was nearby.
While the god they found was a false god, during the course of the film have Kirk experience/go through a personal spiritual journey or reawakening as a counter point.
Did McCoy actually kill his own father? Or was that something that Sabok put in his head?
And did Sabok really die when he entered the false god? The film left this unclear, I mean we never saw him again, but how and why?
Having the planet of peace be in existence for (twenty?) years was excessive, a shorter time period would have worked just fine and would have fit into the usually understood timeline better. How about four or five years.
I thought the bookends of the two camping scenes were great. Spock having a half brother was okay. The Enterprise being the only ship availible again? How far way is it to this planet, and could there be a reason presented for a ship in Earth orbit being the ship given the assignment. The Enterprise could have been taking shore leave on a planet nearby instead. The often mentioned elevator shaft (CGI over the numbers?) the tallest section of Enterprise shaft would be eleven decks.
Many of my problems could be fixed with some voice over work, of the existing film.
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