withers said:
It just amazes how willing so many true and loyal fans watched the movie for the sole purpose of jotting down flaws they could point to justify the dislike they had for it the minute the movie was announced
Well, from someone who did not like this movie, I can pretty much tell you that I was not in the "justify dislike the minute it was announced". Far from it. Trek09 was the one film I had anticipated and followed more than any other film for two straight years. I liked that new talent was behind the picture (anyone but Berman basically) and Trek was going to be known agian. Good or bad, Trek was coming back some way.
Then I saw the movie. Three times even just to try to convince myself that there had to be something good in this film because it clicked with everyone else. But all I saw was this big "what we think Star Trek is and how we're going to make it cool again" attempt at a 40 year old franchise. I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm a Trek nerd that everything I watched pretty much reminded me of what I didn't enjoy about previous Treks. Non-stop action with shallow characters and a 24/7 convenient plot.
Maybe it's the idea that when I watch the original series that the characters I'm watching have this kind of history that a lot of the show's stories built on. It wasn't hard to get into the idea that Kirk got to where he was because he really thrived to get there, not because he was dared to. He was depicted as a romantic who loved literature, history and always tried to keep his status quo in check. Does NuKirk give the impression that he knows literature, history or anything at all that would reflect an explorer's personality? No, he's just some jerk who gets made Captain because.....he's Kirk.
The writers of this movie state again and again that Kirk is young and that there are no established events that they have to stick to in order to write a story about him. What they're pretty much saying is that they can put any stubborn, arrogant, unlikable character in the role as long as his name is Kirk and he ends up being Captain of the Enterprise. Since he's 'young', they can have him do all sorts of stuff that the classic Kirk wouldn't do. I guess that sort of logic can work, but what really annoys me is that they outright made him out to be a complete a**hole who does little to redeem himself to those he's openly insulted. At least TOS Kirk apologized every once in a while and felt bad about what he did. In here they don't think Kirk needs to show any compassion or good character. He's just Kirk.
I also don't like how they now label characters like Uhura as the "love interest" and Scotty as the "Comic Relief". I never saw Scotty as a comic relief character from the original series or the movies. He was just a nice guy who had the occasional funny moments just like every other crew member from the show. But here, everything he says and does always has to come with a laugh. That's not how I remembered Scotty.
There are many other areas in this film that I didn't like, but this is the stuff that sticks out for me the most. If you want your action movies like this, that's your taste. I don't want to tell anyone that they're wrong with their liking this movie, I just don't like it when they say I should like it. That's all. Now, the one and only thing that I will outright declare anyone wrong on is the idea that NuUhura is a much better character than the original Uhura. That is just wrong on so many levels.
One other thing...liking or not liking a movie is ALWAYS biased...whether you like it or not, you have an opinion which affects your enjoyment of the movie.
