Star Trek - 02.06.2009

My review, copied from facebook & extended somewhat:

I would undoubtedly have enjoyed this more if I'd focused less on differences from original movies. No can do, so there you go. Still enjoyed it.

Good: Karl Urban as Bones was a standout, the only one truly channeling the original character / actor. Uncanny. (Don't tell me channeling wasn't the point. I wish it had been.) He's also very handsome, but honestly, I was awed by his performance. The looks were a bonus.


See? See? (But again, not just looks or similarity in looks - acting. If everyone had done as good a job as Urban, it would have been Star Trek heaven.)

Also liked Chris Pine's Kirk and enjoyed Kirk & Bones's banter. Simon Pegg's Scotty spoke much like a Glasgwegian, so obviously close to my heart... not close to the original, but not a major character anyway. Anton Yelchin (Chekov) has a disarmingly earnest air about him, impossible to dislike the boy in anything, despite the over-the-top russian accent.

Bad: Spock was a serious disappointment: character too emotional, actor so VERY wrong in the face department. Just. Not. Spock. This was one of my biggest problems with the film, as I adore the original Spock (was heartwarming yet sad to see Nimoy so old and frail). After a good Kirk and a great Bones, the holy trinity was sadly left incomplete. The hole was the size of a house, and the main reason this film was just OK to me, not more.

Uhura and Sulu were seriously miscast. Uhura should not be some skinny doe-eyed model girl, and Sulu should not be a Korean from Harold and Kumar, and that's that.

What I mean about Spock being bumpy:


Arched eyebrows suit certain people (Hugo Weaving springs to mind as a prime example). They do not suit people with droopy eyelids. If you have droopy eyelids to start with, you end up looking like a bumpy Whedon vampire. I kept thinking 'Argh! Spock looks disfigured!' all the way through the film. Shallow and mean-spirited, but the thought wouldn't leave me alone.

Bottom line:

The next one ought to be easier, as I have already made these comparisons and know what to expect. The parallel universe plotline is clever, gives them freedom to take liberties.

At times the film felt more Star Wars than Star Trek. (Not a compliment, although I do enjoy the original Star Wars trilogy: Wars replaces Trek's depth and intellectuality with action scenes that go on forever, right?) However, was mostly redeemed towards the end.

Rating: 3,5/5