| Review : |
I am a die hard Star Trek fan and have been since childhood. I am simply disgusted with the state of Trek movies today. Overall I am very unhappy with what reboot/rewrite happy Hollywood is doing to some of my favorite life time memories of sci-fi/superhero universes. People like JJ Abrams, Michael Bay, Disney, Sony Pictures, et al. are leading this charge. It is apparent that they have no respect for what has come before by the way they usurp, rape, and pillage the very essence of what made these genres so endearing in the first place. Focusing again on Star Trek, the idea of exploring "another" universe of Trek is appealing. I think any Trek fan would find the prospect appealing as well. After the first movie came out I had some issues with it. Red Matter, really? A better explanation of it can't be provided? Ok I'll deal with it. The Enterprise in this time line is larger than the Enterprise-D in the standard time line. So I'm supposed to believe that the much older technology is supposed to be able to engineer a ship of similar size as technology approximately a hundred years more advanced? Alright I guess that can be explained away. So you choose a brewery as the set to represent the engine room of this much larger more technologically advanced (than the standard time line) ship? That one is very hard to swallow. I could continue, but I digress. Despite the short comings of the first film an interesting premise was raised, and I had high hopes for the second. It failed miserably. There is not one redeeming quality to this film save the special effects. It was just more of the same problematic story and story telling of the last movie. The Enterprise wasn't big enough so now there is a bigger ship the Vengeance. Kirk and Khan briefly join forces. Yes I suppose anything is possible in a different universe, but I don't like it. I does disservice to the classic Kirk/Khan dynamic. Blowing up Vulcan in the last movie wasn't enough, now the Vengeance has to crash into Starfleet HQ. Finally, Spock died in the standard time line so now it has to be one uped by Kirk dying in this one, but wait he can still be saved. Its a pointless plot twist. As long as Abrams is in control I don't think I'll be able to watch another Trek movie again. Considering the havoc he has cause with Trek I loath to consider what he is going to do with Star Wars. |
| Review : |
Ever since TOS: "Mirror Mirror" the idea of other universes of Trek have been a core concept. I was intrigued by the idea of exploring one of them. Overall I am not happy with the first foray into this universe. The story was average at best. Admittedly, my main issues with the film may be considered nit picking at best, but as a hard core Trek fan they are none the less things that I found very bothersome. Red Matter, really? A better explanation of it can't be provided? Ok I guess I'll deal with it. The Enterprise in this time line is larger than the Enterprise-D in the standard time line (not to mention the size of the Kelvin). So I'm supposed to believe that much older technology is supposed to be able to engineer a ship of similar size as technology approximately a hundred years more advanced? Alright I guess that can be explained away. So you choose a brewery as the set to represent the engine room of this much larger more technologically advanced (than the standard time line) ship? That one is very hard to swallow. Warp nacelles now have an exhaust like a rocket engine? Wait, the "physics" of federation warp propulsion has been established. The standard universe and this new universe are likely one and the same up until the point where Nero travels into the past. Yet we also see the Kelvin with this strange nacelle exhaust port. Am I supposed to believe that the Kelvin uses a unique type of warp propulsion system that becomes the norm after Nero attacks? Sorry I don't buy it. I can't fathom what would go through a director's mind to have these kind of gaps in story and set choices. I still find the premise of a different Trek universe interesting. I'm curious to see how the Federation will progress with a diminished Vulcan presence, and how will it effect the Vulcan race. I have high hopes for the next installment. I'd really like to be able to give a Trek movie a better rating. |
