Spoilers within!

[dc]

Star Trek — brilliant! I had heard it was going to be good, but I honestly didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did. It is a fast-moving film, entirely (well, almost) faithful to the original while completely rebooting Trek. Things I loved about it:

• Simon Pegg is staggeringly good as Scotty. The only thing wrong with his performance is there isn't more of it.
• The shots of Iowa, very reminiscent of old Chris Foss covers, with vast structures on the horizon.
• The characterisation of all the main characters — well, almost all — is spot-on, very well done. It's so well done that when Leonard Nimoy turns up as Spock, he seems like the impostor.
• No one is safe! Anyone can get killed! Vulcan gets destroyed! (And that looks visually very impressive — although they haven't shrugged off Trek's tendency to put planets too close together, to judge by the view from Delta Vega.)
• Red-shirt parachutist!
• The new Enterprise is very impressive; the bridge actually looks futuristic. OTOH, I like the grungy engineering section — I always felt the TV series' engine rooms were far too clinical.
• Young rebellious Kirk.
• Spock and Uhura (something that the original series occasionally seemed to hint at).
• Scotty (Simon Pegg really is superb as Scotty) being obsessed with food: Are there sandwiches in the future?
• Shuttle Gilliam.
• The end titles are beautiful, with the Alexander Courage music...
• Did I mention Simon Pegg and how awesome he is as Scotty?

There was very little I didn't like. Sulu's sword being vaguely Oriental was disappointing (Takei rejected a Samurai sword in the original series, preferring to fence like a Musketeer and avoid the racial stereotype), but only slightly; the design of sword used made more sense in this context, and there's no reason Sulu couldn't master more than one style of fencing. I didn't like the Nimoy voice-over at the end: I did think they should have got the new Kirk to do that, if they were going to do it.... Or maybe have got Pike to do it. But that's incredibly trivial.

The one thing I thought was wrong was Sarek. Ben Cross's portrayal just did not come across as the formidable figure we know from the TV series and earlier films. I cannot imagine Mark Lenard's Sarek ever saying he married Amanda because he loved her. But given how right everything else was, this is forgiveable.

Comments

[pogodragon]

Most likely going to see it tomorrow - but ... I am worried. So far I have really disliked/been entirely indifferent to Simon Pegg in everything I've seen him in. So Scotty is a cause for concern.

[dc]

His role isn't huge, so if you don't like him in it it shouldn't ruin the film.

[pogodragon]

I have been to see it now, and ... he was OK, I hated the way he started off, but once he calmed down it was alright. Not wonderful, but not quite film ruining either.

[geekgirl]

Guess I have something to look forward to tomorrow then.

Frighteningly I don't mind text spoilers, probably because I don't get mental images of what I'm going to see, which in itself is odd for me.

[dc]

I gather you enjoyed it. :)

[geekgirl]

You need to read my journal dear.

[rhaegal]

I am very carefully not reading this, but on a scale of 1-10 (1 being they barely look at each other, 10 being full-on makeout session), how slashy would you say it was?

This, of course, is how I'll determine whether it's worth taking an evening off to go to the cinema :-p

[dc]

Not sure, I didn't really think of it in those terms. It deals with the beginning of their relationship... there's some slashy subtext there all right. Plus, it is an awesome film, well worth taking an evening off to go to the cinema.

[rhaegal]

I've seen it now and gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

This is me in my happy place.

[geekgirl]

Great, isn't it? :)

[rhaegal]

Best thing I've seen in a very long time. I'm still grinning two days later :D

[geekgirl]

Same here. :D

[dc]

You're not alone in that. :)

[dc]

Good. :)

My main reason for being unsure about the slashiness of it is that the slashiness seemed to me mainly in one direction, i.e. Spock's discovery of the most important relationship of his life. Meanwhile, Kirk has also found the most important relationship of his life, but that isn't Spock. :)

[rhaegal]

I don't see it that way at all. How is Kirk's most important relationship not with Spock? He might not know it yet, but that's what the whole film was geared to setting up.

At any rate, from a slasher's point of view, I don't think I could have been happier with that film unless they'd been making out on the bridge :-)

[geekgirl]

Oh yes. I second your comment wholeheartedly.

[dc]

Kirk's most important relationship is with the Enterprise. The moment when he first catches sight of it... that's pure hot lust in his eyes. The film secured that relationship and set up the K/S one, which I grant you is his most important relationship with a person.

[rhaegal]

I'm not sure I'd call that a relationship - in Naked Time, he seems downright resentful that the Enterprise prevents him from having a relationship.
Agreed on the lust, however, since he is only human. That was one pretty ship.

[dc]

Yes, but he wasn't fully himself at that point. There's another episode where the relationship with the ship is clearly presented as the reason why he isn't destroyed by not having a particular woman... Elaan of Troyius, perhaps, though I could be wrong. Throughout the series and the films, it's clear being captain of the (as you say, very pretty) Enterprise is the defining, focal thing in his life.