Well, I took the afternoon of work so I could go and see the film I have been waiting years to see.
Some Spoilers Ahead!
I went to a 2pm afternoon showing to avoid the schoolkids and thank god it paid off. Not a morsel of popcorn was thrown, not a word was uttered during the film from the 7 or so people in the very empty cinema.
The only thing seen and heard in the cinema was a variety of incredible sound effects and visuals, including the incredible sound of a fleet of slightly redesigned Federation starships zipping into warp speed, the amazing dialogue from our beloved reincarnated characters and the unbelievable (make that very believable) sights and sounds of a rebooted Gene Roddenberry universe.
This movie quite rightly is dedicated to the memory of Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett Roddenberry and in a single sentence.
This film is an absolute triumph. Before the immortal name "Star Trek" even appears on screen I had tears welling in my eyes from the incredible opening sequence, which alone had more emotion, action and epic-ness (is that a word?) in it that many other movies have in their entire duration.
Abrams has nailed the job of bringing the Star Trek Universe back to the big screen. I am amazed at how well done the casting is. This movie really is about Spock, Kirk, Bones and even Scotty at the top of the list and I have to say, all of them are cast perfectly.
John Cho does a very good job of Sulu and I have to admit, Uhura is not only wonderfully portrayed by Zoe Saldana but she is very easy on the eyes too. Anton Yelchin does a good job of Chekov but the accent does come across a little 'forced' but funny.
Eric Bana does a good job of the villain and like I have always said, a villain is only as good (or bad) as his motive and Nero's motive is simply about getting revenge for the destruction of his homeworld by an action on behalf of Ambassador Spock and the Federation.
Often in Star Trek the Next Generation's era we had a great deal of techno-babble whereas the original Kirk and co films did not. Surprisingly, this film did not attempt to dumb down any of the technological wizardry that Star Trek is well known for and there was quite a few bits in the film that could easily have gone over the heads of many people in the audience but still, they pull it off. Red Matter, Singularities, Beaming at Warp, its all in here and its awesome!
I would not say that this film is perfect, but its bloody close to it.
A+++++
I cannot wait to get my arse back down the cinema to see it again!
Update: Well I have seen it again and on reflection I still love it! I find it hard to flaw this film with the exception of some very convenient polt devices but hey, I put that down to destiny. This crew were meant to be together so there....
If I could change one thing it would be this: The Visual FX by ILM are so incredible, they deserve a little more screen time and what I mean by that is I just wish that they lingered a little longer on some shots, for example, when we see the USS Kelvin return fire on the Romulan mining ship, the shots are so awesome and explosive, that they should have lasted just a second or two longer for the viewer to absorb the action properly.
Same with when the USS Enterprise arrives at the end to take out the Romulan torpedoes, we see an amazing volley of Phaser blasts for about 2 seconds, then bam! it cuts away before we get to properly admire the beautiful curves of this heavy cruiser as it comes to the rescue.
"JJ, amazing job, but when you do the sequel, just add another 5 minutes to the overall film by lingering on those ILM FX shots... trust me. "
I often boast about the ideological and philosophical merits of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek and often it falls on deaf ears and I feel stupid, but take a look at this paragraph below, it says everything I always wanted to promote about 'trek' and from a much better writer than me,
...This is what happens on Star Trek and with every living creature on Earth – except humans. We chase after money in pursuit of happiness only to find ourselves stuck in a job we dislike at best. Then, we wonder why we feel so unfulfilled and when we will finally be satisfied. That will never happen if we don't get out of the "making a living" box and expand into making a difference in our lives and the lives of our fellow humans."
