Well, if you don't like AU and time travel stuff, there's no way you're going to like their use in this movie.
But as someone who saw TOS when it originally aired, I love what they did with the movie. They needed a device to say "this *is* Star Trek" and at the same time, not tie the story and the actors to being perfect copies. Uruha stating flat out that it's an alternate universe may have been a little cheesy, but at that point I was so squeeful I didn't give a damn. (And didn't really notice.) Also, see later point re: cheese.
Things that annoyed me:
* Wrecking the classic car.
All I could think during that scene was, how much money does the Kirk-[stepfather's name] family have, to own a car *that old*? In working condition? Ok, and I was also wondering whether it had the original gas engine, or something much newer, with the classic car just a shell.
However, someone -- on LJ or Dreamwidth, I don't remember -- pointed out that it was probably meant to be symbolic. Wrecking a car made during the original run of TOS == "this is not your father's Star Trek." So.... kind of klutzy, and didn't really work for me, but I'll give them points for trying.
* George Kirk keeping the comm open while the ship crashes. Dude, you're selfless enough to die to save a couple hundred people, how about not making your wife listen to you die?? You had a countdown, you could have cut the link at .1 seconds. Asshole.
* Chekov and Sulu don't look even a little bit like the original actors. Worse yet, I don't think Sulu really acted like Sulu. Though I did like the sword fighting.
* Spock doesn't look right, either. But Quinto's acting was so spot on, I guess I'll get used to it.
* The glaringly obvious Nokia product placement in the car-crash scene. Please. (Otoh, Uhura ordering a "Classic Bud" -- or whatever it is she ordered -- was clever.)
* Sadly, I couldn't see Simon Pegg as anything but Simon Pegg in 95% of his scenes. Though he did suddenly seem very Scotty-like in his very last scene. (Is it my imagination, or had he put on a little weight for that scene? It wouldn't surprise me, since he was being played as "omg huuungry" throughout his appearance.) I suspect Pegg is better known to the Americans who like Trek than the movie makers expected. Don't get me wrong -- I love the *way* he played Scotty. I just hope I can see him as Scotty instead of Pegg, in the next movie.
Things I loved, or at least liked a lot:
* Nimoy. Especially the very end, where he does the "Final Frontier" monologue. That was just *it* -- any original TOS fan who doesn't take that as validation for the new direction the franchise is taking must be deaf.
* Pine. He's not Shatner, but he is Kirk. If you know what I mean.
* Zoe Saldana. Yum. Er. I mean, she's a fantastic Uhura. I like how she's gorgeous, and they put a little extra emphasis on how intelligent Uhura is.
* Bruce Greenwood. Pike is barely a footnote in TOS, so I'm kind of surprised at how strongly I feel that Greenwood is perfect as Pike. Which must be a reflection on the actor, and to some extent the writers.
* Zachary Quinto. Yup, he's mentioned above in things that annoyed me. But the only thing I didn't like is his failure to look exactly like a young Nimoy. I'm impressed with how Spock-like he was (esp ST:IV Spock, who is my favorite) and really impressed that I had no idea he was Sylar from Heroes until I got home and started reading spoilers.
* The humor. Things never stayed Serious, which I think it what made the previous odd-numbered movies flop -- they all tried too hard to be Serious.
* The Orion cadet. She was just cute, and I'm sad that she was (apparently) one of the many cadets killed. (I never caught the name of the ship she was assigned to, I assume it wasn't the Enterprise?) Did anyone happen to catch her name, and/or know who the actress is?
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2009-05-15 04:19 pm (UTC)But as someone who saw TOS when it originally aired, I love what they did with the movie. They needed a device to say "this *is* Star Trek" and at the same time, not tie the story and the actors to being perfect copies. Uruha stating flat out that it's an alternate universe may have been a little cheesy, but at that point I was so squeeful I didn't give a damn. (And didn't really notice.) Also, see later point re: cheese.
Things that annoyed me:
* Wrecking the classic car.
All I could think during that scene was, how much money does the Kirk-[stepfather's name] family have, to own a car *that old*? In working condition? Ok, and I was also wondering whether it had the original gas engine, or something much newer, with the classic car just a shell.
However, someone -- on LJ or Dreamwidth, I don't remember -- pointed out that it was probably meant to be symbolic. Wrecking a car made during the original run of TOS == "this is not your father's Star Trek." So.... kind of klutzy, and didn't really work for me, but I'll give them points for trying.
* George Kirk keeping the comm open while the ship crashes. Dude, you're selfless enough to die to save a couple hundred people, how about not making your wife listen to you die?? You had a countdown, you could have cut the link at .1 seconds. Asshole.
* Chekov and Sulu don't look even a little bit like the original actors. Worse yet, I don't think Sulu really acted like Sulu. Though I did like the sword fighting.
* Spock doesn't look right, either. But Quinto's acting was so spot on, I guess I'll get used to it.
* The glaringly obvious Nokia product placement in the car-crash scene. Please. (Otoh, Uhura ordering a "Classic Bud" -- or whatever it is she ordered -- was clever.)
* Sadly, I couldn't see Simon Pegg as anything but Simon Pegg in 95% of his scenes. Though he did suddenly seem very Scotty-like in his very last scene. (Is it my imagination, or had he put on a little weight for that scene? It wouldn't surprise me, since he was being played as "omg huuungry" throughout his appearance.) I suspect Pegg is better known to the Americans who like Trek than the movie makers expected. Don't get me wrong -- I love the *way* he played Scotty. I just hope I can see him as Scotty instead of Pegg, in the next movie.
Things I loved, or at least liked a lot:
* Nimoy. Especially the very end, where he does the "Final Frontier" monologue. That was just *it* -- any original TOS fan who doesn't take that as validation for the new direction the franchise is taking must be deaf.
* Pine. He's not Shatner, but he is Kirk. If you know what I mean.
* Zoe Saldana. Yum. Er. I mean, she's a fantastic Uhura. I like how she's gorgeous, and they put a little extra emphasis on how intelligent Uhura is.
* Bruce Greenwood. Pike is barely a footnote in TOS, so I'm kind of surprised at how strongly I feel that Greenwood is perfect as Pike. Which must be a reflection on the actor, and to some extent the writers.
* Zachary Quinto. Yup, he's mentioned above in things that annoyed me. But the only thing I didn't like is his failure to look exactly like a young Nimoy. I'm impressed with how Spock-like he was (esp ST:IV Spock, who is my favorite) and really impressed that I had no idea he was Sylar from Heroes until I got home and started reading spoilers.
* The humor. Things never stayed Serious, which I think it what made the previous odd-numbered movies flop -- they all tried too hard to be Serious.
* The Orion cadet. She was just cute, and I'm sad that she was (apparently) one of the many cadets killed. (I never caught the name of the ship she was assigned to, I assume it wasn't the Enterprise?) Did anyone happen to catch her name, and/or know who the actress is?
(to be continued)