Everything Wrong with Star Trek Into Darkness

CinemaSins has turned their "Everything Wrong" series to Star Trek Into Darkness. The result is an amusing but systematic take on just how lazy and poorly thought out the writing was on Star Trek Into Darkness. Its really is the perfect brain dead action film. Make sure to watch all the way to the end for the "My Name is" sequence (or can watch it looped here).

Star Trek Is Not Broken...Yet

It seems that Roberto Orci, one of the writers on Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness, didn't appreciate it when TrekMovie.com posted an editorial declaring "Star Trek is broken". For the last five or so years Orci would occasionally would pop up on the TrekMovie.com's comment section on various articles to leave answers (or create more questions) as he worked on the two movies. Do to the negative post, it seems that support has come to an end as he went off on various posters for legit (a nonsense Indiana Jones post) and not so legit (dismissive of everything else). Here are my thoughts on the idea of Star Trek being "broken" and Orci's comments. This isn't based on what Star Trek: The Original Series is in my memory (not some great uber series but as mostly well meaning but boring and/or silly episodes with few exceptions) but what I think Star Trek could be (see most Star Trek top 10 lists).

As I said in my review, "Star Trek Into Darkness is a very entertaining action movie. That does not mean it’s a great Star Trek story." I think for most Star Trek fans, that is the main complaint of the film and TrekMovie.com is no different. After declaring Star Trek broken, writer Joseph Dickerson suggests a return to the "mission statement" as stated by Kirk at the beginning of every The Original Series and end of both movies "to explore strange new worlds..." etc. You know the one. While doing that, the idea should be less fan service and a greater focus on characters rather then action sequences, not using previous episodes to create new movies with new writers (not Orci or Kurtzman), and maybe look back to doing a TV series again. Now as a Trek fan, we all probably nod our head. As one that worked on the movie, I could see why Orci wasn't pleased. Below is a summation of Bob Orci's comments. Ignore the typos, they mean nothing (its from a comment section after all).

Everything Wrong with Star Trek Into Darkness FAQ Style

Recently I posted an amusing video title "Everything Wrong with Star Trek in 5 Minutes or Less" that kind of nitpicks at the film (and others in the Everything Wrong series. io9.com has posted their unintentional take, only they did it FAQ style that is just as entertaining to read. However, as the post title states, if chock full of spoilers. It pretty much goes through every single plot point of the film revealing all the details. It also pretty much explains my review of the movie where I believe the film is very entertaining action film but a bad Star Trek story. Now some may call it nitpicking but I don't see anything wrong with wanting an action film to have a great, coherent story. Click here for the spoiler filled FAQ.

Star Trek Into Darkness Spoiler Free Review

Star Trek Into Darkness is a very entertaining action movie. That does not mean it’s a great Star Trek story. The film is epic in scale in a way that none of the previous Trek films or TV series had the budget to achieve and Abrams takes full advantage with large action pieces, fantastic beauty shots of the Enterprise, and complicated action sequences. It is just a shame that a little less time was spent on the unrelenting action and more on the plot and character development.

The story of Into Darkness is really pretty simple story of revenge that attempts to seem more complicated than it really is by throwing in references to crew as family and trying to protect that family. After a quick action sequence that involves James Kirk (Chris Pine) revealing the existence of flying ships (in a gorgeous Enterprise rising from water sequence) to a civilization that had not yet invented the wheel. Kirk gets demoted from Captain to the Academy (so cadet?). It really doesn't matter because John Harrison (acting master Benedict Cumberbatch) chooses to attack but after a Harrison attack takes someone close to Kirk, all is restored as if the demotion had not occurred. Kirk, now seeking revenge while simultaneous trying to be a better listener Captain, goes after Harrison. Another action sequence follows to establish the strength of Harrison, some exposition explaining that Harrison is also trying to protect his crew the same way Kirk is. Eventually the two join together to stop another bad guy as events return to Earth.

Star Trek Into Darkness Out Now, Reviews

As of 8PM EST, Star Trek Into Darkness is officially released in North America with IMAX and 3D early screenings followed by midnight showings (which I am going too).Rotten Tomatoes is reporting a solid 87% of positive reviews for the movies from critics, a figure that is not easy to get. The audience grade hasn't been tabulated yet. Below are snippets from a few of the reviews to highlight what critics are saying, useful if on the fence about spending the money to go see it. I hope to have my review up tomorrow.

Dark Horizons

"Star Trek Into Darkness" is a very difficult film to review because so much of the film, and its criticisms, depends on one being aware of certain spoilers. I won't go into any major plot details, but I can say that the reveals should result in some quite strong reactions - especially amongst long-term Trek fans. ...the story never really forms a cohesive whole, the thrill ride elements taking precedence and often interrupting the flow rather than sitting comfortably within it. ...the final mano-e-mano fight scene feels like an anticlimax, leaving you wondering if there's a whole third act that was excised at the last minute. ...So many of the 'surprises' of the film only register if you know the earlier work, and if you do - the 'surprises' aren't a surprise. An attempt is made to keep things fresh by taking existing major moments and subjecting them to 'reversals'.

Plinkett's Star Trek Review

Red Letter Media Mr. Plinkett is an odd reviewer. He creates these rather long reviews that typically tear movies a new one but does it in a way that is very entertaining and often right on nose. If you are a film student, his reviews of the Star Wars prequel films should practically be required viewing. His main focus is Star Trek and Star Wars with some branching out to other films. Unlike most reviewers, it quickly becomes clear that not only does he know films, but he actually has deep knowledge (or a crack research team) about the subject matter.

Below is a prime example as he spends a little over an hour breaking down JJ Abrams' Star Trek while comparing its story, characters and so much more to other films, Star Trek movies past, the series while using details about the Star Trek franchise that I barely even remember. The two part review is below or you can find them here.

Various Star Trek Tidbits

Star Trek In Space
International Space Station astronauts got a treat as they got to watch the new movie on a laptop, and since one of the few legal copies out there, they get to watch it as much as they want. Mr. Barratt, 50, Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, 50, and Koichi Wakata, 46, of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency settled into the node, named “Unity,” after dinner and secured their feet with floor straps to keep from floating during the screening, NASA spokeswoman Nicole Cloutier said.

Obama Reviews Star Trek
Speaking of special screenings, President Obama was able to watch Star Trek at the White House and said it good. He even went so far as to do the Vulcan salute for the reporter.

TOS Tribble for Sale?
Someone on eBay has what they call a real The Original Series Tribble from the episode "The Trouble with Tribbles" that still works once you insert the AA batteries. Supposedly it comes with a certificate of authenticity signed by Chris Doohan, son of James Doohan (Scotty). If you have $5000, it can be yours.

Chris Hemsworth Is Thor
The actor who played George Kirk, dad of James T. in the movie is set to become Thor for the Marvel Comics movie which is part of the build up to the Avengers movie. The movie is currently scheduled for May 20th, 2011 release date with Kenneth Branagh directing.

Mainstream Media Reviews

Most online publications have provided their take on Star Trek. Now it is the mainstream media's turn (ie TV and newspapers). Over all the reviews continue to remain very positive but not quite as universal as they were from online sources. Below a few for your enjoyment. I picked up my tickets already so the reviews are more just for other perpectives rather then an assist in deciding if it is money well spent.

Roger Ebert (2.5/4)

The Gene Roddenberry years, when stories might play with questions of science, ideals or philosophy, have been replaced by stories reduced to loud and colorful action. Like so many franchises, it’s more concerned with repeating a successful formula than going boldly where no “Star Trek” has gone before. Perhaps the next one will engage these characters in a more challenging and devious story, one more about testing their personalities than re-establishing them. In the meantime, you want space opera, you got it.

New York Daily News

The new "Star Trek" is more than a coat of paint on a space-age wagon train. It's an exciting, stellar-yet-earthy blast that successfully blends the hip and the classic. And while it has young actors in iconic roles, don't worry Trekkies, a time-travel plot acknowledges previous stories.

Entertainment Weekly (A-)

There's a time-tripping plot that, frankly, could have been trippier (not to mention a bit more, you know, logical). Maybe that's because it's basically an excuse to shoehorn Leonard Nimoy into the picture. Excuse granted: He's as dry, and spry, as ever — a tribal-elder aristocrat. I do wish Karl Urban, as Bones, lit his short fuse with a bit more idionsyncracy, but Zoë Saldana gives Uhura a sultry spark, and casting the puppyish Simon Pegg as the hyperkinetic Scotty is genius. As for Pine and Quinto, they really do feel, by the end, like Kirk and Spock. With a crew like this, you can welcome the future.

Rolling Stone (3.5/4)

Abrams has banished irony and easy cynicism from his Star Trek universe. And I will banish spoilers from this review. The script is by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (they did Transformers, which this jury will disregard), and damned if I know what they're talking about. It might as well be Duplicity in Space when they drag in time travel. Know what? Don't care. Star Trek creates an alternate universe you want to get lost in. It's an irresistible invitation for fun. What more can you ask of a summer movie?

Associated Press

It's a daring and exciting approach that's sure to tickle and provoke purists, while at the same time probably cause neophytes to feel a bit lost. A major plot twist pops up — which includes the arrival of Leonard Nimoy — about halfway through the film, a twist that doesn't exactly work and from which the film never completely recovers.

More Reviews, Icons and Stills

IO9.com has posted a new gallery of movie stills that mostly highlights the handsome (or pretty) faces of the Star Trek cast. The full gallery can be found here.

IconFactory has created bunch of new icons for the MAC and PC that are free to download. The image to the top left is what they look like. Makes for a nice change of pace from the normal folder icons at least. Click here to download.

More reviews, pretty much glowing (almost literally as lens flares was a common note), continue to pop up on various websites. Here are three more for your enjoyment.

SyFy Australia

Trek is a big-screen adventure that will thrill and delight old and new fans alike. To be fair to all the previous Trek movies, its budget far outstrips its predecessors, so the special effects, and in particular, sound effects are a class apart (Oscar-winning class). Seeing the film in a brand new digital projection theatre with a decent sound system makes this a truly immersive experience. The dialogue doesn't allow too much subtext - it would be hard to underneath all that action, but it is the absence of the non-verbal complexity that robs this film of a glowing spine to cling to for fans looking for more than just action and adventure. That said, the action and adventure is undeniably top shelf, be it for Trek fans or any other kind of fans. The tone of the film is consistent, if somewhat larger than life. The theme music, which seems to be neither here nor there, is stuck between a martial theme and the original Star Trek theme, and without enough of a singular phrase to create an iconic theme to match the epic pop culture status of the film.

CNet "Star Trek Virgin" Review

The new "Star Trek" film is less an homage to a legendary science fiction franchise than to storytelling in general, back through decades of cinema and television and beyond. "Star Trek" is just plain fun. And I came to appreciate the fact that I was sitting in that theater without prejudice. I was concerned less about whether the cast would live up to the actors who originated their roles, and more about holy whoa, that spaceship just blew up!. There is, however, a flip side to the universality of the new "Star Trek" that Paramount might not love: The fact that it stands so well on its own might mean that it doesn't mint a new generation of Trekkies. Like me, for one. As much as I enjoyed the prequel, I can't see myself Netflixing all the DVDs of the past "Star Trek" TV series and movies.

Gizmodo

Star Trek will disappoint no one. Think of it like Casino Royale was to the James Bond franchise: fewer gadgets, more action and an incredibly pugilistic lead. And lens flares. Lots, and lots, and lots of lens flares. These guys took the original ship, combined it with some designs of the Enterprise-B, then mashed it up with Picard's Enterprise-E and then added a dash of '60s non-Trek Sci Fi. The set design, however, is almost all touchscreen (like TNG), but with a tremendously updated UI. Star Trek is now gritty—it's just more...modern. And more sexy. With this film as the base, I cannot wait to see where the franchise goes from here.

More Star Trek Reviews

Three more Star Trek reviews to read for your enjoyment. Slashfilm found the movie entertaining but ultimately shallow. TrekMovie loved it. IGN found it entertaining but "hampered" by a bad script and executed storylines. Based on all the reviews I have read, it seems that the best approach to this movie is to treat it as the action flick it is being sold as and don't look much deeper than that. Thanks to Brian for the IGN link.

Slashfilm

Ultimately, this film succeeds on two counts. Firstly, it is an ice-creamy indulgence for fans of the original Trek and, as addressed above, offers a lot of giggles on this front. Secondly, however, it works as an accessible, low-effort entertainment for Saturday night audiences. Where it fails is, frankly, just about everywhere else. The film is utterly shallow and offers only a rote portrayal of great tragedy; only a superficial set of motivations for most of the actions portrayed. The human condition may be denoted by some of the drama, but it certainly isn’t explored.

TrekMovie.com

I for one loved it, Star Trek made me feel like a kid again. Is it the best Star Trek film ever? Possibly. In some aspects, there can be no doubt. The scale, the effects, the sound, and much more are at a level never before seen in Star Trek and on par with the best films of the day. Every Star Trek film gets compared to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which is my favorite as it is with many other fans. It will take a few more viewings to make the final call, but for me, it is certainly in that top tier of great Star Trek films.

IGN

In a way, Star Trek is this year's Iron Man. Both were superbly cast, full of great character interaction and genuine humanity. But the pair were also seriously hampered by badly conceived storylines and humdrum action sequences (remember Tony Stark's rubbish fight with Ironmonger at the end of the film?) that stops them joining the likes of Jaws, Star Wars and Independence Day in the annuls of truly great summer films.

Dark Horizons Star Trek Review

Dark Horizons, a popular entertainment blog, has posted its review of Star Trek. It’s probably one of the best reviews read so far as while the writer is clearly a Star Trek fan, he approaches the new film from a neutral perspective providing a rather balanced opinion rather the extreme hate it or love I have been reading. That has partly bothered me because this doesn't strike me as a love it or hate it movie. I think most scores from critics and audiences alike will split the difference and judge it as a popcorn movie.

The full review is here.

Soldiers In Kuwait Get Easter Treat

In a very cool movie, the soldiers in Kuwait got a treat for Easter by getting to see Star Trek a month before the rest of us. On top of that JJ Abrams and entire lead cast were on hand for the showings. One soldier write of the event (see snippet below) and provides a review of the film here.

I am in the Army and currently deployed to Kuwait. We have a movie theater on post that shows “second run” movies, meaning that we get the movie about a week or two after they are released in the states. At times, a special effort is made to show the movie here on the same date it is released in the states. With that being said, I was shocked to see the movie schedule that was published for the first half of April. According to this schedule the new Star Trek movie will have a “special premier” on April 11th. I found it very hard to believe that we would be able to view a big “summer time blockbuster” movie that won’t premiere in the States for another 27 days.

Sure enough, the movie actually did get played today and I was able to get in to see it not just once, but twice. Not only did the movie arrive in Kuwait, but J.J. Abrams and most of the “bridge crew” cast (Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Eric Bana and Karl Urban) were here as well.

The cast went out of their way to entertain us before and after the movie was shown. They were more than happy to interact with the soldiers (Eric Bana leaped out of his “reserved” seat and sat next to a female soldier who invited him next to her) and they took their time describing their experiences making the film and answering questions and requests (Quinto obliged a soldier who asked him to call his daughter back in the states and say hello to her). I was truly impressed and grateful in the fact that they went out of their way to thank us and to offer this film to us. I’ll admit that this review won’t be as objective as it could because of the way the cast lent themselves to us. My biggest thrill was walking up to J.J. Abrams after the film and having the opportunity to give him my general impressions of it. How many times does a geek like me get a chance to do that?

A Negative Star Trek Review and Story Summary

It took a while but someone finally posted a negative review of Star Trek. Be aware that the review includes a complete summary of the movie including some really bad news for Vulcan. Overall, as a Trekkie, I think it is probably a good thing that this movie takes place in a seperate Star Trek 2.0 universe from the Prime universe as the changes (and ignorance of canon) are rather substanial in scale.

Initial Thoughts:
Hmmm.... First off, I have to admit that every time i've walked out of a movie I have never been totally impressed. I think it may be due to all the excitement.
I hated Transformers and Wrath of Kahn, but over time they grew on me. Now I love TWOK and am OK with Transformers. I think it just took time on me. So understand that my initial reactions may be premature.

My first thoughts on the film is that it's OK. If you are a trekie and you want to see star trek, then see it. However I was expecting more. If I was going to rate it compared to the other films, i'd put it above The Voyage Home but below TWOK/FC. It is most akin to "The Undiscovered Country" in that it's fast paced but not too serious.

If you were to ask me if I was happy with it, i'd say "No"
but when I think about it, i guess i'd have to say "Yes"

THE STORY (in brief detail, I do miss some plot points):
The basic breakdown is this.
Nero's ship appears in front of the Kelvin from a singularity. It attacks the Kelvin, but Kirks dad takes command and saves the fleeing crew, including the unborn James T Kirk.
Cut to the future. Kirk gets in a fight. He gets told to join starfleet by Pike. Three years later (again... another jump in the future) the Narada picks up Old Spock who also appears out of a singularity
Kirk has now finished 3 years of training. He beats the Kobiyashi Maru when suddenly Vulcan is under attack. A fleet is assembled and they all go to Vulcan and get killed, except for the Enterprise.
Pike is captured, Spock takes command and the Enterprise flees at low warp. Vulcan is destroyed by a black hole weapon. Kirk gets angry and fights Spock as Kirk wants to fight Nero. Spock abandons him on a Vulcan moon.
On the moon, kirk meets old spock (who tells him the future... yada yada yada) and they also meet scotty. They beam back onto the Enterprise and kirk forces spock out of the command.
So kirks in command, the Narada is at earth and it is trying to blow it up using the black hole weapon. Young spock blows up the weapon while kirk fights nero.

Everyone cheers and the Enterprise goes to warp with the overtune of "Space the Final Frontier"

WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT IT
It's like Transformers, just in the Star Trek universe.
It's fast, too fast. They rush into the story, don't lay any foundations (for the average viewer) and most of the movie is about meeting the characters.
You barely see Nero before he is killed.
The movie is action packed. Lots of fast paced fights, lots of CG and, well, just watch Transformers and you'll know what i mean.

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT IT
The references to Trek. If you are a trekkie, you will LOVE the references. Lots of stuff like "i'm a doctor, not a physicist" and all that kind of stuff. That was great.
The music was ok, but the sound effects were awesome. Going to Warp was AMAZING!
The graphics were also pretty good - you get the feel from the trailers.
The movie is also a bit more 'real' in the sense that they have NOKIA phones, Engineering looks like a factory (like in TOS) with pipes and nuts and bolts, and the ENTERPRISE looks very cool, especially when it warps into Titan and emerges from the atmosphere.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
It was too fast. There was too much focus on action and not enough on the story. Like the latest Indiana Jones, most of the movie was spent doing stuff that didn't matter, like HOW Kirk met Scotty.
Also, you barely see the Enterprise. There is barely a space battle.

NOTES FOR FANS:
- The enterprise fires phasers and torpedoes (which are blue), the first time the 1701 has done so in a movie since Star Trek 2

OTHER BAD STUFF
The Federation know who the Romulus are before Nero appears in front of the Kelvin! This is ****. They arn't supposed to know for a few more years. Yet spock already knows that Vulcans and Romulans are the same species.

Physics goes out the window. True trekies will be pissed off about the Black Hole weapon as it destroys Vulcan but none of the other planets are affected. A convenient super weapon... pft.

There is also a **** ending with the Enterprise ejecting the cores (yes, it has about 5 mini-cores) to escape from the black hole - ala Insurrection.

FINAL THOUGHTS
I was left wanting more. Not more of what I was given, but more from the movie itself. It didn't offer a STAR TREK experiences, instead just a group of people that just happened to be called Kirk and Spock
The story is utter crap and the movie is only saved by the premise of the film itself, that it is a re-boot.
JJ will have to have a much more developed, interesting storyline if he is going to keep the attention of the traditional fan-base, because "STAR TREK" is not aimed at us.

5.5/10

I had a huge rant prepared because I am more than a bit annoyed at some story beats, how Navel ranks (and the experience they imply) are completely ignored disrespectfully for the easy of a story point and other issues but decided not to bother as what came before is sadly irrelevant.

It is a whole new tapestry. The movie is defining 2.0 canon in whatever way the writers and directors see fit and die hard Trekkies will have to accept it or get out of the way. Despite claims, this movie isn't for them; the Prime universe was left mostly alone for that purpose. The movie is for the casual fan that wants an action fix and has casual awareness of the franchise. If the reviews have proven anything, that goal may just be achieved.

More Star Trek Premiere Info and Reviews

Yesterday Star Trek premiered at the Sydney Opera House and Austin, TX. Since then the reviews have been popping up all over the web, most overwhelmingly positive. Below are a series of links with choice quotes of their reviews.

Dark Horizons - Brief report, with pictures of the Opera House premiere.

Twitch Film - Abrams’ film is a very entertaining and reverential take on the Star Trek mythos. The acting and casting are spot on. The story mixes old and new elements of the Star Trek universe. The effects are breathtaking. Some people will inevitably nitpick this film but J.J. Abrams’ new work is as good as (and arguably better than) most of the Star Trek movies that preceded it.

Cinema Blend - I can be skeptical no more, though. This is a fantastic movie its own right, one I would definitely recommend to Trekkie and new fan alike.

Empire - Odd-number curse be gone. The most exhilarating Trek to date marks a new future for Kirk and co. If this can boldly go on to seek out ideas to match its speed and style, a franchise is reborn.

AICN's Massawyrm - It is certainly better than any other TREK movie to date that doesn’t have the word WRATH in the title. Solid, fun and a pure joy to watch, this is the summer blockbuster to beat.

Twitter Comments - Click the link from people that tweeted about the premiere.

Honestly I have yet to find a bad review. I would post them if only to provide a balance and wider perspective. I am sure there will be some but I am surprised at the universal excitement getting from those that saw the premieres.

1st Star Trek Review

While Star Trek was premiering at Sydney Opera House, it was also taking a bow at AICN Butt-a-thon. For those fans that showed up, they thought they were going to see a pristine print of Wrath of Khan but what they got was Star Trek writers Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof riffing until Leonard Nimoy shows up to provide a print of the first movie. The full review and story is here, below are highlights (and spoilers) of the overall positive review.

Highlights:

- The movie starts off as the USS Kelvin is attacked by Nero's Narada as it appears out of a black hole. (Result of time travel in the TNG universe).
- Nero is searching for the elder Spock (or Spock Prime) for his failure to save Romulus (as seen in Star Trek Countdown comic book).
- Nero grabs the USS Kelvin captain to get Spock's location. In the meantime George Kirk is promoted and begins evacuation saving his wife and about to be born son Kirk. (Hence the screaming women and line about "he saved 800 in 12 minutes, I challenge you to do better" line in the trailers).
- My theory of three main parallel universes (Prime, 2.0, Mirror) is verified in the review, "Without any cop-outs, Abrams and his team establish that with this single event [destruction of the USS Kelvin] everything has changed."
- Use of aliens and the look of the future are consistent and handled well by Abrams.
- Nero is a decent villain but not a real match for Kirk, i.e. he is no Khan. As noted, no surprise since "He’s almost a truck driver that happened to be off planet when something horrible happens, causing him to seek his revenge" (again as seen in Countdown).
- Pine apparently nails the Kirk swagger, humor and command presence. All the actors, especially Karl Urban (McCoy) did excellent jobs in their roles.
- First 45 minutes is solid, second act was had problems, mostly in trying to get the classic bridge crew together and give them their moments while bring in Spock Prime also to move the story into the final act.
- "My biggest complaint is that it feels like they just got started up when the film ended. I want more! I want to see the further adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and his crew aboard the USS Enterprise."

Film School Rejects also posted a review and above picture. Basically they loved it. They enjoyed the story, visual effects, sound design, the cast, and essentially their review is very similar to AICN.

It’s early but the movie is off to a good start review wise with the casual Star Trek fans giving it a thumbs up. The real question is what will non Star Trek fans think of the movie as that is what the reboot is all about. I am especially curious on how the hardcore Trekkies think, especially since The Original Series (or Prime) canon has been bypassed with the launching the 2.0 parallel universe. On the plus side, at least that means the Prime Universe can still be explored in books but sadly in the realm of TV and film, it is officially dead with this movie.

Update: AICN posted some fan reviews from those that were at Austin. One was from a die hard Trekkie that expressed some of the doubts I had (Kirk goes from Cadet to Captain from one mission)

Some minor spoilers ahead: So what does a hard-core Trekkie think of the new movie? Well, I liked it. Much, much more than I thought I would. Sure, there are some definite issues from a "Starfleet" point of view (Kirk getting a battlefield promotion to First Officer when he hasn't even graduated the Academy? Scotty taking over the Transporter Room and Engineering 5 minutes after coming on board? Spock abandoning his post when Pike has been captured in order to rescue his parents? Seriously?)

It was fun, and enjoyable. I laughed at the funny parts, I got tense during some of the big action scenes, and I had good time. The big question on my mind right now as I type this is: "Was it Star Trek?" I'm still on the fence about this one. Parts of it definitely "felt" like Star Trek -- certainly much more than the later Next Generation films or heck, all of Voyager. Honestly, I think I need to see it again to make that judgement. But I gotta tell you, that's a personal call, and in the end it just doesn't matter -- this hard-core Trekkie still enjoyed the film. I'm glad I saw it, and I'll definitely go back to see it a second time.

Kevin Smith "Reviews" Star Trek

Kevin Smith for reasons I don't really understand gets early access to multiple Hollywood projects long before others seem them. This time his super duper Hollywood superpowers got him an early screening of Star Trek and Watchmen. Probably. This possible information came to light during an interview with Kevin and Bean. The audio of that interview is here. (source)

Host: So thumbs up on The Watchmen, what else you got?
Smith: I saw a movie last night that I cannot talk about.

Host: Was it good?
Smith: It was phenomenal.

Host: Any stars, any break out stars, and do they trek?
Smith: The stars absolutely trek in this film. It is fantastic. Anybody who was worried doesn’t need to be worried–about this film I cannot talk about…It was in very capable hands. The director did a phenomenal job–the director and his crew. Top notch cast and the guy that plays the lead is an instant star. That dude is going to be so famous. He is so wonderful. He picked up a role that I would say is pretty challenging for someone to step into the shoes of, because it is a role that has been played before many times by the same guy.

Host: How do you out Shatner, Shatner?
Smith: I don’t know what you are talking about.

Host: I was just saying that as an expression.
Smith: Yes, absolutely, in a world of expressions, I would agree with that…I am so not good with this game, you are going to bury me man.

Host: We had you on before The Dark Knight and I remember asking you if you could direct a movie like Dark Knight and you said ‘hell no’ it was so far out of your sphere…but I bring that up to preface this. Let’s say a franchise like Star Trek, not that you have seen the movie or we are talking about the movie, but we are talking about it for example. That is something that is so dangerous to attempt. Is that the kind of project you would like to do? Would you like to be the guy who gets to do a movie like that?
Smith: I would not like to be the guy. In the case of something like Star Trek, it would take a really insanely talented filmmaker–storyteller. Like in the case of Star Trek, JJ Abrams. So leave it to the people who are best equipped for it. I am just the guy who should be watching those movies.