Jimmy, I'm not sure if this was where you wanted me to post. If not, feel free to move it!
Things I hated:
- Lens Flares: I swear to god, JJ, if I was epileptic, I would be suing your ass right now. There were so many lens flares in this movie, that it became more than a little annoying after a while. I almost felt like you were trying to hide parts of the bridge from me due to bad/amaturish direction or something. I don't know what the reasons were, but cut it the hell out! I want to SEE this new bridge and not be blinded any time the camera pans.
- The iBridge: Seriously, even the way the viewscreen was set up to display different video feeds was most certainly selling Macs. Did I see an iPod spinner menu thing on the Captain's Chair?? I mean, I loved the idea that Shield and Weapon status was actually displayed on the main viewscreen, but the rest of it was just iEnterprise.
- The Star Wars weapons: I feel we've lost the Science-Fact part of Star Trek with all these different, kiddie, Saturday-morning-cartoon phasers and photons (and some other kinds of beams that I had no idea of.)
- The Direction: I feel like most of the movie was rushing me through the plot. I never really got a chance to hear exactly what led up to this fiasco. (You've just changed 45 years of established story, JJ. I think you owe me a more focused definition.) Everything that Picard worked for, everything that Sisko worked for - hell, even everything that Archer worked for... you threw it away by swiping away Romulus with a random supernova. I can let it slide that the Feds didn't know the star was going to go supernova, since the Romulans would never let info like that slip out, but I want to know more about Spock's role in what was to be the salvation of Romulus. We haven't seen him since the Reunification episode of TNG and 15 years later, you throw him in our lap as a failure? C'mon dude. What role did he play on Romulus? What about the underground movement he was working with? What about the Remans? What about what Picard did ONE movie ago? Was it his role in the Reman conflict that allowed Spock to pursue a method of salvation for the Romulans or was he still working underground? What? What? I understand that you were trying to make it more documentary style, JJ. I mean, even your cameras in space had fake dust on the lens (visible in any one of the millions of lens flares) and I think its cool, but I can count on TWO fingers when you actually centered the camera and gave us a good view of the ships and what was happening. I came to Star Trek to see some really cool space battles, but half the time, the camera is zoomed in WAY too much, the frame is shaking like an 8.0 earthquake and the action is rarely centered. This isn't Cloverfield or Saving Private Ryan. This is Star Trek. Surely your camera has an inertial dampener. I loose connection with the movie when I realize there CANNOT BE A DOCUMENTARIAN IN SPACE.
- Spock and Uhura: Ok... WTF?! I hear a little bit about some favoritism between the two in a 30-second conversation that didn't really even focus on them. The next thing I know they are making out in the turbo lift. ....HUH?!
- No William Shatner: I really think it would have helpped me feel more connected to this new trek to see the man who IS Captain Kirk in this movie. Of course, poor Mr. Pine's character may have been crushed beneath the weight of it.
- No mention of the Next Generation: Seriously, we are picking up from a story that TNG left off on 15 years ago. Why no mention of Captain Picard? Who BTW, shared Sarek's last moment with Spock ... which had him burst into tears by the end of that two-parter.
Things I loved:
- It was different: Finally a movie that was able to do what Enterprise couldn't do. This movie was a huge departure from the usual 'forumla' that Star Trek follows. Whether that's good or bad depends on the individual, but for me, it was generally good. Like a breath of fresh air. Now, there are some moments when its awesome, but there are also times when I think to myself - am I watching Star Trek, or am I watching people pretending to be on Star Trek? Whatever the case, it seems to have worked. Where Enterprise degraded into nothing but a tribute built upon moments lent to the 4 series that preceded it, Star Trek was both original and managed to still pay tribute to what we all love.
- Admiral Archer was mentioned: albeit to the detriment of poor Porthos... and Scotty.
- Seeing George Samuel Kirk.
- The new Enterprise: I guess I can understand that an altered reality could cause the old connie to be redesigned. ... ...Now there's a question. Is this still a Constitution Class?
- The iBridge: Considering that the last series was meant to try to bridge the gap between us (Now in the present) and Star Trek (Far [or not so far] into the future) it would make sense that its design would draw from things we see everyday. The design, while being seriously iPod/Apple, is plausible and DOES help it feel more grounded - but are we really saying that Apple grows into a company that gets contracts for building Starships? lol Move over Mr. Gates.
- The Direction: Finally a Trek thats fast paced and frantic. The documentary style of direction really added to this. It may have sacrificed story, dialogue and character developement (Did Kirk even get to graduate?) but it all works to thrust the audience into a frenzy of sweet action.
- No William Shatner: Just panning his massive head would take up half the running time.
