[Gemini1999]

I just got back from seeing the new film with much trepidation...

It's not Star Trek, at least not how I've come to know it. I know that will wind up becoming what Trek will be from this point on though. In some ways, I'm fine with it, but it just feels weird watching something with the Trek name on it that doesn't feel like it has a connection to the rest of it. I know that at the age of 48, I'm not in the target demographic and being a longtime Trek fan basically means I have two strikes against me.

There were small bits and pieces of it that I liked, but not enough to string them together and like the film as an overall experience. I feel like I did after seeing Indiana Jones IV, only more so.

My biggest gripes are with the general production design and the photography. The shaky-cam photography made some action scenes almost unintelligible. I did however, like the costumes used on the Kelvin and the "space jump" suits worn by Kirk and Sulu. I didn't see any ships that I would want to build a model of and the sets were largely forgettable.

The highlights of the film were mostly in terms of performances. Karl Urban was most definitely one of the standouts along with those of Bruce Greenwood as Pike and to some extent, both Pine as Kirk and and Qunto as Spock. Of course, seeing Leonard Nimoy in a Trek film was a plus - by the time he appeared, I'd given up hope on the film entirely. The worst bits for me were those with Anton Yelchin as Chekov and Simon Pegg as Scotty. I love Pegg - he's a terrific actor and a very funny guy in his own right, I just don't think that he was the best choice for this particular role. As for Yelchin, it's obvious that he can do a Russian accent, but the rest of it...not so much.

I know that the film is going to be successful and it's going to make Paramount/CBS a lot of money. That's what they wanted, they wanted a "tentpole" film to secure them for the summer and they got it. If money is the determining factor, then it looks like they've struck gold.

I know that it may not sound like it, but I'm glad that there's a large group of people enjoying the film. As I've said before, I don't think that I'd like the idea of seeing yet another Trek film tank like the last one did. I thought that we'd never see another one, yet here we are.

I still have 40 years worth of Trek material to keep me happy and I'm comfortable in that respect. Trek doesn't need me to keep it going. I will however, continue to actively support the fan produced Trek efforts. Fan series such as New Voyages/Phase II and Hidden Frontier keep me pretty sated in terms of getting my Trek fix. Someone earlier on mentioned folks having issues seeing other actors taking issue seeing familiar characters being played by unfamiliar actors, which has not been my problem in this case. Since I've been watching New Voyages, I've seen all the major roles in TOS played by other actors - one or two by more than one actor due to unexpected cast changes.

I guess that I'm just one of those older Trek fans watching the franchise pass me by.... If that's how I'll be characterized by how I feel, so be it.

Bryan