For Jess: [link]

Hahahaha! It is amazing how Vulcans don't bruise.

establishing my bona fides...

I liked the previous Star Trek movie quite a bit actually and I was very afraid and was prepared to be QUITE disappointed with the new movie. I read no reviews and no spoilers prior to this point. I am now going back to read. That said...

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked the new Star Trek movie. I think it is better than Iron Man 3 (but I didn't much care for IM 3). I was digging the movie and pretty much engaged in it for the first 2/3rds. The first part of the movie really worked for me from a plot perspective. We could argue that it wasn't really a ST film, but setting that aside, the plot stuff worked. There was some stuff where I said: "why the fuck did that happen" and there is a reasonable explanation of why that occurred the way it did. All this goodwill was gone though because of roughly the last third of the movie. The end part of the movie really really bothered me, and I actually find the latter third somewhat unforgivable. My main complaint is similar to complaints I have had about George Lucas prequels. If fans love a particular movie or part of a fandom, you can't just reference it in hopes that this will get the fans to love YOUR movie. The key moments you reference were part of a larger excellent narrative. You start alienating me when you reference those for the sake of hitting presumed emotional beats that, in my view, did not need to be hit. BIG BIG Spoilers and complaints follow:

I was pissed OFF at the point when the villain screamed "NOOOOOO" when the torpedoes exploded in his ship. WTF was that? I actually laughed in the theater at this. That was the main point at which I was taken out of the movie and I did not return to the movie afterward. This of course was made far far worse when Spock yelled "KHAAAAAAN!!" about 15-20 minutes later. Again, WTF was that? I shook my head. And then the atrocities (yeah, I exaggerate) kept rolling in. What they did to Kirk was just bullshit. And unnecessary. Made worse by the fact that every person with a brain knew how the Kirk situation would have resolved itself. Spock fighting the villain on flying ships on Earth was stupid. The villain killed KLINGONS in hand to hand combat - don't get me started on how ridiculous that was, but I could have ignored it - so how was Spock okay to be beat on by the villain. I *love* the movie The Wrath of Khan and I am resentful they tried to play on my affection for that movie to get me to like this movie. I think the villain was somewhat underdeveloped. Well-acted, to be sure, but the final goal needed to be more developed. I am unceasingly disappointed that the villain was not simply trying to get his crew back and go on his way after all. I thought that would have been a master stroke of plotting and would have employed the pocket universe concept to its best. I have no idea why they didn't do this. It would have been far more interesting than what they came up with.

The io9 review made the very good point that the movie undermines any chance it has at emotional impact by continually lowering the stakes. They start off hunting down a superhuman terrorist while also risking war with the Klingons, but by the third act, it's just Kahn having a hissy fit, on foot with no weapons, and no plan.

And the more I think about it, the more I'm annoyed by the decisions that were obviously made only to give JJ an excuse for a cool visual. Like, why did the Enterprise need to be underwater? In geosynchronous orbit above the volcano would have worked a lot better, wouldn't it? Oh, but then we wouldn't have gotten to see the Enterprise rising out of the water. And yes, that's what kicks the plot into motion because Kirk loses his job over it, but it was SUCH A DUMB DECISION IN THE FIRST PLACE. And the whole movie is like that. There's the scene where Kahn is running through the plaza right after he crashes the ship, and he grabs a coat AND IT FITS even though he's supposed to be even taller than Benedict Cumberbath is in real life. And then instead of using the disguise to blend in with the crowd...he runs through a glass wall. So why did he steal the coat? Why, JJ?

The continuity errors in the warp core scene bugged the crap out of me. Hands were jumping all over the place. Seatbelts came and went at random. Just sloppy filmmaking.

So - is Stark Trek a must see in the theaters or a just wait until it comes out on DVD?

if you saw and liked the 2009 movie in the theater, see this one too.

I haven't seen the movie yet, le nubian, but on one plot point: Spock (and Vulcans in general) are supposed to be several times as strong and resilient as a human being, being from a desert world with much higher gravity. In TOS Spock has bent metal barehanded when out of control. Khan is genetically enhanced to a similar level of superhuman physical ability. Klingons, while a warrior society, are supposed to be roughly physically equivalent to normal humans of the same build and combat expertise. It's not unreasonable that Khan would be able to wipe the floor with the latter while having an even fight with Spock.

The only problem with that is that, in this movie, the Klingons have Spock/Kirk/Uhura on the run before Kahn gets there to save them. If Spock can beat Kahn in hand-to-hand combat, he shouldn't have needed his help in the first scene.

I just saw IM3. I laughed and enjoyed it. I agree with Steph that the tag at the end was worth the price!

As for the discussion about the addiction and regulating(?), in the trials film there was a point where Killian said to one of the subjects that addiction and not regulating were bad and would get you booted from the program. this was just before they had to clear the room because one of the subjects was about to explode. Not sure what the addiction was supposed to be to.

Matt,

I appreciate the remark and may put some perspective on things. However, I do not recall at any point prior seeing a visual reference to Spock's strength. Your comments are valid but not shown on screen. And that scene in particular was after much much foolishness.