As a life-long Trek fan-boy (Trekker not Trekkie, I don't go to conventions, I don't dress up, and I sold all my books, more than 200, over a decade ago) I had high hopes that I'd love the new Star Trek film. With all the hype out there from die-hard Trek fans, Trek familiars, Trek noobs, and Trek haters, I really thought there was a good chance I'd like (dare I say love) the film, but alas, I didn't. I hesitate to say I hated it, hate is such a strong word, and it implies strong negative feelings. My feelings are not based on anger or hatred (or resentment for that matter) they're based on disappointment mixed with an all around feeling of 'meh'.
I went into the theater knowing that the film probably wouldn't fully follow along with the Trek cannon, and I was planning to be ok with that. And to be honest I was ok with it. What I felt was lacking most from the film was a good story. And on top of that, I felt that the acting was generally terrible all around as well.
The new Kirk (Chris Pine) was, for me, the best part of the film. The guy who played Chekov (Anton Yelchin) was actually pretty good too. While watching the film I actual had a number of moments of boredom, where I was checking my watch and wondering when the film was going to end. That's never a good sign.
The theater we were in was slam-packed, which I guess shouldn't be too surprising, since it's only been out just over a week, and it's getting loads of good press.
It I were to gauge the overall vibe coming from the crowd in our theater I'd say they seemed to love the film. Numerous times they were laughing out loud (I don't think I even cracked a smile thru the whole film) and at the end of the film they were actually clapping and cheering.
It really annoyed me when there were signature lines taken from the original series/films and the theater goers bust out in laughter. If it weren't for the crowd reaction, I may have smiled at those moments, but their laughter honestly ruined it for me. We never laughed in the old days at those lines. At most we'd smile and let out a 'huh'. Why now does it warrant excessive laughter? Now that I think about it some more, I think at the time I must have felt that they were laughing, not at the actual lines being said, but at the culture and traditions of the old series/films.
Bones was awful (a good caricature tho). Scotty wasn't too terrible. Sulu was meh. Uhura was hot, but she didn't have much of a role. Honestly I'm a fan of these actors, just not in these roles.
I'm also a huge Leonard Nimoy fan. I met him once at a local bookstore and he signed his autobiography. My wife even took a picture of us. We even share the same birthday March 26th (different years tho). I thought he too was terrible in this film.
No doubt, the series had been run into the ground before this film, and as a life-long fan of the franchise I'd like nothing more that to see it alive and thriving. But I'm not so sure that this film will give it the shot in the arm it needs to resurrect what for many classic fans has felt dead for far too long. I'm highly skeptical about that prospects of me ever calling myself a Neo-Trekker or Neo-Trekkie. I'll certainly be keeping my eye on it, but I'm wondering if maybe our last hope is finally gone.
I'll stop here, since there's not much more to say. I wanted to like film, but I didn't. I didn't hate it, but I was hugely disappointed by it.
Live long & prosper.
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