Well, based on your recommendations, I went and saw it today. I just got back about 20 minutes ago, and I'm still raving about how good it was.
I couldn't agree more with how they handled the aesthetics of TOS-era Trek in the modern day. The bridge and upper-decks look just like a higher-tech,
higher-budget version of the original should, and the lower decks just make sense. You couldn't do that nearly so well with the Enterprise-D, but the
dirty, practical feel works wonders for my suspension of disbelief.
As far as visual effects goes... wow. Just. Wow. High HSQ here.
Sound was almost as good, and by 'almost', I mean 'does not punch you in the gut with sheer awesomeness until you like it, like the rest of the
movie'. It stops halfway through the final punch. Still amazing by most any measure, and playing on my PC right now.
The scriptwriting is another marvel. They gave every character signature traits from the original- Kirk still gets into his share of fistfights, Scotty and
Chekov have their accents, etc, etc- but then add/highlight more depth to how they act. Sarcastic!Spock works, and works well, and McCoy.... well.... yes, the
audience did order a scene-stealing ham, and it is tasty and good. Old!Spock was marvelously done, as well: really, everyone was, but he took the cake.
The pace was brilliant, with a mid-paced start, that ratchets into a high-speed ride to, almost uninterrupted, about 5-10 minutes before the end of the film.
There are occasional slowdowns along the way, but, like with Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann, the slowdowns are only there to give you someplace to land, so the
show can blow you away again. The comedy was well-placed, used effectively to control the mood, and satisfied the first virtue of any comedic attempt- it was
funny.
As for the science... who cares!
I am slightly worried about the continuity they've created, especially if they want to do any more media that goes with it. I was expecting them to hop to
how it all started, and do something about some of the world-shattering implications of the plot. In that sense, especially given that the technology to do
just that was just within their grasp, I was disappointed. The last scene was perfect, though.
This frustrated me as much as it did, because my response to the whole film can be summarized in one not-a-word:
Moar!!!
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.
I couldn't agree more with how they handled the aesthetics of TOS-era Trek in the modern day. The bridge and upper-decks look just like a higher-tech,
higher-budget version of the original should, and the lower decks just make sense. You couldn't do that nearly so well with the Enterprise-D, but the
dirty, practical feel works wonders for my suspension of disbelief.
As far as visual effects goes... wow. Just. Wow. High HSQ here.
Sound was almost as good, and by 'almost', I mean 'does not punch you in the gut with sheer awesomeness until you like it, like the rest of the
movie'. It stops halfway through the final punch. Still amazing by most any measure, and playing on my PC right now.
The scriptwriting is another marvel. They gave every character signature traits from the original- Kirk still gets into his share of fistfights, Scotty and
Chekov have their accents, etc, etc- but then add/highlight more depth to how they act. Sarcastic!Spock works, and works well, and McCoy.... well.... yes, the
audience did order a scene-stealing ham, and it is tasty and good. Old!Spock was marvelously done, as well: really, everyone was, but he took the cake.
The pace was brilliant, with a mid-paced start, that ratchets into a high-speed ride to, almost uninterrupted, about 5-10 minutes before the end of the film.
There are occasional slowdowns along the way, but, like with Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann, the slowdowns are only there to give you someplace to land, so the
show can blow you away again. The comedy was well-placed, used effectively to control the mood, and satisfied the first virtue of any comedic attempt- it was
funny.
As for the science... who cares!
I am slightly worried about the continuity they've created, especially if they want to do any more media that goes with it. I was expecting them to hop to
how it all started, and do something about some of the world-shattering implications of the plot. In that sense, especially given that the technology to do
just that was just within their grasp, I was disappointed. The last scene was perfect, though.
This frustrated me as much as it did, because my response to the whole film can be summarized in one not-a-word:
Moar!!!
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.