Review of Star Trek XI

Finally saw the new Star Trek movie! It was an interesting experience…

The casting was excellent, for the most part. I was particularly happy with Karl Urban as McCoy. He captured the spirit of the character very well. He was so much McCoy that it took me forever to realize that it was Eomer from The Lord of the Rings. I didn’t figure it out until I saw the actor’s name in the credits, although it had been bothering me the whole time because I knew I recognized him from somewhere. I also enjoyed Sulu, Chekov, and Scotty.

Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine both looked the part for their characters, with the exception of Chris’s blue eyes. (There were a ridiculous amount of close-up beauty shots of William Shatner’s hazel eyes in TOS.) I even had the occasional Geeky Spock-Fan Squee when it was Zach and not Leonard Nimoy. This is quite impressive since I am a devout Spock Purist. However, the writing kept getting in the way of my truly accepting Zach and Chris as Kirk and Spock. I know it's an alternate universe and all, but I think sometimes they took too much liberty in changing up the characters. Also, to quote Hank Green of YouTube, the movie as a whole wasn’t “quite as cerebral as I generally like Star Trek to be."

The Kirk-McCoy friendship was done very well. I enjoyed every scene they had together. I would have liked to see something more between McCoy and Spock, though, since they have such an interesting relationship in TOS.

The Kirk-Spock relationship was a huge disappointment for me. It’s not that I don’t approve of them starting out as rivals, it’s just that I don’t think the resolution was satisfying. The only part of the movie that hinted at the depth of their friendship was in Spock Prime's dialogue. Kirk’s friendship with Spock is deeper even than his relationship with McCoy, but the movie didn’t lay the foundation for it nearly as well.

Spock/Uhura. Spock/Uhura??? Ok, who let the crazy shippers get hold of the script? There isn’t even the slightest hint at Spock/Uhura in all of TOS or the movies. This is on the same level as the whole Susan/Caspian nonsense. It seriously felt like a Spock/Uhura shipper stole the script and added in those scenes. I understand that they did it as a way to show Spock’s humanity and blah blah blah, but I’m sorry, it was stupid and out of character.

Speaking of Uhura, I’m glad she got more to do than in TOS and how they showed that she really is intelligent and not just a “glorified secretary.” (Quoting Hank Green again.) I thought that Zoe Saldana did a wonderful job, although I had to get used to how thin she was since I’m used to Uhura being played by the much more curvaceous Nichelle Nichols. My only real problem with her character was the whole Spock thing. Uhura never struck me as the type to be interested in Spock in the show or movies. Maybe they should have spent more time showing that the deep, lifelong friendship between Kirk and Spock transcends even alternate timelines rather than cooking up a contrived romance for Spock.

All in all, I would have to say that it was a very well-made, enjoyable movie. There were a lot of things that bothered me as a fan, but I'm still going to want to buy it.

(Added later:) Oh man. I can feel the Quinto-Spock fangirliness rising. I’m not really sure why. I guess he still managed to be deliciously nerdy in spite of the objections I mentioned.