"Space is disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence."
My 3D animation class went to go see Star Trek on Saturday. Ostensibly for "research purposes". Overall, I liked it. I would agree with whoever (negumi?) said it felt more like a Star Wars movie than a Star Trek movie. It was definitely a lot more action-oriented than I feel Star Trek has always been.
Anyways, I'm not gonna get into what made me like it. Nothing unusual, just good special effects and a good cast.
Instead, after digesting it for a few days, here is what bothered me about it:
- The bad guy is from Romulus. And his name is... Nero? Really? Is that supposed to be subtlety? ¬_¬
- You would think the Romulan Empire would have something to say about some dude in a Gigantic Romulan Ship of Doom from the future, running around the quadrant and blowing shit up for 25yrs. At the very least, they might wanna try getting in touch with him or something. But apparently not...? And the Federation just seemed to forget about Nero's ship's appearance after the first scene of the movie, too. It obviously wasn't destroyed. Did they think it would just go away?
- I don't get the whole thing about Spock promising to save Romulus from the supernova - and then failing somehow. The supernova is at point A, and Romulus is at point B. The supernova shockwave is moving toward Romulus at such and such a speed. That's just how these things work, we do the same kind of calculation every time we catch a ball or pull out into traffic. Either he had time or he didn't, but he had to have known how much time he had. It wouldn't make sense for him to promise something he couldn't do. Did he forget to set his alarm? Did he get totally baked, and space out? The movie just kinda leaves that hanging.
- Nero and his Gigantic Romulan Future Ship of Doom accidentally travel back in time chasing Spock, and decide they're going to destroy the Federation. And then Spock shows up with the Red Matter. So... now Nero has the technology to get rid of the sun that will eventually go supernova and destroy Romulus in the first place. He's basically been handed the ability to undo everything that has gone wrong. And for no good reason, he keeps going down the same dumb path he was on. I realize that this would totally undermine the driving conflict of the movie, but arbitrary conflict is not a good excuse for a movie.
Anyways, I'm not gonna get into what made me like it. Nothing unusual, just good special effects and a good cast.
Instead, after digesting it for a few days, here is what bothered me about it:
- The bad guy is from Romulus. And his name is... Nero? Really? Is that supposed to be subtlety? ¬_¬
- You would think the Romulan Empire would have something to say about some dude in a Gigantic Romulan Ship of Doom from the future, running around the quadrant and blowing shit up for 25yrs. At the very least, they might wanna try getting in touch with him or something. But apparently not...? And the Federation just seemed to forget about Nero's ship's appearance after the first scene of the movie, too. It obviously wasn't destroyed. Did they think it would just go away?
- I don't get the whole thing about Spock promising to save Romulus from the supernova - and then failing somehow. The supernova is at point A, and Romulus is at point B. The supernova shockwave is moving toward Romulus at such and such a speed. That's just how these things work, we do the same kind of calculation every time we catch a ball or pull out into traffic. Either he had time or he didn't, but he had to have known how much time he had. It wouldn't make sense for him to promise something he couldn't do. Did he forget to set his alarm? Did he get totally baked, and space out? The movie just kinda leaves that hanging.
- Nero and his Gigantic Romulan Future Ship of Doom accidentally travel back in time chasing Spock, and decide they're going to destroy the Federation. And then Spock shows up with the Red Matter. So... now Nero has the technology to get rid of the sun that will eventually go supernova and destroy Romulus in the first place. He's basically been handed the ability to undo everything that has gone wrong. And for no good reason, he keeps going down the same dumb path he was on. I realize that this would totally undermine the driving conflict of the movie, but arbitrary conflict is not a good excuse for a movie.