I had very high expectations going into this film, probably too high. I watched this film in IMAX at the theatre in Ontario. I enjoyed the first film, which was a reimagination, a prequel of sorts. This movie was trying to be too many things at the same time, a prequel, a continuation of part one, a set up to part two of the original series the “Wrath of Khan“, and at the same time something original, new and creative in ways that it hasn’t been before. It had flashes of creativity, the volcano scene, with the Enterprise emerging from the sea, was pretty cool. The effects in the theatre were underwhelming, I was expecting better sound effects and the 3-D usage was ineffective. At this point, I would like to speak to the acting and to the plot. The acting, in general, was pretty good, with a tad bit of overacting with respect to the language of Scottie and Jim, how they were trying to imitate the original characters. For me, it was at times humorous. Almost trying too hard. I believe Zachary Quinto was perfectly cast as Spock. Chris Pine revises his role as James Tiberius Kirk. This is a bit of a stretch, but somehow I was able to suspend reality. Karl Urban was cast as Bones. He did a decent job if not a little forced. Simon Pegg was cast as Scottie. Again, I thought he was pretty good. Anton Yelchin (RIP) was cast as Checkov, also a bit forced. I don’t know who could have been better cast, it was just a bit weird for me. I think the writing suffered from a lack of originality, without giving too much away, it was essentially a carbon copy of the original Wrath of Khan, with some minor modifications. The biggest one when they brought a younger version of Kahn back. Who can replace Ricardo Montauban, the original Kahn, a man with unsurpassable charisma? In a word no one. This is not to take away from Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance, which was top-notch, but it’s just not the same. However, he did do a great job of playing the bad guy.
Spoilers…
They also reinvented the scene wherein the original, Spock dies, only this time, instead of Spock saving everybody, it was Kirk. It was redone all the way down to the famous yell “Kahnnnnn“, this time by Spock instead of Kirk. I am not sure if this was done as an homage or what. I am surprised they came up with an original way to bring back Kirk, so they didn’t try to copy the original, setting up for the next movie, the “Search for Kirk”, that would have been horrible.
Even with all of its problems, it was still an enjoyable ride.
****
