Star Trek - post viewing impressions

The following will contain SPOILERZ. Cover your virgin eyes if you must.

Well, before I saw this movie I vocalized my extreme trepidation about it. With good reason, seeing as I've loved Star Trek since I was a wee lass. Spock was one of my first fantasy crushes, along with Luke Skywalker and Prince Phillip from Sleeping Beauty. I tried (stupid school system doesn't let you write reports on fictional cultures) to do my ninth grade research report on Vulcan culture. And not only do I own an original series blue mini-skirt uniform, but it is hand made, mostly by my brother though. I lack patience. Anyway, the point is that I am a giant nerd who loves Star Trek. And after I saw Cloverfield, I was worried. Between that movie and Lost after the first season, J.J. Abrams is not my favorite person.

But, on the other hand, those last two Next Generation movies were really scraping the bottom of the barrel, so really there was nowhere to go but up. Especially Insurrection - that was a terrible film.

Moving right along, after seeing the new Star Trek for the first time on Imax, I realized that it was not bad at all. Actually, I thought it was quite good. Imagine my relief! The dialogue was great, for one thing. The characters were mostly treated with reverence. And there was lots of exploding. I thought I'd list a few of my specific impressions of the movie, though.

1. The casting was weird, but awesome. Winona Ryder as Spock's mom? Not something I would have picked, but it worked. Harold of Harold and Kumar played Sulu very well, another unexpected choice. And Simon Pegg as Scotty - not what I would have chosen, but again it worked. And the icing on the cake was Zachary Quinto. The man looks so much like a young Nimoy its downright eerie. Oh right, and since I'm a girl I feel I should mention that Chris Pine has pretty eyes.

2. Speaking of Chris Pine... I think a hefty percentage of the movie was James Kirk getting the shit kicked out of him. I don't think there was a single scene where he didn't have at least one cut or bruise on his face. Too bad they didn't bring back "Kirk's fighting shirt" from the original series, the one that's always torn in the same place during a fight because the budget was too small for multiple shirts.

3. I don't care if this is a parallel universe, there's no way Spock would make out with his lady friend in front of a bunch of people. The Uhura thing was weird, and just seemed out of place to me, but if they'd left it at her kissing him in the elevator I could have accepted it. But not in front of four people on the transporter pad.

4. Leonard Nimoy is AWESOME.

5. And finally, thank you Mr. Abrams for maintaining one of my most favorite Star Trek themes - made-up pseudoscience. What the eff is red matter, anyway? Who cares! It makes black holes and advances the plot. Hurray!
But, speaking of pseudoscience, there is actually a book called "The Physics of Star Trek" that's pretty interesting. It sort of theorizes how warp drive might (very small might) be possible one day, and for that it wins my undying love.