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Do they still have sandwiches there?

Man. You adapt one gesture from the Kohanim and the next thing you know, six billion of your people are dead and the rest in galactic diaspora. But why did you have to pick on us?

. . . by which you may understand that I just got back from Star Trek (2009) and I have an extraordinarily bad heachache, so this is not going to be a review. On the whole, my reaction is positive. Simon Pegg as Scotty: awesome. John Cho as Sulu: very awesome. Anton Yelchin as Chekov: adorable. It is quite likely I prefer Chris Pine to William Shatner. I do not prefer Zachary Quinto to Leonard Nimoy, but I did not expect to. And I really do not prefer Karl Urban to DeForest Kelley, which is unfortunate—McCoy is traditionally my favorite of the three principals, as problematic as he is, but there were places in this film he actively annoyed me. I would have liked more for Zoe Saldaña to do, because xenolinguistics: awesome. I have a wholly unwarranted fondness for Bruce Greenwood based on I'm Not There and having seen Chariots of Fire last summer, I am pleased to find Ben Cross still working; I can't explain anything to do with Spock's mother, at all. Any further discussion should probably go in the comments, if there's anyone left who hasn't talked the movie out weeks ago. It did make me want to rewatch the original series.

I wish the Omni theater at the Museum of Science still had Leonard Nimoy's voice.

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The Omni theater doesn't have his voice anymore?

Why do things like that have to change? It should always have his voice.

You prefer Chris Pine to William Shatner, eh? I... did not have that reaction!

I love Leonard Nemoy, especially old Leonard Nemoy. He's stored in the same space in my brain as Carl Sagan, Leonard Cohen, and Lloyd Alexander (Old Wise Guys who think/thought about Life, the Universe, and Everything). So, I loved his presence in the movie.

I will grant Chris Pine over young Will Shatner, but I have a soft spot in my heart for vainglory that the older Shatner seems to embody, own, and truly dig.

I will grant Chris Pine over young Will Shatner, but I have a soft spot in my heart for vainglory that the older Shatner seems to embody, own, and truly dig.

If I think about it, that may be where I stand. Chris Pine is playing a role rather than a captain-shaped space in the plot and it's one I find interesting, where I never felt much of anything about Shatner's Kirk, but I can't imagine him screaming at Ricardo Montalbán or telling a taxi driver, "Well, double dumbass on you!"

Tangential--but you reminded me by mentioning screaming at Ricardo Montalbán--but what was the point in this current movie when someone screamed someone's name? Because

wakanomori, I, and all four of the forest creatures were whisper-shouting KHAAAAAAANNNNN! at that point.

I bet the people behind us hated us.

You're right of course about young Shatner-he was just a captain-shaped space--I had to smile reading that.

I guess I just found this guy kind of obnoxious unpleasant. I didn't like him eating an apple during the Kobayashi Maru bit. It may be a more frivolous thing: He swaggered, and for me to like a guy who swaggers, I have to find the guy physically attractive... and I didn't find this one physically attractive. It took me a long time to get to the point where I could find any swaggerers attractive, but I do now, sometimes. But not that guy.

Within the confines of the movie story, he definitely improved after his conversation with Old!Spock.

but what was the point in this current movie when someone screamed someone's name?

When Spock escapes from Nero's ship with the little craft original-Spock was piloting to Romulus when its sun went nova and the plot kicked off, Nero screams after him in time-honored fashion: "SPOCK! SPOOOOOOOCK!" It was endearing.

It may be a more frivolous thing: He swaggered, and for me to like a guy who swaggers, I have to find the guy physically attractive... and I didn't find this one physically attractive.

I don't argue that he's cocky. I don't want to go to bed with Chris Pine's Kirk; I just find him a more complex character than Shatner's.

Within the confines of the movie story, he definitely improved after his conversation with Old!Spock.

Yeah. Leonard Nimoy does that to people.

I just find him a more complex character than Shatner's.

I agree with you there--he is shown to be more complex. And he develops during the course of the movie, which is something that Shatner-Kirk didn't do much--not in the series ever, and in the movies hardly.

The Omni theater doesn't have his voice anymore?

No! It's some woman who sounds like the Amtrak automated phone system! I noticed this maybe a year or two ago; it upsets me every time I think about it. There was nothing quite like Leonard Nimoy reciting "Who Put the Bomp?" in tectonic surroundsound. Besides, as the pre-show used to tell visitors, "He grew up just a few blocks from here." I have no idea where the new voice came from, but unless she turns out to be a famous astrophysicist at MIT who just sounds unfortunately like a speech synthesizer, I doubt she could be as appropriate to the Museum of Science as Nimoy.

You prefer Chris Pine to William Shatner, eh? I... did not have that reaction!

See response to

cucumberseed. What do you prefer about Shatner?

So, I loved his presence in the movie.

Agreed. He's a cultural institution.

(answered above)

I preferred Shatner, also. Pine just didn't feel like Kirk- he felt like a teenager trying to pretend to be Kirk, and turning up the "I can buck authority" dial a bit too high- that always seemed to be a second choice for the original character- an easy second, but he had an understanding of authority that Pine seemed to lack. This guy, I just couldn't see becoming a leader in that same way. I thought most of the other characters were much more plausible. Some of them took a while for me to buy, but eventually I did (but not Amanda- that one mystified me, the woman in the movie seemed nothing like the original character, any of the times she shows up. Sarek was a hard sell, too).

This guy, I just couldn't see becoming a leader in that same way.

I was surprised he got a ship out of a field promotion. I could have seen him proving his competence in this crisis and then, I don't know, working his way up the chain of command from an ensign or second lieutenant or whatever a battlefield commission gets you in Starfleet. Jumping from suspension for cheating to captaincy made me blink a little.

Some of them took a while for me to buy, but eventually I did

Truly, I think I had the most trouble with Spock. Even putting aside the physical differences or the greater emphasis on his emotions, it didn't help that the timbre of Quinto's voice is much lighter than Nimoy's; he had the right precision of speaking, but not the resonance. My issues with McCoy are mostly script-based.

(but not Amanda- that one mystified me, the woman in the movie seemed nothing like the original character, any of the times she shows up. Sarek was a hard sell, too).

As I said, I can explain nothing about Spock's mother—not why she was played by Winona Ryder, not why she died; it's a mystery. With Sarek, I missed Mark Lenard, but I had the advantage of already liking the actor who replaced him; the characterization didn't trouble me.

I thought killing Amanda was pretty clearly a device for hitting Spock in the emotional noggin. Also a convenient way to drill into the fans' heads that this is an alternate timeline, and that their obsession with continuity ought to be politely thrown down the incinerator chute.

I thought killing Amanda was pretty clearly a device for hitting Spock in the emotional noggin.

Losing an entire planet won't do it?

Also a convenient way to drill into the fans' heads that this is an alternate timeline, and that their obsession with continuity ought to be politely thrown down the incinerator chute.

I would like to have seen the allohistory demonstrated in a slightly less familiar way, I suppose.

Losing an entire planet won't do it?

It might for most, but Vulcans are (inconsistently) good at swallowing this stuff. Something had to hit close to home for him to beat the space chlamydia out of Kirk, in public no less.

Of course, if we follow precedent from The Immunity Sydrome then we might ask why Spock wasn't incapacitated with psychic whosits when all the Vulcans died.

Your dork looks really big in that statement. :D

Did you get to see lemurs? And the Israel Day parade? I am sorry we missed each other.

No! It's some woman who sounds like the Amtrak automated phone system!

Good grief, that's horrible. How could they replace him with someone or something like that?

I have no idea where the new voice came from, but unless she turns out to be a famous astrophysicist at MIT who just sounds unfortunately like a speech synthesizer, I doubt she could be as appropriate to the Museum of Science as Nimoy.

Word.

Perhaps there should be a write-in campaign to change back to him?

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Do they still have sandwiches there?

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