Wow, was that disappointing!

Rating: 4/10 (11 May 2009)

I've been trying to figure out the huge disconnect between what I saw on the screen and the very high score this movie has received on IMDb and I can't understand it. The audience in the theatre around me was completely silent throughout with no gasps or other reactions except for what might have been the faintest giggle at a couple of the incredibly corny lines. Usually, if a movie is good, people are laughing, crying, or at least reacting. This movie inspired nothing. And therein is the answer to the earlier mystery I posed.
Short on story and long on trying to cleverly introduce all of the characters we so loved from the original TV series, this movie was really just one long preamble of how this happy gang came to be, the kicker being that it is a completely respun version of the facts as we know them from the original TV series. I'd tell you why, except that would be a spoiler.
For about the last 20 minutes, Abrams and crew attempt to spin this into something with a story that we would actually care about but judging by the audience's reaction, I think the entire theatre would have been just as happy continuing to watch the new Kirk and the new Spock try to rationalize how they come to respect and admire one another, the root of the chemistry of the original duo. By the way, they fail miserably.
Sometimes even a poorly conceived story can be saved by special effects or good acting. Sorry, neither of those ingredients ride to the rescue. The special effects and acting were OK at best.
Unfortunately, because it has made so much money, Abrams has already been awarded with two sequels. Personally, I'd be much happier if Abrams and crew threw out this whole movie and started from scratch on the sequel, maybe watching the original series this time before embarking on the next movie.