Encouraging but could have been better

Rating: 6/10 (3 June 2010)

I was a little disappointed to be honest for I'd thought the trailer was excellent and that the films would be a return to the form of the early ones. I thought the characters were well rounded and well played, particularly Kirk and Spock whom I really liked. The supporting cast were also strong.
However, I thought the story was unnecessarily confusing with the time travel angle seemingly created just to allow Leonard Nimoy to be in the film, which he didn't need to be. This is a reworking and the characters were strong enough that you didn't need a character from the old series to validate the new one. If they are going for a refresh they need to cut the chord completely.
Also the trouble with introducing time travel is that you can't help your mind racing ahead during the film and filling in the time blanks. I mean if the Romulan planet hadn't been destroyed when Nero had come back in time, why didn't he just stop the star from going supernova this time? There were also inconsistencies with how one minute they have the technology to beam aboard a ship travelling at warp speed yet to place one drop of red matter in a planet they have to drill from a platform suspended below the Romulan ship on a rusty chain. Small points I know but Abram's had gone some way to remove the lunacy that was in the Mission Impossible series with elements that were at least more considered or explained.
The biggest problems for me though were the continual shaky cam, which I'd hoped directors were growing out of and the regular lens flare. OK it's a cool trick but I think it was overplayed a tad too much. There were times when the screen was virtually all white.
Half the wonder of sci fi films is seeing a directors vision of the future but when you can't see a great deal due to being blinded by flare and then having the camera bouncing all over the place, it can become a little frustrating.
I also found Michael Giachinno's score really intrusive and ill-placed. He can do computer games and TV programmes but I think he needs a little more polish before being let loose on a film.
I know people will say I'm taking it too seriously but each to their own. For me it's just rare that a sci fi film would have great characters but poor action scenes. It's like Iron Man in my mind, great characters and top notch acting but the action scenes and general story a little disappointing.
If people want to see sci-fi very well done with cracking characters, a great script and decent battles (both in space and hand to hand) you really need not look any further than the wonderful film, Serenity.