Good action plus inane details equals still good movie

Rating: 6/10 (14 February 2010)

This was a very unusual movie for me because I did find it entertaining on the one hand, but also very annoying in its frequent lack of common sense and respect for its genre. Looking just at the entertainment value, one could certainly give the film a 7 or 8 for action that moves along well, relatively engaging characters and a script free of the heavy Trek-jargon that often weighs down television episodes. However, as a science fiction fan I found many details of the film just plain silly. I'm sure a hardcore Trek fan could cite dozens of gaffs, but one of the more obvious is the construction of the Enterprise - a very large ship not designed to operate in an atmosphere - on the surface of the Earth rather than in orbit; also bizarre were starships maneuvering mere meters away from a "black hole" without being torn apart by gravity ~ the sort of detail that makes one wonder if the black hole in question was actually meant to be wormhole but was renamed a "black hole" to sound more ominous. One idea that I do like (actually implied in the script) is that this movie is set in a parallel universe quite distinct from the original Star Trek, and I think the very action of the movie ~ tampering with history for the sake of vengeance ~ would make it easier to free oneself from attachment to the background of classic Trek if one is a die-hard fan. But even so, Kirk's ultimate reward for his heroism (let me avoid a spoiler) is out of all proportion to his gallingly inappropriate conduct at Starfleet Academy. A basically good movie? I guess. But compromising between an 8 for brisk action and a 4 for many flaws in logic and common sense, I offer a 6 instead. The odds are, most viewers will be entertained.