Great romp, shame about the need to be so obvious...

Rating: 3/10 (12 May 2013)

The film is a great piece of entertainment. Lots going on, plenty of humour, packed with action. But characters are left to fade into the wallpaper and serve little purpose. Without putting in spoilers, the bad guys may as well have neon signs flashing above their heads saying boo-hiss! (They're that obvious!) Crew members who are not Kirk and Spock serve VERY little purpose. As a homage to earlier versions, OK, but why do we have to have classic lines/scenes re- shot and mangled? It is fun but if you're a fan of the original your appreciation of this movie may be affected. If you're above 5 years old you'll see key twists coming all too far away, particularly with the 'Neighbours-like' telegraphy of specific elements. Also, why oh why has Abrams ignored the testy and curmudgeonly McCoy so much this time round?