Excellent Twists and Turns

Rating: 10/10 (22 May 2013)

This movie took ALL Trek mythology, flipped it ups side down and SQUASHED it with ABSOLUTE precision. Excellent job!
Cast was Great. Karl Urban stole the show as always - Spot On Good Sir, with a close second by both Anton Yelchin and Zoe Saldana. Yes, the leads were great, but they are the cake. These 3 make the icing on the cake.
FX were Fab - I don't know how you guys did it, but just Fab.
And Benedict Cumberbatch was better than anyone could ever hope for. Even his running style was Amazing - many actors forget body acting and just do dialog. His acting was quite rich and a delight to watch.
A little disappointed that Sikh Actors were not EVEN considered for the role. As Global as Trek is and considering some of the incredible talent coming out of Bollywood, I am disappointed that none were considered. Just a simply tip for April Webster & Alyssa Weisberg – in the future, before you cast the greatest villain of all time - read the character description and at least try to find a quality actor that meets the qualities first. Cumberbatch is going to be fabulous - sincerely, I believe that in my gut - zero doubt you made an EXCELLENT choice. But you didn't even try, which is totally shocking considering how much effort you went through finding Yelchin and Cho.
Why is any of the character description important? Because everyone knows that the Khan character gains his self-righteous attitude from the chemical disaster at Bhopal. The character does not just suffer from delusions of grandeur and superhuman strengths, much less a dedication to his "crew," but from a deeply emotional scar and outrage at the death of 20,000 people and world leaders that stood by and did nothing - even less than nothing - since it is still toxic there. It's why the guy tried to take over the world with his bad buddies in the first place. They thought they could run the world better than the Yes-man politicians that cater to modern conglomerates.
In order to accurately Twist and Turn future movies, the inherent depths and insanity of the character have to be understood and register. That's Why casting is Everything. Like Karl Urban, Bennedict Cumberbatch is going to nail it and he's going to keep on Wowing us - just fabulous acting at its best. But as casting agents, you simply had a chance to honor the people that died and what their deaths stood for – because that is where the core of Khan's "end-justify-the-means" attitude comes from. The "Supermen" of his time tried to "give the world order" in a time when corporations had more power than politicians...sound familiar?
Besides, why do you think the entire "going with out air" thing (atmosphere) was so important in both the episode and movies?
Remember at all times, Twist and Turn all you want, but Roddenberry had a message and that can't be changed.
Over-all, I'm supremely happy with acting, the arc and the story- boarding. I recommend it to Everyone! Thank you cast and crew for all the hard work. Can't wait for more!!!
P.S. Sikh's are AMAZING as a religion.
Back in the 60's, when the episode was created, the idea of what a Sikh was, much less how to present one without body hair AND with cut hair, was simply too impossible to realize. Even today, I am not certain how one, as an actor, would do it, yet that is just as important to the character's insanity as anything else is. Khan, as a "superhuman" with Great intellect, would do even the smallest of things with Great deliberation. And while Hair status is small by our standards, it is HUGE by Sikh standards. The psychological trauma of cutting his hair would simply be a different layered scar as equal to his insanity as anything else. Many modern Sikh's that cut their hair in order to adapt, either end up suicidal later or die of heart failure (a broken heart). It is very sad, and I, for one, encourage them in their beliefs because it keeps them healthy on levels we can't even begin to imagine.
Just as I view "Skin-heads" as deeply troubled Jewish people that have taken on the false mantel of Delilah, the Khan character's hair status "SCREAMS" insanity.
The Abram's crew had a wonderful opportunity, and while they did not miss the boat - by sheer presence of the Great Acting - they may fail to make the true deep connection to ST mythology.
Actually, when you think about it, this lack in understanding Sikhs - much less one gone Rogue - is the Greatest failing in the understanding of WHY the 60's and 80's audience "LIKED" and "RESPECTED" the Khan character as much as the Kirk and Spock characters did. Khan walked out of one century and applied his skills and response to an old threat into the new century - failing to realize that all the old problems of money, big business, etc had been solved.
It was simply an opportunity. If they are smart, they will develop the background story in future movies. And while they cannot change the actor - that would be adding insult to injury AND he was phenomenal - they could conceivably add a side-kick character from Khan's 72 bunch that enriches the depth and dimensions required.
Honestly, they should just hire me. If you walk yourself into a BLIND alley, you need a Whirling Dervish to get you out. Lololoo
But Seriously...