re-telling of Space Seed, not Wrath

Rating: 7/10 (29 June 2013)

If this movie were a stand-alone sci-fi movie, I would have liked it much more. But being part of star trek, I am not thrilled with it. On the plus side, the visuals/effects, cinematography, casting, and script are fabulous. Abrams is awesome at directing, and what he has done with my favorite franchise in terms of special effects has brought tears to my eyes, in a good way. But I liked the 2009 movie better than this one. One problem is that the trailers mislead you about key aspects of the story, so you feel kinda misled and disappointed. Another problem is that in both movies, someone is responsible for not knowing how to fight a proper starship space battle. The battle scenes in both movies are done all wrong, too quick, no strategy. Someone needs to watch the Wrath of Khan and Nemesis to see how it is done. For those of us who are into star trek, I think it makes sense to view this as Space Seed, and not the Wrath of Khan, though, you could say that it is a retelling of both stories. I say, why retell either of them? Isn't there a big galaxy of original stories to tell? I guess not. In general, I think the story is no good. I did really like how it was Spock, with his superior physical and mental abilities, who must fight Khan hand-to-hand. I'd like to see Saldana put on a few pounds. I don't get how they allow Alice Eve to keep her non-American accent when her father has an American accent. Why can't Spock kill Harrison? Don't we have 70 supermen worth of blood in the sickbay to revive Kirk? I liked the part of the engine room in which Kirk had to re-align a plasma thingy. I don't like that the engine room is a brewery-it looks way too low tech. Again, my main complaint was the story, I didn't like it.