Too much tampering, but a great film regardless

Rating: 8/10 (18 May 2013)

I've enjoyed the last two movies considerably, but some changes seem just for the sake of it, and some just grate.
For a start, the bridge and most of the ship are pleasing enough, but the engine room is less believable than the original series, much of it looking like it's shot in a gasworks or something, and it seems far too large for the vessel it's in.
The transporter effect is dreadful, even the very coarse shimmer effect from the first series has more charm than this. Most certainly I regard the phaser from the original series as being one of the best designed props ever made. Every movie and series since has tried to improve on it, and has failed. Another change for no good end.
Even the textured and tarted up uniforms don't make it for me. And what on earth have they done to the Klingons? Truly pointless. Changing something just because it's a reboot isn't a good enough reason.
But even seeing past these things, the current universe they inhabit (and I know it's supposed to be a parallel one) has done away with many aspects of accepted Trek lore for no good reason. Why was Vulcan destroyed? Kirk did not just have to obey the prime directive, he wrote it, which was not mentioned. Kirk discovers Khan much later in life and in different circumstances, and why oh why was an Indian dictator blue-eyed and white? That's not just wrong, but ridiculous.
A wonderful film, but I think the next one needs to take them back into their own universe and time line. Ignoring established events in the Trek universe is beyond a mistake, it's an insult.
In conclusion, a must-see (especially in 3D) but needs to get back to its roots.