Hype User Reviews: Star Trek XI

[The Guard]

The more I think about it, the dumber I think it is that only Spock showed up. That with an impending event like that, only one person responded. That's just dumb, dumb, dumb.

I think the Federation needed to be involved on some level, to give Nero a real, justifiable reason to hate them. Maybe to raise the question of whether the Federation is always right. And there needed to be something more interesting to this "failure" than "Hells bells, we got there a few minutes too late". Something that would truly give him a reason to hate the Federation. Perhaps the Federation chose not to save Romulus for some political reason. Maybe they deemed opening a black hole too dangerous for some reason, etc.

exactly Roach. Ive seen SO many people complain about the "time travel" element of the film. people stating Nero should just go back in time and fix things... Apparently they didnt watch the fiilm. I've even also read people complain that red matter first destroys planets and then creates a black hole.

People can dislike the movie if they wish, it dosnt bother me. But when you give a reason that isnt what was even presented in the film, it dosnt seem fair to the film.

So for the record. A star exploded and in the resulting blast radius of said star it destroyed Romulus. Spock was on his way and arrrived minutes late and was about to be caught in the explosion of the supernova. The only way to save himself was to use the red matter.

[He planned to use this red matter initially to save romulus by creating a black hole to absord the explosion of the supernova. Spock arriving late (after the explosion) was not able to do this because the planet had just been destroyed.]

After the black hole is created Nero and spock are pulled into the black hole. They are sent into the past.

One can argue "where did Nero go for 25 years?" as it is not explained in the film. The seen was cut explaining that he was captured and in a klingon prison.

But to think the film is stupid because Nero dosnt travel to his own time when he captures spock and has the red matter is just rediculous.

At no point do we learn he can actually do this. The time travel element COULD just be a freak accident. And even if we argue that it could effectively travel you through time everytime you used the red matter, theres no way to know if it will send you into the future. what happens if it takes him further into the past?

This is what angers Nero. Not being able to "fix" anything. Being helpless and alone (aside from his crew) his planet is gone along with his wife. The bastard who PROMISED you that he would save your people, failed to do so.

You're filled with so much pain and loss of losing almost your entire race, you begin to want to focus that rage and blame someone. just like countless other people in real life, they focus that rage usually at the wrong person. This is what happens to Spock. He becomes the target of Nero's pain and rage.

Ive been on the brunt end getting yelled at by my girlfrined because she had a bad day at work. And of course since she is irritated and angry. before you know it shes ignoring me for a few hours. its human nature. (yes, I know Nero isnt human) But this is a common example i think we can all relate to. She wasnt mad at me. She was mad at some jerk at work. I just became the target of her frustration and we got into a fight over it.

Now imagine you lost your planet. Your wife. Everyone you have ever known, cared about. Your whole life. Culture, heritage... everything is gone. Youre mad and like my girlfriend, you're looking for someone to blame. How about that ****er that promised to help you?

To say this is a "weak" reason to hate someone dosnt make sense to me. Unless youve never taken anything out on the wrong person before, which I doubt.

Here's the problem.

It was portrayed in such a broad, "Rarrrr, I am evil" manner, that it's difficult to sympathize with him at all, or even believe he's anything but bat**** crazy.

1. It's one thing to not talk to someone because you're pissed off about something else. It's another entirely to destroy billions of lives because someone didn't save your world. It would be one thing if the Federation had CAUSED the star to explode or failed to act on purpose, and maybe that's the way they should have gone.

2. The audience shouldn't have to "imagine" Nero's motivations and their interplay with the Federation. Nero's motivations should have been explored in more depth.

So what im saying is a Federation guy screwed me over and now i hate all federation people, especially Spock. Change "federation" to any other race and I think you can see motivation for his anger. You could argue that it dosnt make any sense. I would agree with you, but only in the sense that if one "federation" guy pissed you off it dosnt justify hating the entire race. It still dosnt stop it from happenning everyday on a global scale.

So Nero is simply ignorant?

That still doesn't make for a particularly compelling villain. Especially when the very issues are never explored. If they're going to make this much of a big deal about the "Federation and the interplay with that and other races, what the Federation is and how it operates, and what that has led to needed to be explored somewhere. That is the main weakness of this film. There was no gray area, just a B level mad scientist villain and the heroes.

 

[byte19]

why are ppl wanting others to go back in time just so up in the movie? Kirk was dead when Spock tried to save Romulus anyway!! Sulu was well retired Bones was ancient old when the D was leaving space dock..... I mean... were we expecting the remaining old cast to show up as other characters or something? because then they would have bastardized the film!

could it also be they were so far in the future that could have been the ONLY crew member to comeback at all?

just sayin'....

 

[byte19]

!!

 

[bunk]

Perhaps the Federation chose not to save Romulus for some political reason. Maybe they deemed opening a black hole too dangerous for some reason, etc.

I agree that Nero could have used some additional reasons to destroy the Federation, I don't think this would be it though. The Federation certainly would have done what was necessary, especially a post TNG Federation that's come a long way. I would have just had the Federation helping by helping Spock. The "Jellyfish" would be a joint Starfleet/Vulcan Science vessel or something. Nero was bat**** crazy though.

 

[Nivek]

Too bad they couldn't have included at least a little bit of that backstory in the movie. Would have cleared up a lot of confusion.

That would have added an hour to the film. Besides, everyone was told that the prequel comic ties directly into the film.

 

[byte19]

soooo...... why are they forgetting/dismissing it now after watching the damn movie?

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

That would have added an hour to the film. Besides, everyone was told that the prequel comic ties directly into the film.

Don't think about an hour. Even someone like 20 minutes could be done.
Personaly, I don't think you should be required to read a comic to understand a movie that appears nonsensical without it, especially when it's a reboot designed to revitalize and reestablish the franchise. it's not like they were expecting you to know and understand alot of the lesser main cast. They tried too hard to establish that Kirk is a rebellious to the point that he almost came across as abit of a *****bag. Chop out the scene with the little kid in the car and you already have about 3-5 minutes for something meaningfull.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Methinks people are looking WAY too far into this film. I don't think it's meant to be that way. This is a different take on ST. And it works fine the way it is. It's not the thing like TDK where I can pick it apart for hours. Sometimes entertainment is enough for me. This film still has brains. it's pure entertainment, there's nothing wrong with that. I love to analyze films, but I don't take films like these too seriously as long as I know what it will be really about. I hate it when people treat every film like some art house film where they need to pick it apart to death where it loses it's wonder completely. It just becomes problems or plot holes.

The time travel thing was fine. Guard, no offense but you are looking to much into it. It's simple: He really wanted to save Romula from the supernova, the red matter accidently destoyed the planet, and they were thrust into the past. Nero thought Spock did it on purpose, so he wanted revenge. That's enough motivation when you think someone destroys a whole planet including your wife. Nero wasn't meant to be an evil bad guy. Just a miner who wanted revenge. People assume when someone's the villain, they have to be evil and you have to hate them.

I don't care what came before that or the motvations sometimes, in this case, all I need is what's in front of me.

 

[The Guard]

This plot and theme stuff doesn't make the movie any less entertaining, really, but it does prevent the movie from being what it ultimately could have been.

I have no issues with the time travel thing. It is what it is. I do question why Spock was the only one doing anything about this incident that supposedly threatened an entire galaxy. Where the hell was the Federation in all this?

Nero thought Spock did it on purpose, so he wanted revenge. That's enough motivation when you think someone destroys a whole planet including your wife. Nero wasn't meant to be an evil bad guy. Just a miner who wanted revenge. People assume when someone's the villain, they have to be evil and you have to hate them.

Ah, but per the events of the prequel comic, Nero knew Spock was trying to save his planet. Also, if he doesn't have to be "evil", why is he played so broadly evil in the film?

I also don't think you should need a comic to understand the depth behind a villain's motivations. The NEXT GENERATION stuff didn't really have to be in the movie. There were ways that would not have added an hour to the film that would have fleshed out what was going on between Romulans, the Vulcans, the Federation, etc. It could have been accomplished in a matter of minutes, most effectively in a Starfleet training sequence. It is apparent to me now that the comic dealt with the ultimate point of the Federation. Would have been nice if the movie had done so as well, since that is the central conceit behind everything that will be happening. And it goes beyond that. Everything is thin. Spock's " I failed", and his guilt over that, just doesn't feel real. Why? Because he "happened" to show up like three seconds too late to save Romulus. There's nothing he or the Federation did that caused the failure, there's no error in his use of logic, or anything character related. He just shows up too late for the sake of the plot.

There's nothing nonsensical about Nero's motivations. I understand them. The issue is that they're forced, and thinly explored. Seems to me that in the prequel comic, he's still basically just bat**** crazy.

 

[Goddessreicho]

Loved it. Shocked that it surpassed my mediocre expectations. Shocked to *****ville that despite some GLARING plot holes (sohowdidKirkbecomecaptinandwhyiseveryonejustwillingtotakeit?) I still love it.

Oh and Zach can pon far me anyday. Glad to see the geek get the girl.

 

[nightwing06]

Im not a Trekker or Trekkie.I dont speak Klingon.I have never dressed up as a Starfleet Commander to attend jury duty,and i have never been on a Stark Trek cruise so i can be in the prescence of George"Sulu' Takei for a week.
I have followed the adventures,and voyages of the starship Enterprise and her crew through repeats of the 60's series and all of the previous films.From the death and resurection of Spock,the destruction of the Enterprise,the death of Kirks son David,and...well..i guess you can call me a semi-Trekkie.
As a semi Trekkie i must say J.J Abrams reboot of the Stark Trek franchise is very,very,good.
I must admit i was worried about a young cast taking on the roles of legendary characters,but they fit just like an old favorite hat.Chris Pine is absolutely great as Kirk.Just the right amount of arrogance,intelligence,and bravery.Never giving an impersonation of William Shatner,only at the end of the film,and that was likely just a nod to Shatner.
I dont think they could have found a better man to portray Spock Zachary Quinto is spot on,and when he and Pine share the screen together everything just clicks.
Karl Urban as Dr. Leonard 'Bones' McCoy was definitely terrifically chanelling DeForest Kelley
Every character is given there moment to shine,and actually Abrams fleshes them out more ,Uhura (Zoe Saldana) is smart,intelligent and loving,Sulu(John Cho)is brave,and a terrific pilot.Chekov is,eager,quick on his feet and intelligent.Scotty (Simon Pegg) is the comic relief but is not lacking in his intelligence as a trustworthy engineer.Bruce Greenwood as Capt. Christopher Pike is the perfect stern, father figure
Through another time tripping element found in most sci fi films Leonard Nimoy,returns as Spock to pass the torch to the rebooted crew.
An unrecognizable Eric Bana as the Romulan villain Nero is just passable,i was hoping his character would be more intimidating.
The film is visually stunning and the sound is amazing.There are nods to previous films such as Star Trek IV : The Voyage Home,Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan ,and Star Trek:Generations.
Now some die hard Trekkers may balk at some of the changes made to the Trek continuity,but they should all be happy with the fact that Gene Roddenberrys the late great creator of Trek,message of exploration,loyalty,love,and friendship remains intact.
Scale of 1-10 a 9

 

[CFE]

Hey guys sorry for the delay...I know some of you might be anxious or interested in my personal full review of the picture.

My personal computer is currently being worked on to dis-infect and have my Anti-Virus software renewed (piece of junk has been outdated for far too long anyway).

But once that's done, I'll have it up here.

 

[C. Lee]

It's one thing to not talk to someone because you're pissed off about something else. It's another entirely to destroy billions of lives because someone didn't save your world. It would be one thing if the Federation had CAUSED the star to explode or failed to act on purpose, and maybe that's the way they should have gone.

Change Romulan/Nero to....Iraqie, Hitler, Christian, Sheite, Jew, Irish republican Army, The Shining Path, Khmer Rouge, Stalin, etc, etc, etc......

.....and you have perfect examples of someone hurt by someone else and deciding to destroy anything associated with them no matter how many have to die and no care if the innocent are hurt too. They are blinded to everything except their own personal pain.

 

[The Guard]

What's your point? I get the basic motivation. My issue is that the film presents a shallow exploration of said motivation. If Hitler was a character, and all we knew about Hitler was "He hates a race", he'd be a thin, uninteresting "character", even if what he did was terrible.

 

[C. Lee]

why are ppl wanting others to go back in time just so up in the movie? Kirk was dead when Spock tried to save Romulus anyway!! Sulu was well retired Bones was ancient old when the D was leaving space dock..... I mean... were we expecting the remaining old cast to show up as other characters or something? because then they would have bastardized the film!

could it also be they were so far in the future that could have been the ONLY crew member to comeback at all?

just sayin'....

Right. At the time that the destruction of Romulas was taking place....only Spock (and maybe a couple of Klingons) were left alive from the original series. Having Spock at the scene when this goes down was perfectly understandable, since the last time we saw him he was on Romulas. To arbitrarily throw in a few of TNG or DS9 characters would really have been pushing it.

 

[C. Lee]

That would have added an hour to the film. Besides, everyone was told that the prequel comic ties directly into the film.

And we know that every one in the world reads these comics to prepare for watching the movie.

I didn't learn of the comics until 2 days ago.

 

[C. Lee]

What's your point? I get the basic motivation. My issue is that the film presents a shallow exploration of said motivation. If Hitler was a character, and all we knew about Hitler was "He hates a race", he'd be a thin, uninteresting "character", even if what he did was terrible.

I don't think it was a shallow exploration. In this day and age when the news is filled dailey with stories of someone attempting genocide of someone elses race, religion, tribe, country........is it that hard to except that someone who sees his planet destroyed will go nuts and throw blame on someone and attempt to destroy them?

 

[Lord Blackbolt]

I don't think it was a shallow exploration. In this day and age when the news is filled dailey with stories of someone attempting genocide of someone elses race, religion, tribe, country........is it that hard to except that someone who sees his planet destroyed will go nuts and throw blame on someone and attempt to destroy them?

A lot of fanatics don't even have an excuse like someone destorying a planet. Some just want to destroy a race cause they just don't like them.

 

[Matt]

Based on the good buzz I decided to see it and I was absolutely blown away. I'm not a Trekkie, the only series I ever really enjoyed was TNG and I didn't follow it religiously or anything. I would just watch it when it was on. I did enjoy First Contact as well. But wow, this is a whole different beast. Just an amazing movie that makes Star Trek accessible to everyone. I give it a 4 out of 5 as I felt some things were rushed. But still, wow. Bravo J.J.

 

[C. Lee]

A lot of fanatics don't even have an excuse like someone destorying a planet. Some just want to destroy a race cause they just don't like them.

I know....that's why I can't understand why some people can't come to grips with why Nero is doing what he does. When you see similar insanity daily over lesser things than an entire planet destroyed....why can't you accept that he is nuts and want fanatical revenge against someone?

 

[Nivek]

Happy you liked it, Matt.

 

[DorkyFresh]

I don't think it was a shallow exploration. In this day and age when the news is filled dailey with stories of someone attempting genocide of someone elses race, religion, tribe, country........is it that hard to except that someone who sees his planet destroyed will go nuts and throw blame on someone and attempt to destroy them?

A lot of fanatics don't even have an excuse like someone destorying a planet. Some just want to destroy a race cause they just don't like them.

"Because some men aren't looking for anything logical , like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn." - Alfred, the Dark Knight



all this *****ing about Nero's motivations kinda makes me scoff. the Joker was hell bent on turning Gotham into a city of hell and he was one of the deepest villains to grace the big screen in the last decade, yet even by the end of the movie we never knew his true motivations. i understand the complaints about him not being a 'deep' or fleshed out villain that seems 2D, but his motivations are sound as can be.

 

[Doctor Jones]

I don't think it was a shallow exploration. In this day and age when the news is filled dailey with stories of someone attempting genocide of someone elses race, religion, tribe, country........is it that hard to except that someone who sees his planet destroyed will go nuts and throw blame on someone and attempt to destroy them?

Exactly. It could be thin, but it's enough. I don't need exposition all the time. We don't need to have everything spelled out for us. We can figure stuff out for ourselves. Some stuff the filmmakers leave to us to decide. If you catch yourself asking questions all the time, stop. You're looking too deep. Just enjoy it for what it is.

It was what it was, the plot itself. It just got the franchise going. I frankly love this direction. Political and intellectual commentary is welcome but that's what this new franshise doesn't thrive on the most. Yet is still has brains. This isn't Roddenberry's Trek to be exact. It's just another vision of ST.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Loved it. Shocked that it surpassed my mediocre expectations. Shocked to *****ville that despite some GLARING plot holes (sohowdidKirkbecomecaptinandwhyiseveryonejustwillingtotakeit?) I still love it.

Oh and Zach can pon far me anyday. Glad to see the geek get the girl.

Didn't you pay any attention? Old Spock told Kirk he had to emotionally compromise young Spock. Spock wanted to turn the ship around to the federation but Kirk wanted to rescue Pike knowing that was right to do.

As a captain, you can't be afraid of death, that's why Spock seemed to be the perfect captain, almost no emotion so he could keep his cool. But here it was the wrong choice.

They all accepted it because they also knew it was the right thing to do and what other options do they have? It's either going back or forward. Kirk chose the latter, and that's what made him captain. He commenderred a ship, he invaded an enemy ship, rescued the former captain in the process and destroyed the red matter. That's more than enough to become captain.

 

[Goddessreicho]

Didn't you pay any attention? Old Spock told Kirk he had to emotionally compromise young Spock. Spock wanted to turn the ship around to the federation but Kirk wanted to rescue Pike knowing that was right to do.

As a captain, you can't be afraid of death, that's why Spock seemed to be the perfect captain, almost no emotion so he could keep his cool. But here it was the wrong choice.

They all accepted it because they also knew it was the right thing to do and what other options do they have? It's either going back or forward. Kirk chose the latter, and that's what made him captain. He commenderred a ship, he invaded an enemy ship, rescued the former captain in the process and destroyed the red matter. That's more than enough to become captain.

Ew, scuse me, but yea I was paying attention.

Why go to Starfleet academy and have protocol, rank, and logic drilled into you FOR YEARS and just throw it all away UNQUESTIONABLY when "Captain McCocky DBag" takes control.

As much as I LOVED this movie for all kinds of reasons, casting characterization and direction being some of those reasons; what this came down to was JJ yelling PLACES EVERYONE YOU KNOW FOR THE SEQUEL / FRANCHISE for two hours and then screaming ACTION, ACTION, ACTION.

But you know what, I'm seeing it again in IMAX, so nya!