I’m bothered by this poster. Something has always seemed off about it and I just realized what it is. Why isn’t Uhura (which apparently isn’t a word, what kind of geeks programmed my spell check?) facing the same way as everybody else? Perhaps it’s some sort of sex appeal thing. Maybe girls are more attractive or mysterious or something if they look over their shoulders. Or maybe she’s just not really into Star Trek and was about to run away when they took the picture (it’s actually a bunch of separate pictures that have been overlaid). While I’m on the topic, why does Shaun of the Dead look like he’s trying to set me on fire with his mind?

I saw the movie on Thursday. I didn’t know there were Thursday shows, but when I looked up the times for Wolverine (which was enjoyable but forgettable) I was shocked to see four shows on Thursday night. Yay! I was first in line… Really. Megan and I beat the two people who showed up in uniform. Thanks to the unadvertisedness (which also isn’t a word, darn you spell check) of the showing, the theatre was half full and I got my favourite seat. And I’m glad I did because the movie was spectacular.

I’ve given it a few days to sink in, because immediately afterwards I wasn’t quite sure what I thought about. It was exciting and funny and full of in-jokes (red shirt guy!). I liked all of the characters except maybe Uhura, she seemed kinda mean. That said, it didn’t really feel like a Star Trek movie and I still can’t quite figure out the reason. I think that partially it’s due to all the new actors playing characters I used to be familiar with. Also, in all the other movies the crew is already established. The dynamic is really different when they’re all just cadets and people think they’re better than Kirk. But I really did enjoy the movie, I don’t think it could have been any better (well, McCoy could have been played down a little bit). If they had tried to reboot the series with a movie that felt more Star Trek-y, I don’t think they would have succeeded. It would have felt forced.

I admit that at times I thought it was too convenient how the characters just bumped into each other, but then I realized: they must have met at some point. It only feels convenient because we already know it’s going to happen. We know Uhura is some kind of communications expert and that Chekhov is good at whatever it is that he does (which is not pronunciation, of course). Would we prefer it if the movie had devoted time to random throw-away characters to make it seem less convenient? I’m sure Kirk made plenty of friends at the Academy, but all I care about is how he met the bridge crew of the Enterprise.

I though the movie was very good. I’m seeing it again tonight. I have high hopes for the next instalment. Now that they’ve established the new characters and tricked some new people into liking Star Trek, they can sneak in some actual plot.