What I Didn't Like About Star Trek

I won't go so far as to say I hated the new movie. It was a mildly entertaining action film. I just don't understand all the hype. In an attempt to further my reputation as the guy who never likes anything popular, here are the reasons why I felt that the newest addition to the Star Trek universe was not a terribly good movie.

1. It was kind of boring.

I remember looking at my timepiece at several points. I knew the movie had a two hour running time, so I was able to keep myself going by saying, "Oh good, only 30 minutes to go." I can't really put my finger on exactly why it was boring without going into my other reasons I didn't like it.

2. It was unrealistic.

Listen, I know it's science fiction. Even so, there should be some rules about the way the world works. A ten year old boy, genius or no, should not be able to jump out of a car going 90 miles an hour and escape unscathed. Nor should a cocky cadet with a penchant for breaking the rules be promoted to Captain, and given command of a starship, on the basis of one mission. In Star Trek IV, Admiral Kirk returns from the 1980s having saved all of Earth from the whale probe only to find himself demoted to Captain for the stealing of the Enterprise that he perpetrated in Star Trek III. Starfleet recognized Kirk's contribution, but could not condone his insubordination. Now all of the sudden they're promoting kids to the command of an interstellar vessel with planet destroying weaponry just because he did all right in a pinch?

3. It violated most of the Star Trek canon.

I know people are going to like this reason least of all, but I was just really bothered by the alternate reality plot line. I only hope they use time travel in the sequel to stop Nero before he starts. Because of what they have done here, pretty much everything else that ever happens in Star Trek will not have happened. Furthermore, the movie violated the very spirit of the show, which was of boldy going where no one had gone before. The original series and most of the subsequent spinoffs were about exploration and discovery first and fighting and battle sequences second. Even most of the movies followed this vein, with a few exceptions. This movie may have been good if it had been made outside of the Star Trek universe, but as a Star Trek movie it falls short.

4. It was silly.

The great threat of the movie is an overly vengeful mining crew??? A mining crew that pilots a ship fully armed with torpedoes??? I'm sorry, but even the Romulans wouldn't waste money arming a mining ship. And then there was the whole using the mind meld as a flashback thing. That was just stupid. In fact, let me go on the record here as saying that having Nimoy in the movie at all was stupid. Further, the coincidence of having every long term character from the original movies in the cast was silly as well. It was a blatant ploy to keep us emotionally invested in characters that had been poorly developed. I mean, who needs to bother with character development when you can just employ remarkable coincidence?

Anyway, I didn't hate the movie. I just felt that someone needed to address some serious shortcomings with it, since the majority of people that I have talked to seem to be completely gaga over it. I would rate it as being of similar quality to the Next Generation films, but not as good even as Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.