Post Star Trek Reflections (SPOILER ALERT)

First off - I will simply say, I was pleased; at least as much as I'd hoped I would be, and maybe more. As the resident "purist," and one who's felt the franchise has totally lost its way in the years following the death of Gene Roddenberry. there was certainly the possibility that the producers would allow the least common denominator trash everything about the original series which I held dear. And I have to say - there was very little about it that entered that territory; and nothing that really sticks in my mind. So kudos, overall, to the filmmakers for successfully balancing that tightwire of making a product that sells and throwing out numerous, obligatory bones to the likes of me.

Other ruminations

• The casting of everyone but Sulu and Uhura seemed superb. As Mixdorf said, Karl Urban did an uncanny McCoy; and I thought the two principals were just what they needed to be. Chekov, suprisingly good - not just in the accent, but in the actual timbre and inflection of the voice. Wow. But I gotta say, Uhura and Sulu both appeared to be cast by someone who thinks that all black people and Japanese look alike. Uhura was a little more "supermodel-ey" than seemed appropriate for the character.
• Sulu: a lot more badass than in the TV series, and Chekov, waaaaay more competent.
• This is geeking out a bit, but....in no reference from the original series do I recall any mention of the fact that the Planet Vulcan was destroyed, and that only 10,000 or so Vulcans survived. Was that merely invented for this movie and - if so - wow, what liberty taken! Not that it seems totally wrong or anything - just, wow.
• Geeking out a bit more: Knowing simply of the appearance of the line, "I have been, and always shall be, your friend," in the film, I decided it might not be a bad idea to acquaint Sharon with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, wherein lies the origin of that line. And of course, if you're going to watch STII, you'd better precede it with Space Seed, from the original series, which introduces the character of Khan (played by Ricardo Montalbon, of course). I could not believe the number of references lifted directly from that episode and that movie. Even for the non-freaks, I would highly recommend watching the episode, Wrath of Khan, new Star Trek movie sequence; in order to add a little context, almost in "special features" style. An awful lot of Star Trek history and characterization is laid out in those two works.
• A lot of those "bones" tossed out; references from the original series. From the more obvious "I'm a doctor, not a..." line for the almost casual fan, to the acknowledgement that Kirk grew up in Iowa, for those of us a little more versed in episodic lore.
• So what - in addition to the planet Vulcan; we are to assume that Romulus (on the edge of The Neutral Zone, not on the edge of Detroit; though that one may be seeing its last days as well) will be destroyed just a couple of generations into the Star Trek future?
• Save the Federation or not; that was a mighty quick ascendancy to the command of the flagship of Starfleet.
• On the overall plot: I don't see a lot of action flicks these days. Truly, the crux of the plot (alien from future, wreaking vengeance; "red matter" creating black hole; good guys having to land at high velocity and kick a lot of ass on the edge of high-up mechanical precipeces; etc. etc. could really be swapped out with dozens...(hundreds?) of other plots of sci-fi/action films. And that's cool, I suppose. All I ask is that the dialogue and personal interactions between characters not make me roll my eyes. Anything better than that is generally cake & ice cream for me. And I did think there was some really nice, solid dialogue tying together the somewhat par-for-the-course plot, which was really just background noise for how these characters came together.
• Speaking of which - what is it about battling on high, mechanical bridges? And why does every action movie nowadays require a scene (this one has two!) in which the protagonist is hanging by his fingertips at a high altitude with a bad guy trying to step on his fingers? Folks, we're entering hottie-falling-in-the-woods-while-chased-by-axe-murderer territory here. Surely, there's another way or two bring an action sequence to its climax. Let's get creative and work on it.
• Really geeking out, here; but a nitpicker one right here: There is an old Star Trek episode that introduces Romulans; who make a reappearance about 50 years following their first contact with humans, which was an armed conflict. In that episode, it is said that the original conflict predated ship-to-ship visuals; and so no human or Romulan had ever seen the other. Main purpose with that was one of Gene Roddenberry's lessons on race & tolerance, as the ship of the Enterprise discovers that Romulans- surprise! - look just like Vulcans and share common anscestry. Anyway - that's a little inconsistant with this episode, which Kirk battling Romulans in hand-to-hand combat.
• Spock and Uhura romance - wow, wonder what that came from, and if they plan to explain how it ends, sometime in the future.
• No Nurse Chapel (though you hear her being called for in the background). No Yeoman Rand. No Transporter Chief Kyle, but (ok, starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel here, but get THIS); Transporter Chief Kyle was on the bridge of the Reliant in Wrath of Khan. Never noticed that before.
• Too much Leonard Nimoy!!! Appearing at first, wonderful (but yet another nod to Star Wars, as the Obi Wan parallel is uncanny). As the movie goes on, though, it becomes increasingly apparent, that Future Spock, like a creepy old grandfather, just refuses to go away. People not familiar with the series might expect all the episodes to include this ancient Spock double to be there, continually offering up mystical Dungeon Master-styled advice and quips. Anyway - a brief cameo would have been fine.
• Brilliant, almost perfect (and, as Mixx suggested, emotional) birth story for Kirk, at the beginning.
• Also like Mixx, I look forward to future installments.