So they began the movie with Kirk saving Spock, and then that is pretty much in our face every single time they speak to one another for the rest of the movie. Spock didn't really get to say anything, it was just Kirk and Uhura and maybe some other people (I don't remember) being angry that Spock just DIDN'T GET IT. Kirk asks the question, "Do you understand why I saved you?" Spock doesn't say anything, and Kirk runs away.

Maybe I'm just a big fan of subtlety, but I felt like they were ramming this idea down our throats, and then they weren't doing it well. Kirk saved Spock because they're friends. Spock doesn't get it. That's the idea I kept getting. Spock doesn't get it. Spock doesn't get it. He would cock his head to the side like a dog and not say anything. And then at the end of the movie, HE SUDDENLY GETS IT. VOILA. It was just too perfect. I feel like they did do that quite often in TOS - and in all older movies - but even then it was executed much better. It's like they just wrote it into the script because it needed to be there. No explanation necessary.

There were many things that were just too fucking perfect. I lost count on the number times things were saved at the very last second. It was way more than the 2009 movie. I don't know why Khan killed all the Klingons for Kirk and Co. I understand why he gave himself up, but I don't know why he killed the Klingons. Carol being able to come on board without a problem even though her transfer orders were faked. Scotty leaving. Scotty finding and being able to infiltrate the fancy new ship. I MEAN COME ON. When he flew in from above all those little shuttles going into the station, someone would have seen him. That was ridiculous.

Let's talk about Khan. When we're first introduced to him, we're not introduced to him. He tells some guy he can save his daughter, and then the camera zooms up on his face and literally does not stop. I thought it was a joke of some kind. JJ really wanted us to get a good look at him and I don't know why. The only reason I know he's Khan is because I'm a Star Trek fan AND because I'm a web cretin. Benedict certainly doesn't look like the original Khan. In the 2009 film, no one really needed to be introduced because the casting was spot-on. Kirk, Spock, Uhura, Bones, Chekov, Sulu, and Scotty are all recognizable. Khan isn't. Why did he zoom in so much? Sorry, that just really bugged me.

We did get a trip to the Department of Backstory when Khan was in his glass cage a la Loki, but other than just wanting his crew back and being pure rage, is there anything else to Khan? Is there supposed to be? I don't know. I would have liked an answer. I could believe that there is nothing else to Khan except wrath, but it needs to be explained.

So, yes, I feel the movie was shallow. It wanted to be fast and fun, and have lots of explosions and lots of action sequences. SO MUCH TENSION EVERY FIVE MINUTES. Yeah, when you do that, stuff stops being tense. Even when Kirk died, I was sad for like a minute until I remembered Khan's magical blood and Bones' experiments with that weird bunny-rabbit-thing. That's just another thing what was too perfect. The animal didn't come back to life until just after Kirk died. *eyeroll* I would have liked this movie more if Kirk actually died.

The whole plot was based on saving people, right? It started with Kirk saving Spock, it had Khan wanting to save his crew, and it ended with Spock wanting to save Kirk. It was just a theme that they were pushing too hard. You see this sometimes in Mad Men. It's a really good show, but RELAX. We can get what you're saying with you being so heavy handed.

So while they're SO FOCUSED on their theme, they don't pay a decent enough time to details. They don't flesh out any sub-plots. They don't make it interesting enough. This could have been a Die Hard movie. Star Trek is good because of all its layers. Relationships between crew members, politics within Star Fleet, issues with other species, wars breaking out, terrorists like Khan, new science and technology being made, exploring space, philosophical ideas... It all intertwines so well, USUALLY. I feel like this movie just failed Star Trek. They could have made it so much more and so much better than an action movie.

Seeing all the past Doctors was awesome. :D And River! ♥ The episode felt a bit overdramatic at times, though. Or maybe that was just me...

ORPHAN BLACK, WHY?

WHY WOULD YOU? D: WHY?!