I walked out of this movie just a couple of hours ago, and already I’m struggling to recall the beginning. It involves a diplomatic mission—an attempt to present some kind of truce artifact to one side in a conflict from the other. Things don't exactly go smoothly. About three years into what was supposed to be a five-year assignment, Kirk is restless enough to want a desk job. The way things are set up makes it clear that things are about to get considerably more exciting. I’m not knowledgeable enough about cinematography to say whether the film feels disjointed because of camera angles, the writing, or the editing, but something definitely felt disconnected. I began noticing details I shouldn't have been paying attention to. Everyone's hair seems larger than life. I recently watched Galaxy Quest, and when the Krall appeared, I nearly choked on my popcorn. Really, the prosthetics deserve a credit right there in the opening titles. During a chase through a dark corridor, I could see Uhura’s earrings catching the light. If I could notice that, surely the enemy could too. The device intended to destroy the universe bears a striking resemblance to something from Big Hero 6. The space station looks awfully familiar to Elysium. And the way a starship is jumpstarted reminds me of Furious 7. At some point soon, set designers will have to stop placing skyscrapers on floating platforms in outer space. It’s a space station—where do all the people go when things start falling apart? That's a plot device that needs to be retired. The villain’s airship docking station is straight out of Independence Day. A little originality would be appreciated. The visual effects are excessively thick, with some elements that might or might not be an allusion to bees—at one point, something gets squeezed out in a bizarre way while Kirk rides a vintage motorcycle in circles. Then it hardens. I’m also unsure how this happened or what the substance was meant to contain. A lot of this feels unnecessary, but the story wasn't captivating enough to stop me from observing these things. There are far too many visible cables—a common feature of Star Trek: The Next Generation Borg episodes. When we finally get the villain’s backstory, it doesn’t quite deliver. Kirk is bored, the villain is let down, and how Uhura manages to survive every encounter demands a serious suspension of disbelief. I also observed that several men in the audience were wearing baseball caps with sunglasses perched on the brim. Paying attention to fashion choices isn't why I go to the movies. I read this week that Chris Hemsworth has joined the next Star Trek as George Kirk. That doesn’t inspire confidence for fresh, improved adventures.

Source on TMDB