Some thoughts on Star Trek

Overall, loved it the first time, liked it the second time, there is no third time until there is DVD.  That said, little things bother me, and so, if you will, I'd like to take a moment to make fun of the movie.

In top-photo to bottom-photo order:

Nero:  His planet has been destroyed by something rather implausible, and he has been sent back in time by something more unlikely than that.  There is a moment when he gets in a good line about how he's "protecting [his] people from [the federation.]"  That's interesting, because Star Trek has never really been very good at seeing the other side of their antagonists.  What must the Federation be like to those who aren't part of it?  Sadly, his other lines are all variations on "RAAAARRRRH," and I have to admit that I'm a little tired of the "Kirk wrestles a bear to save the galaxy" storylines.

Kirk:  Speaking of Kirk, here we have a guy who begins the main story in the process of getting kicked out of Starfleet College for cheating.  When the story ends, two days later, he's put in command of the flagship.  It's my hope that there are A LOT of incredibly pissed off officers who worked their asses off for years to get their shot, and are unhappy that Jim Kirk gets promoted due to two days of fistfights and glowering.

The Death Star or whatever:  It gets to Earth, where it shoots a laser beam into the ocean to drill to the core of the planet, so it can shoot a missile down the hole and create a black hole to destroy the planet.  The Romulan Starship Balck & Decker or whatever hangs there above San Francisco while it dangles this unprotected line, which the home planet of the Federation seems entirely uncapable of shooting down.  I think *today's* San Francisco could hit that and knock it out, let alone in the future.  Tangential to that, if they have to shoot a missile down the hole, how exactly are they going to deal with the hole being filled with water at the time?  Interestingly enough, nobody seems willing to point out that a black hole NOT in the center of the Earth, but say, at surface level, would do a reasonable job of destroying the planet as well.

On the subect of black holes: The big bad ship traveled through one and went back in time.  I guess it's lucky for everyone involved that pushing it through a DIFFERENT black hole at the end of the movie destroyed that ship, rather than sending it back in time again to the point where it became necessary for Ulysses S Grant and Prudence Kirk to save the galaxy by overcoming their differences and learning to work together.

Last but not least, Chekov and Scotty:  Because this really, really bugs.  Chekov is required to input his "wictor wictor" password in order to use the P.A. system to tell everybody what's happeneing.  Later on, Scotty, who is not in fact assigned to the ship, uses a big red button to eject the engine.  It made the "Russian accents = funny" moment pretty damn jarring.