Okay, got to watch it tonight. It was in 3D, which we weren't going to go to, but the internet lied to me. Took the little boy and we both really enjoyed it.
Son did enjoy it, and said it was the most excited about a movie that he'd ever been to, and he didn't catch all the parallels to the old series, obviously since he's not been interested in it.
I enjoyed all the little jokes and fan service phrases. I'm sure I didn't catch them all. There's bound to be a list of them at some point.
My thing is ships. I would have enjoyed seeing more ships. Tried to catch all the little glimpses around and about, but so quick and hard to actually figure out what they were, especially as close as we were and the 3D effects. But, hey, that's cinematography, and I'll be able to pause the DVD when it comes out.
And so, SPOILER-FREE, I most enjoyed the twists on the whole parallel/alternate timeline. I was thinking "Oh, they won't go there. They can't think it'll work. They can't possibly go full steam ahead on that". They did. And I'm honestly happy that they did. The more I think about it, the more it works for me. Things are different, but it seems like the whole space time continuum is trying to right itself, as if space-time has a sort of potential energy to itself, and the events of the first movie pushed things up the trough and now space-time is rolling back and forth as it settles down to the lower potential. I seriously doubt that the specific thought even crossed any of the writers/producers/directors, but that's what went through my mind.
There's one little "WTF" technobabble-like solution that I really thought was too convenient. You know the one. The SNL Church Lady would have a field day with it. BUT! Nearly every TV episode was nearly like that, so it gets an official "meh" from me, and I just gloss over it.
That's it. Recommend it. Go watch.
