While not a dilithium breathing Trekkie, I am programed to enjoy the Star Trek franchise. Unfortunately, the past 2 tv serieses and 3 movies were painfully bad. So when I finally saw JJ Abrams' revision in-motion, I was not without my skepticism.

The Good
Star Trek appears to be an action flick, with some attention to choreography. This feat alone elevates the redux above the previous 3 movies, which featured laughably awful combat in both ship-to-ship and soldier-to-soldier sequences.

This is in no small part due to the new cast, who are young and free to act macho in every way Patrick Stuart shouldn't have in Nemesis. Zachary Quinto should be particularly entertaining as Spock, down to cutting the tops of peoples heads open to gain their powers. (or just throwing Chris Pine around the bridge)

Worst case scenario: the pretty computer graphics, chrome finish on the bridge, and the running around will keep me distracted, if not outright excited.

The Bad
Though do not begrudge rewriting canon, I am happier when the new material is better than the old. Shinozon and the space vampire Remans of Nemesis are a perfect example of this: they were bland. cliche, out of place, and made the Romulans less cool by extension. So I'm very concerned that Eric Banana's Nero will retread that ground. Tribal bird tattoos on his face? Really?

Humor is also a recurring problem for the franchise. Specifically the cliche and/or idiotic one liners that Data produces on demand. It's only there for a second, but the trailer implied Simon Pegg's Scotty may renew this tendency.

The Indifferent
The new ship designs, sets, and costumes haven't really meant anything to me. They aren't bad, but they also don't reenergize the source material's cool factor the way Optomus Prime did in Abram's Transformers remake.

All joking aside, I'm marginally interested to see this film, which is probably the best result Abrams could have achieved. Maybe I'll even enjoy it, provided I keep my expectations low enough...

Part 2 of the interview with members of Flying Frog, creators/publishers of Last Night on Earth, including Jack Hill (Art Director/Photographer) & Mary Beth Magallanes (Soundtrack Musician).



Blip.TV: http://blip.tv/file/1473946

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqzPWqAjm9o

Part 1 of an interview with members of Flying Frog, creators/publishers of Last Night on Earth: Jason Hill (Lead Game Designer at Flying Frog).



Go to YouTube for Higher Quality option.

Blip.TV: http://blip.tv/file/1473924

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXQeer7L81g

Lovingly produced by Brendan Marnell

Here is the interview with John Arcadian, of Silvervine Games.



BlipTV: Inside The Box Series Plus Other Films

YouTube: Inside The Box Series

YouTube: Shawn Padraic Murphy's Other Films