The warp drive being "off kilter" could also represent Kirk's path being off kilter- as he kicks it back into place, he is putting his life back "on the right track", even if it is the last thing he does before he dies.
Kevin
Just wanted to say that I appreciated the symbolic take on Kirk's journey in the command role. I actually think that fits well with the way that this film was, in a sense, a continuation of the main characters' evolutions from the first film. Kirk and Spock's friendship deepening, Spock becoming more comfortable with the dualism in his own nature, Kirk finally (mostly) EARNING his command rather than just lucking into it, and the other members of the crew becoming more integrated as a team. I only wish they'd use Bones more.
In away, much like the new BSG, I find this take on Trek to be more about the emotional journeys of the characters than about the plot itself. That can be both good and bad. It makes the characters somewhat richer, if perhaps more overwrought, but it also can be a burden in that the plot is given short shrift at times in service to the character arcs. So, you end up with a scene like the reactor room, which looks kinda goofy in a sense, but does a nice job of getting Kirk to where he needs to be to REALLY command.
I think clactonite nailed it on the head in his first post. He tried to get past the plot holes but couldn't. EVERY film can be nitpicked to death, the trick is to make it entertaining enough for the viewer to be able to look past those holes or even not notice them. If the film is good enough people will even rise up to the defence of those plot holes and make up reasons why they aren't actual issues with the film.
Fact is for some that this movie wasn't good enough to overcome those issues. I ride the line but tend to fall on that side of it. It doesn't offend me or make me mad, it certainly wasn't a bad film, it was just... Alright. The plot holes aren't the problem.
I hear ya. I enjoyed this film more than the first, but as entertaining as those films are, they still don't quite grab me the way the older stuff did. It's not bad, it just feels different. But it also feels a bit more...I dunno...generic. It really wasn't until the last, oh, third of the film that I really started to feel like the JJ series was actually finally accomplishing what it set out to do originally: taking elements of the original and telling a truly new take on it that still had a unique feel. Prior to that, it felt like a Star Trek skin wrapped around the same kind of modern adventure story we see nowadays.
Now if you'll excuse me I have to defend the fact that Han shot the TIE fighter to the side of Vader because he knew that the Advanced TIE had shields and his shot would be ineffective meaning he DID deserve his medal at the end of Star Wars! :lol
Whoa. That is a level of scrutiny I never even could've imagined. :lol
