Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Thoughts: On being a Game Master

As a man of gaming, the core of roleplaying branded into my upbringing now over a decade ago, I have seen gamemasters capture the attention of a flock of players with ease, spellbinding them and creating perfect atmosphere. I have also seen the direct opposite. Stumbling storytellers who fail to manage their pre-made adventure, turning the experience into a bogged down embarrassment for everyone involved. Noone wants this, least of all those of us who burden ourselves with building the world around the players. Now, I cannot say I am excellent at gamemastering, but nevertheless I thought I’d go over some of the things I think might make a difference. For some this may well help, or you might want to add to my own list of experience. Both are great, and input is appreciated.

Firstly, let’s look at two commonly used words for your chosen profession. Storyteller and Game master. Which one of these would you rather use to describe yourself? If you picked Storyteller, I would urge you to read the following.

A Storyteller, something World of Darkness among other roleplaying systems seems fond of calling you, is a person whom devotes his time entirely to telling a story, either on paper or verbally. He is the sole controller of his chosen fiction, and the directed work may well end up in book form or told to young kids around the globe. You are not a storyteller, regardless of what the books what tell you. Devoting yourself to storytelling in such a way that you are given this label is –negative- for roleplaying, as it means you’re directing your players, and while some may enjoy this lack of freedom, there are no players who will enjoy being told they cannot do something because of an arbitrary decision that they cannot.

A Game Master is the director of a game, as the word implies. He leads and operates from above, making certain all flows nicely, and that his players are all enjoying themselves in the world he directs. Note that storytelling is often a necessary aspect, but the proper way of doing so is to allow freedom, and thus the notion of calling yourself Storyteller is incorrect. A Game master’s job may be to kill the players, to send waves of mini baddies at them, to encourage their investigation of a crime, oversee a player character marriage, but his primary job is to entertain. If your players are not enjoying themselves, you’re doing something wrong, and there’s no shame in this. Every one player likes different things, and catering to everyone’s needs can be a tough task in itself.

Regardless, let’s get on with the show:

Railroading
Railroading is what most new Game Masters fall to by mistake, and it is the act of taking away the players’ freedom in order to carry on the adventure as previously planned. This is wrong. The only case in which it is not wrong, is when the adventure is built around the strict control of the Game Master, and the players know this from the start. In both cases, it’ll be near impossible for you as the overseer to predict every possible idea your players might have, and you will be faced with a time when they inadvertedly steer away from your plans. Don’t despair, and most of all, don’t say they can’t. When you start building invisible walls around the players, their irritation will build, and most players will stop having fun after they start getting shot down for the wrong reasons. Instead, build on their ideas! So they want to desert the convoy they’ve been assigned to help instead of following it around until the bandit attack you planned happens? No problem, go with it! The convoy will face certain doom, and the players might just get hired in the local militia fort to wipe out the bandits instead of following their retreat. Every plan is adjustable, and as many of my friends say, not one of them survive ten minutes with creative players. Never panic, and you will be fine. You can still lead them to the castle where the vampire lies, but if they don’t want to go there immidiately, that should be fine too. You could even create villagers that boo them out for shirking their duties, or begging them to end the blight upon their lands to further the atmosphere of a living world. Practice makes perfect.

Atmosphere
Some players are gung-ho dicemunchers, and scoff at the prospect of your puny descriptions, caring little for the cities that you’ve built, or the frothing mouths of the attacking beasts. Most aren’t. Even those that are will usually enjoy detail to some extent. No player will enjoy static roleplaying, or being bogged down by a three hour combat in which he gets to speak numbers once every fifteen minutes. Small additions of detail go a long way! The warrior hits his opponent for 26 damage? Describe him cleaving into the leg of his foe, crushing the armour beneath his battlehammer. Anything can bee spiced up with short, hasted descriptions, and will help make your game friendly to both you and the others. ”This one enters this square as a move action, and does a bullrush at Billy. 25 against AC. He misses.” – Though that is less numberspeak then most games can fall into, it can still just as well be described as; ”Another orc joins the battle from the rearmost door, buckling his shoulder down to send himself at Billy. A squeal of surprise exits him as he passes you by entirely.”
Of course, there are times when you will need to talk numbers, and don’t feel pressured to use explanations like the above all the time, but spicing it up from time to time will help, I promise. Atmosphere is important outside of combat too. Describe places and people that players pass by or visit, but don’t settle into the Storyteller category, as discussed above. Going into great depths and long monologues will bore all but the hardiest players, and they may as well read a book to get the same enjoyment. Still, a brief explanation of towns people they speak to is appreciated. Groups vary, of course. Experiment, and see how light of an explanation and immersion you can sink into your players and have them riveting for more.

Rule Discussions
There will be a time, unless you’re playing freeform RPGs, when someone in your group will say ”Wait, no, that’s not the way it is here.” And start leafing through his pristine laminated rulebook to show you how wrong you are. This is fine, as long as he doesn’t disturb the flow and enjoyment for the rest of you. Solve arguments over rules during set out pauses or after sessions, and either look up the rules at the same time, or let a player find it and calmly butt in to state the rule during, when it won’t be disruptive. You are not always right, and while anything you say goes, the players may not be enticed to play if you force your own rules on them without alerting them first. I make a habit of telling my players to note down whatever they disagreed with, and take it up when we’re not playing, whether that be a bathroom break, end of session, or pause for phonecall. If I was terribly wrong, i’ll compensate the players somehow, all the way from a retcon, or if it’s far too late for that, maybe that next guard decided that this was a good time to take the security system down for maintenance. If it was a minor issue, most players will be fine if you take note of the rules in the book, and either run with them from then on, or suggest you use yours for the future. (Magic rules in EON, fear my editing wrath.)

I feel this is getting long now, I might add to this in the future, and I implore others to do so too. Just touched on some basic things! SRM out.

Shady Review: Dorian Gray

I had a discussion with one of my shady associates the other day. The topic? Immortality. What would you do to live forever? Would you want to? You probably want to try, at the very least, but as someone whom already is, I can say it's fairly overrated. Gets boring after a few hundred millenia, and the times before theatre were a drag to say the least. Nevertheless, inspired by this topic of neverending debate among egotistical megalomaniacs, I have decided to make the world aware of a man who fell to temptation, and took a vow of immortality. But first a little storytelling.
The year is 1890. Cars look sillier than they do today, and the liberal community was an endangered species. In the midst of the victorian civilization, Oscar Wilde published a novel which in today's world would probably be seen as tame, but back then it was as deviant and vicarious as my assistant's guttermind is today. This novel was named The Picture of Dorian Gray and was recieved with heavily mixed thoughts from his peers, seen as a homoerotical plunge into decadence. The novel took us on the journey of Dorian Gray, a young man who traded his soul for the chance to live forever, and remain forever young. A good deal, right? The film I bring to you was released September 2009, and is according to yours truly one of the best adaptions of the old story to be released on film. But I've kept you long enough, let's get down and dirty. Is immortality any good?

Cool guys don't look at explosions.
Dorian Gray does what it wants very well, the scenery and lighting pulling you into the appropriate era with ease, and the costume department has had a field day with the dresses and suits filling the screen in every scene. The few animations that are in the movie are nicely done, and do not detract from the movie, at least not enough for me to bash it.

My comm device is not working properly.

Ben Barnes enters the role of Dorian Gray, a naive young man returning to his parents' estate as the new lord of the manor. A role he performs with good emotion and superb acting. Dorian is supported by Colin Firth, in the role of Lord Henry Wotton, and Ben Chaplin as the friendly painter Basil. Both perform with excellence, Firth managing to hammer down the charismatic nail appropriate to Lord Henry with much skill. A minus here is Lord Henry Wotton's daughter, whom I personally feel is somewhat forced, but your mileage may vary.

How about a story before we sleep?
Dorian Gray is a story told about the very same, the young man willingly wishing away his soul into the painting his friend makes of him, so that it will suffer the consequences he would normally attract from life. Aging included. As the movie progresses, Lord Henry Wotton manages to push Dorian further into decandence and indulgence, living vicariously through the younger man as Dorian happily takes every opportunity to slake his thirst for lust and experiences.
All things must come to an end however, and the cursed painting begins to attract both vermin and insects to it's filthy visage, plaguing the boy with nightmares and reminders of the soulless creep he has become. The story stays true to the novel mostly, the addition of Lord Henry Wottons' daughter a good decision, and in spite of her somewhat forced intrusion into the story, manages to be alright. An enticing story, and it brings up the question if you would do the same in Gray's shoes.

Conclusion, Conclusion, Conclusion.
Dorian Gray is good, and is watchable by pretty much anyone. The movie does have a somewhat slow pace, so if you're an actionlover, it may be somewhat quiet and held back for you at times, but it makes up for it with it's story. I recommend Dorian Gray, but I do not recommend linking your soul to a picture.

Rating:
87% - 'tis a good movie, and a compelling story. Mandatory -2% for lack of ninja.

Shady Review: Zombieland

Greetings and aloha, young padawans. No doubt some of you are wondering who in the hells I am, and the rest of you may yet feel scorned and abandoned, or simply don't care enough to mind. I am, as once named by a terrible rival of mine; Shady Review Man. I review things, possibly with a mindset of criticism, but usually I am kind enough to pick out movies that are actually good, I leave you to trample the minefield on your own. For a long time, I was subdued and held hostage in a little room in another dimension, powerless to watch as my nemesis walked around pretending to be me. But 'lo and behold, with the inherent power of a paperclip, a hamster, duct tape, and various Review-Gadgets, I have managed to escape the evil lair, and have now returned to bring you a new movie. A delay as this movie is now no longer in cinema, but I had plenty time to compose my thoughts in the alternate realm. The movie we're about to discuss is Zombieland, and it's a recent one, released in the latter part of 2009, for those of you who never go outside, or are trapped in other dimensions. We'll get right into it, I'm itching for some reviewing.

Cool guys don't look at explosions.
If you enjoy grit and realism, this movie will sit well with you. Managing to make zombies look good is a debatably hard task, and Zombieland manages to plow through the entire movie without giving that surreal feel. Effects and makeup are nicely done, and for once this writer could actually sit back and enjoy the movie, which has none of the problems many movies today seem to. Sure, it could probably do with more explosions, but at that point, we'd need ninjas too. (Sadly it does not have too many ninjas. Or pirates. Mileage may vary.)

My comm device is not working properly.
Jesse Eisenberg is the lead character and our narrator throughout the film, playing a young man and felllow nerd known only as Columbus, which assumingly is not his real name, an insecure, genre-savvy (though ironically ignorant) nerd who's returning home in search of his parents. He does a good job, I applaud his adequate acting and managing to not draw it over the top. The show is however stolen in it's entirety by Tallahasse, Columbus trigger-happy travelpartner, played by none other than Woody Harrelson, whom no doubt had great fun shooting this movie. Though a stereotype, (All the main characters are) Tallahasse is perfectly delivered, and there are not many scenes with him that are not either A) Awesome, B) Hilarious, or C) Both. The two of them are joined by two girls, and a heckload of zombies. Sadly the girls are not as brilliant in their acting, if excellent compared to most other zombie flicks, and are grossly overshadowed by both Columbus and Tallahasse. The zombies are hilarious, however, and I take this pause in my review to applaud the actors for their ability to stumble, run, and groan aggravatedly. *bows*

How about a story before we sleep?
Zombieland is -for those of you who have not yet managed to figure this out from the name - a zombie movie. Thus, the plot is naturally revolved around zombies to a certain extent. In this case, Tallahasse and Columbus, and later the two ladies traverse America in search of a place to rest their heads and call home, all the while bringing destruction to rampaging braineaters and trying to survive. The plot is obviously nothing much to write home about, but the delivery is well executed, making it a very enjoyable story to follow, and even the over-the-top action sequence awarded to Tallahasse (of course he has one.) manages to not break the flow. This movie is filled with small gems and many a chuckle, I don't want to spoil it for you.

Conclusion, Conclusion, Conclusion.
The mere conclusion about Zombieland that SRM has to offer is; Watch Zombieland. If you have humour, or like action, or enjoy zombiesplatter, or just like to watch women making men look like idiots, or you like rollercoasters, you will enjoy this movie. If you like more than one of the above, you will love it. If you don't, you need to watch it again, and not sleep this time. Perhaps one of the greatest zombieflicks ever, Zombieland is in a class of it's own, though it's not as serious as others. If you go in expecting a gritty survivalist scenario where they're all hounded by the military and trying to uncover some tense plot, go watch 28 days later, or the crappy sequel. Go watch any thriller in fact. Zombieland has the attitude saying killing zombies and living in a post-apocalypse world can be entertaining, and it manages to pull it off.


Rating: Zombieland has the official SRM Stamp of Approval. It gets a whopping 98% out of one hundred. Two percent minus for lack of ninjas.

Shady Review: Heat

It has been a rough few months for the man behind the keyboard. In writing, Shady Review Man has yet to recieve the money he was entitled to four weeks ago, and is living on naught but bread, water, and toy cars of appropriate size and colour. Thankfully, due to todays technology, one does not always need those shiny golden coins to take part in the greater pleasures of viewing anecdotes through a flickering window. I am of course talking of watching movies, and the means VCR. Yes, those large cassettes some of you no doubt still have lingering in your dark closets, all but forgotten with the rise of new ways to indulge your film-viewing. But I shall not rant any longer, it is time for us to do some timetravelling. The year is 1995, and the action movies are dominating the market, as they have come to do in later years as well. But for every three bad action movies, a good one occassionally falls out by mistake. Heat is one such mistake, and we shall be looking at this actionthriller more closely, after this commercial.

/Do you feel as if though your sight is giving up on you? Are you perhaps down on your luck when it comes to getting ahead in life? Would you perhaps merely want someone to once lend you a hand? We have the solution! Vecna Corp. fixing all your unliving needs!/

*ahem* Yes. Let us begin.

Cool guys don't look at explosions.
Perhaps you walked into the wrong theater sonny, this is a viewing for 1995. And as far as movies who are acting out nothing but crime, this movie handles what little special effects it has with ample skill. What really stands out in this movie is the tension. No thriller has ever survived the crowd sleeping through it, or possibly laughing, and to keep itself above water, it needs that tension. Heat supplies it just where it needs it, almost giving it a feel like the movie is actually happening outside your house, at times. The complete lack of music during gunfights strengthen this further, and when all you hear is the erratic shooting of what could well be an actual gunfight, you watch just a little closer.

My comm device is not working properly.
The acting in this movie is-.. well, how does one say this.. Brilliant. Yes, brilliant is a good word. Val Kilmer, Al Pacino AND Robert De Niro all make appearances as lead characters, and boy are they good at doing so. I found myself sympathizing with the bad guys in this movie, because they were just that well played. They feel like real people, not people getting shot at in a movie.

How about a story before we sleep?
The plot of Heat is fairly simple, in fact. A bunch of professionals who are getting fairly tired of living in constant vigilance decide to hit one more job. However, the police swiftly sniff out their plans due to a newcomers misstep, and the heat begins. Heh, I know, bad one. What's so good about Heat is that it does not constantly follow the badguys, nor does it focus on Mr and Mrs Lawman running about shooting said baddies. It focuses on both. You get to see their equally crappy lives, with equally crappy dreams, and equally crappy jobs. Well, maybe some of that rings true, but in essence, it all builds up throughout the movie, and makes for a very enticing story.

Conclusion, Conclusion, Conclusion.
Heat is an excellent movie for it's time, and stands up to many movies of today, blowing most crime movies this reviewer has seen right out of the water. It may not have super special effects, or a wacky fantasy storyline, but it does have interesting characters, a good story, and an excellent way to showcase both. Add guns, perfect formula.


Heat gets a high 92% from Shady Review Man. This movie is good. Very good.

Shady Review: Memento

Finally I return! Much has happened, enough to keep the most disciplined of reviewers at bay for months. Thankfully, my shadiness coupled with the enslaving of a new assistant meant I struggled out of the swamp of despair in only a few weeks. My good friend the Blue Toy Car is dead. Yes, dead. I had to shoot it when I overheard it's plots to destroy me and take my place. I then snapped it in half to be sure, and gave him to my cousin saying it was a building set for a model car. Within I grieve, but the show must go on! What was I supposed to do again?.. Oh right, a review! This time, Memento is at the shooting range. Let's see how many holes I gave it!


Big explosions?
No. Well, that may be a tad harsh, but CGI and other special effects are mostly absent from this movie, however it doesn't make it any less of what it is. There is plenty of trick filming in Memento, and they really manage to lull us into what's happening with the clever use of their scenes. As it is, the entire movie is shot backwards, save for black and white shots in between that tie up the story. This is to ensure the viewer never knows more then Leonard, our hero this time around. Memento was also released in the US with all the shots reassembled into chronological order, and diligent as I am, I watched that too. The shots sadly lose their suspension of disbelief, and the movie no longer keeps you thinking, nor does it leave you much surprise. It also means you'll have to sit through 30 minutes of black and white before the movie 'begins', something I myself lack the patience for, though that may be because of the pain.


Failure to communicate?
The acting in Memento is quite adequate. They lift us further into Leonard's mind and we set out to think ill of the same people he does, like the same people he does, and even root for Leonard himself, something I usually fail to do while watching movies, the characters just feel underdeveloped. This is not the case in Memento however. There's plenty of space for character personality, and the whole movie gives off a "good acting" vibe in my book. Not much else to say here. Thumbs up.

Start the fires, i'll build the camp
Without spoiling too much for all you possible movie-watchers, Memento is about Leonard. A fairly young man with a specific case of amnesia leaving him without the capability to store new memories. He literally forgets everything he's done after about two minutes, or as soon as he stops focusing. We follow Leonard as he attempts to find the man who did this to him, whom conviniently enough also murdered his wife. All in all, the story is very basic as far as stories go. What makes this movie shine is the way it is filmed, as mentioned above. Everything in the whole movie comes as a surprise as we slowly see the day unfold backwards, never knowing more than our dear protagonist. Of course, if you're watching the americanized version, all you'll get is a mediocre detective story with fairly good acting, that's not really got anything going for it, but the real version is where it's at.

The big conclusion
Memento is a very enjoyable movie, and although some may find it a little tough to process, (I know a few) it is well worth the extra brainpower to enjoy the full might of this twisting movie. Or you could watch the chronological version, and pretend you're smart and did not just ruin the entire splendor of this movie by yourself.

Rating for Memento: 83% - Well worth watching, especially for you mindtrick lovers.
Rating for Memento(US): 34% - No.


This was all from me this time, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy the -real- version as much as I did! Sorry to those who have been waiting for more reviews, I've been busy twisting in pain, which put a downer on my writing! More wishes for reviews would also be handy, if you've got any. Enjoy the weekend!

Shady Review: Waking Life

I sit here in my shady corner, contemplating the meaning of our existance as I am one to regularly do. The blue toy car I recently recieved from a Kinder Egg argues with me that to truly exist, one must make a mark on the society the person in question attempts to call itself a part of. A daunting task to say the least, and while I may not agree fully with the toy car being targetted to save me from accusations of schizophrenia, I accept the challenge with glee. Now, making a mark on society could come in many forms. I prefer nukes. But, lately my stock of the wondrous, peace-making bombs has been running a tad dry. Thus, I will instead indulge myself in a film that was requested. Waking Life, it's called. I had never heard of it, so suffice to say, when the request fell into the shadowy corner of my domain, I had to quickly make myself aware of this movie. My interest flared, so what follows are the toy car's, and my, findings.

What!? Moving pictures?!
When a film takes a step away from live-action it usually results in animated sequences, or simply a series of images displayed at a painfully slow rate. Waking Life takes this further by being filmed completely with a technique called Rotoscopy. For those of you too lazy to follow the previous link, rotoscopy is an animation technique in which the animators trace over an live-action sequence, frame by frame. Hardcore, I know, and the result is something that looks innovative, mind blowing, and like you're high at the same time. My toy car assures me I am not high, and that it really does look like that all along. A very free style of animation, and Waking Life does it well. You get the abstract feeling, carried well along with the theme of the film.

High-strung men, and low-key women?
There's not much to say of the acting in this movie, as can be said with any animated movie. The actors that have been drawn over deliver their lines with free-spirited enthusiasm. It doesn't feel as if though anything is really overperformed, or underperformed for that matter. (Toy car note: It's quite possible to bore during an animated movie, he's went to tune his engine during such films many a time.) Most of the conversation carried in Waking Life are direct philosophical arguments and views, and the movie touches on quite a few aspects on life, freedom, death, reincarnation, dreaming, politics, and free will. It also brings up a few more pointers on other subjects, but mainly, that's the gist of it.

Thriller or Chiller?
The story follows a supposedly young man whose' name we may or may not ever be told. He seems to be stuck in a dreamlike state where he stumbles upon various people of dubious reality, and most of the movie entails him listening to the views and philosophies of others. It is to me, not much of a story you would follow intensely, but you let yourself flow along the abstract storyline and let the words of wisdom seep into your mind.

The end.. or is it?
In conclusion, Waking Life is a strangely odd addition to the movie dungeon in my gloomy corner, but it does definately have an aftertaste that makes you both think, and quite possibly nod to yourself at the latent wisdom contained within. It's one of those movies which will never appeal to everyone, but those who enjoy more than the basic story-less shooting movies, this may be a pleasing experience. All in all, a very special movie, and watching it will grant you either a confirmation of abstract thought, or a thoughtful 90 minutes.

Waking Life rating: 79% - Strange, but does what it wants very well. Recommended.

Shady Review: The Princess Bride

With the urging to continue from quite a few sources, yours truly returns to look down upon the movies of your choice. This time, we'll take a trick out of the recently mentioned Star Trek franchise and indulge in some time travelling into the past. To 1987, to be precise. A time I can say I hardly remember at all, seeing as it was before my birth. I can pretty firmly state I remember very little from the years directly after my birth too. But I digress. 1987, as is true with any year, certainly had alot of interesting things going for it. For us, however, we glean on a single object from this era of technological inferiority. The movie The Princess Bride. Take a moment to say that to yourself. If you imagined a medieval fantasy setting with sword-fighting, devilish forests that shoot fire from the ground, and torture devices capable of making a man scream loud enough for a kingdom to hear it, you certainly have a vivid imagination. I will explain further below.

Big explosions?
No. Not by today's standards anyway. The effects are nothing to write home about, but then again not much more can be expected from a movie in the 80's. Perhaps the real charm is that this movie manages to portray its' world and and keep you in the grips of it's amusing story without a single touch of CGI. A very welcome feature, I must say! Of course, everything looks crappy, but charmingly so. Even so, the movie has quite an excellent grasp on effects for it's time, and it works perfectly.

Failure to communicate?
Bad acting can ruin any movie, and with how many cringe-worthy old movies I've seen, I can honestly say that I was expecting nothing above horrendous when first introduced to this masterpiece. Fortunately, I was proven very wrong. The actors are all excellent in my book, and even though the entire movie(and the conversation within) is corny enough to be boiled and eaten off a stalk, this merely adds to the lovely feeling that is The Princess Bride. The acting never feels stale, and the entire movie not only manages to create a fairly compelling story, it makes fun of itself with great success while doing so. Humour is a large part of this movie, and it can certainly be seen at every turn. I had to rewatch the movie specifically to see if I missed any veiled prods at the fantasy genre, and it turns out I did. Wherever you go, there's a joke somewhere close by. And still this movie manages a somewhat serious tone, making for an example todays' actors (not to mention scriptwriters) could learn from.

Campfire not required?
Now i said before the movie is corny. It is, at every turn. But in a very good way. It's not the 'roll your eyes and sigh' kind, but the kind that makes you smirk faintly whenever they open their mouthes. The movie's plot is in fact a book, which is being read by a man to his grandson, and whatever oddities one might find in this movie, it remains credible due to the movie stating it is fiction by it's own volition. Overall, the story is fairly generic. Farmer falls in love with girl. Girl becomes a princess. Farmer becomes a super-pirate. Super-pirate sets out to free the kidnapped princess in a spiral of corruption, sword-fighting and taunting. Comes free with the famous line "My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father. Prepare to die."

In conclusion.
The Princess Bride is a brilliant movie, and definately worth seeing at least once, if nothing else, then for seeing how simple a movie can be, and do so well. If you're a roleplayer, you should be even more compelled to look at this for some classical inspiration, and a few great laughs. The laughs apply even without roleplaying experience, or interest!

The Princess Bride rating: 94% - This is what a movie should look like.

The first ever Shady Review, Star Trek

When the ads started appearing for the new Star Trek movie, I could only groan. To me it seemed like one last ditch attempt to squeeze money out of a dying franchise which, over the later years, has been plagued by movies that continously decreased in quality, constant reusal of old ideas in yet another Star Trek series, and games that make me set my phaser to kill and use on myself. It would be with great reluctance I went to see this movie, and only after the badgering of a distant friend to review it on his website, that I did. And I am glad that I did.

Big explosions?
When it comes to special effects, this movie certainly has top notch quality, and makes no attempts to hide it. There's enough of it all in here to make Star Wars blush! With all the explosions and mandatory spaceship action happening, this movie certainly is a pleasure for the eyes. There isn't much more to say about this, it's really better than any other action/sci-fi I've seen lately. It really does help immerse you into the wonders that is the far off future. Fanservice is in this movie, of course, much to my dismay, but at least it's kept to a minimum.

Failure to communicate?
Now, on to where every bad and mediocre remake alike falls flat on its' tushie! The acting, closely followed by the story. Now don't get me wrong, the story is important, but not even a masterpiece script can keep this cynic from walking out on awkwardly delivered lines and over the top acting. I can only say that I am wholly surprised. The characters seem as lively as we once knew them, and you can really see whom is who from the way they act, before their names are even hinted upon! Chris Pine seems perfect in the role of a youthful, if somewhat overaggressive James T. Kirk. Spock is portrayed by Zachary Quinto, and his acting in the trailers is most of the cause for my shying away from the movie in the first place. Turns out he does an excellent Spock, and the scenes in question make perfect sense in context.
Leonard Nimoy makes an appearance in this movie as well, and might I say, he hasn't lost his touch! All in all, the cast could possibly not have been filled by better actors, although the accent of Chekov gets cringe-worthy rather quickly.

Camp fire not mandatory?
The story! Good actors, yes, but is it worth watching? In short? Yes.
Star Trek makes a bold move here and reboots the franchise to steer away from Star Trek as we know it, and create something different. Trying to keep spoilers to a minimum, this new breathe of life into the franchise is done with a new look into the old concept of time travel. Add a disgruntled villain into the mix, and our heroes old(future?) lives no longer look the same! Instead we have traumatized younger versions of our crew, with events changed forever. Even small touches, such as how Kirk got through Starfleet Academy, and they are certainly appreciated. Storywise, this incarnation of Star Trek managed to grip me from start to finish, with exception for the completely unecessary part where a ~14 year old Kirk flees from a police officer in the beginning. The only thing that disappointed me was the main villain of this movie. Nero, a royally pissed off miner from the future, comes back to exact a personal vendetta. He does this well, but he doesn't come off as a great threat to me, he just seems lackluster, somehow. In spite of this, with everything happening, it's an excellent movie.

The final cou-..conclusion!
What is my conclusion then? If you like Star Trek, go see this movie. If you didn't like Star Trek before, or sci-fi for that matter, this might be a great time to start.

As will be custom, if people enjoy my reviews at all, I will include a small rating of my own, and Star Trek, being a surprisingly good movie, will start this trend with an impressive 91%. I predict very little topping that this year, but we'll see.

If you like reading this, and would wish to see more, feel free to drop a comment. Commenting on the movie works too!

Star Trek score: 91% - Watch this movie, k.

Live long and prosper.