Well I bit the built and spent two of my hard earned pounds to have the chance to watch this one again. Truth be told it's not without it's good aspects, there is a good film with a great central concept fighting to get out here. Sadly it doesn't really make it.
I do like the idea of throwing a light on faith and the concept of a being posing as a god (a really core classic Trek story) but this aspect fights for space with musing on Kirk's mortality, the sadly underdeveloped Sybok (how exactly does he sway people to follow him? Why is he searching for God? What would he have done had the Enterprise been crewed by more than about ten people?) and clumsy attempts at humour.
Effective scenes like the torment of McCoy over his father are sandwiched between Scotty walking into things and Spock producing rocket boots from somewhere and the Klingon's chasing the Enterprise are something of a tacked on threat. One which also does make a lot of sense considering the last Klingon captain observed he was outgunned by the Enterprise ten to one in a similar ship.
Also the key relationship between Kirk, Spock and McCoy doesn't come over quite as well as it could. There are flashed of the old dynamic but it often feels laboured and the rest of crew barely get to do anything other than capitulate.
The effects are also disappointing and are visibly worse than the last three films for a reason that isn't really that clear. Budget wise it was about the same as previous entries and yet everything just looks that little bit cheaper. Seems like the project was just to much for Shatner to really master in the director's chair.
So overall its forgettable rather than actively terrible I'd argue and frustrating as a missed opportunity to turn out something with real epic sweep as the crew seek God. But there is at least room for one classic line...."Why does God need a starship?"
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