Beautifully shot in black and white, intriguing shots, one after another. Thought-provoking, a little obscure, while the violence is key. it is cruel and as it builds toward war, it is unrelenting and tension filled, even the romance, though more humanistic and warmer, serves it or is overwhelmed by it. it is stark as the black and white, with no music.
I loved the way they wove Captain Pike into the prequel, creating his back story that meshes with the stories in the series. He even looked like Captain Pike! Ditto with all the other characters, making them a continuity of the old yet fresh and up to date. They even managed to use the old Spock in a wonderfully creative way. I kinda miss the old philosophizing though that made the old one so relevant to its time.