YMMV / Star Trek Retribution

• Awesome Music:
  • The blaring tones of "A Tall Ship" when we get our first glimpse of the Fitzgerald, and again when the runabout shuttlecraft goes in for a landing and the camera swoops over the saucer section to show us the registry.
  • The music during the battle sequence over New Romulus, a mix of "39.1 Degrees Celsius," "Team Work," and "The Scorpion".
  • The music during the montage sequence as the crew readies Prentice's plan, a brilliant use of "International Code".
• Fridge Logic: This movie is set in 2388, ten years after Nemesis. When word broke that the Enterprise would be making an appearance, many viewers immediately assumed it would be the NCC-1701-E, but were surprised when it was actually starship's concept Enterprise-F that showed up.
• Growing the Beard: Whereas Specter was largely a Coming of Age Story for the cast (and at times seemed to have the same flavor to it as the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation), this time everyone's grown up and has experience, and behaves more like the Starfleet crews to which we've grown accustomed.
• Ho Yay: Commander Renee Mitchell and Lieutenant Commander Lesley Kal.
• Sequelitis: Averted; the style of writing and direction, as well as the tone, of Retribution is very different than its predecessor, and in many ways superior. (This is a case of Real Life Writes the Plot, as the producer had gained experience with writing during Specter.) Invoked, however, in that many fans find the concept of a pending Romulan invasion as a primary plot to be less engaging than the high personal stakes that served as the primary plot driver in Specter.
• Unintentional Uncanny Valley: Like Star Trek Specter before it, the majority of the main cast are played by old Poser 4 figures...but once again, the mysterious Kristie android is played by the ultra-lifelike Victoria 3. This time, since the android is said to have been completed, and to avoid the Unintentional Uncanny Valley effect from the first film with the ponytail prop, shots with the Kristie android are rendered at different settings from the other shots. The android looks great...but any other characters in the shots look noticeably different than they do in other shots rendered at normal settings. The effect is particularly jarring in the cargo bay scene where she first appears—we've been seeing Garr throughout the scene, looking just like the other cast members, but then suddenly when she appears he suddenly looks a little more lifelike.
• Pandering to the Base: Surprisingly, the creator has taken regular note of fan reactions to early preview clips, and several lines of dialogue are known to be the direct result of fan interaction in one way or another.
  • After Prentice reaches the bridge, his line about Federation starships with Romulan upgrades being wacky was inspired by a fan making an almost identical comment.
  • Later, after Garr appears, Prentice's line about the maniacal laughter was added at the urging of a viewer.