"Fun" and "Watchable"

May 10, 2009 09:01 +0000 | Movies Society & Culture Star Trek 7

...but not Star Trek.

I have just returned from the new Star Trek movie and I need to take a moment to rant. Feel free to ignore this one if you don't really care about what Star Trek is and are completely happy with this movie. I won't hold it against you... probably.

For the uninitiated, perhaps this movie was as frickin' awesome as everyone has told me repeatedly. It does, after all carry a strong cast, some decent writing and some pretty damned impressive special effects. This alone would make it an exciting movie, something to entertain and keep you excited for the duration but that alone isn't enough to call it Star Trek. This latest incarnation of the franchise is nothing more than yet another summer blockbuster -- like Terminator, or Wolverine, or Transformers the plot is simple:

Introduce Good Guys
Introduce Bad Guys
Bad Guys are bad
Good Guys kill bad guys
Studio makes money

Generally speaking, I like mindless blockbusters. They're fun, and watchable, but Star Trek is better than that. We love the show and even some of the movies because it speaks to us at a higher level, encourages us to question abstracts in our society like morality, justice and peace. It's about exploration and the development of humanity into something Better than we are. It's about more than good guys, bad guys, and cool effects.

This was J.J. Abrams' Star Trek, which is nice for him, and for the hordes of people it will bring to the franchise, but if nothing else, this movie marks the end of Roddenberry's dream... and for someone who grew up on those Ideals, that hurts... a lot.

If only they hadn't dedicated the movie to Gene and Majel...

Comments

Robin
10 May 2009, 4:08 p.m. |

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/trekkies_bash_new_star_trek_film?utm_source=a-section

Daniel
10 May 2009, 5:32 p.m. |

You know that I was making a direct reference to that Onion "story" with the title of this post right?

Robin
10 May 2009, 6:39 p.m. |

I figured you did. I think part of me was hoping it was just an insane coincidence. :)

Melanie
10 May 2009, 7:47 p.m. |

Watching this movie felt like I was watching a bunch of people do impressions of characters I'm very familiar with. it felt like one long skit without a punchline.

As insane as it might sound, I really did miss all of the democracy and politics that are associated with your average Star Trek. I miss the long-winded speeches and the meetings and the insights into the way the United Federation of Planets functioned. I miss the heavy-handed ethical conundrums.

Star Trek is by no means a perfect series, and often it felt more like a possible reenactment of the future than an entertaining story, but I actually loved that about it. It was like we were being shown a model for the ideal society. It was fascinating. This movie was just shiny surroundings, characters who were charactures, and lots of esplosions.

you're right. it wasn't Star Trek. it was a giant explody space movie.

However, one movie does not mark the end of an ideology. Give Gene's dream some credit - it's endured for 30-40 years, and just because JJ Abrams decides that the world wants esplosions, doesn't mean that we won't once again see a Starfleet Captain argue with an omnipitant alien about the virtues of humanity. The Star Trek we know still exists and can be appreciated on DVD, and I'd bet there will be more of "our" kind of Star Trek in the future. There are too many trekkies for there not to be.

Lara
12 May 2009, 4:41 p.m. |

Because of this post I'm probably not gonna bother with the movie, but I *am* going to finally get around to downloading watching at the very least a full season of Star Trek TOS or TNG. (Leaning towards TNG, since from what little I've seen it looks like the superior one.)

Yes that's right, I have barely seen more than two or three episodes of Star Trek (any generation). My dad was really into it when I was a teenager so my natural reaction was to avoid it. :P

Daniel
12 May 2009, 5:07 p.m. |

I muchly recommend TNG over TOS, but that's my generational bias talking. Also, if you're only going to watch one season, I recommend #6. Season 1 is, like most other shows, kinda rough.

k
23 May 2009, 4:54 a.m. |

Thank you for writing this review. It has saved me the heartache of trying to figure out how to put my disappointment and approval into words. I will simply link to your post instead :)