WARNING: Major spoilers, so do not read if you have not watched the movie. That is all.
I just got home from watching the new Star Trek movie. As a long time Star Trek fan, I faced watching the movie with trepidation, because they were messing with an established line of characters and an established universe. I didn't think that I would be able to watch the movie and not see Harold and Sylar. I didn't think I would be able to accept this new cast in the roles established through years of work on the part of the original cast.
As it turned out, that was the least of my problems with the movie.
OK, to be fair, it was a good movie, and I did enjoy it. I will even watch it again. That being said, here is what I had trouble with:
CAST
I didn't have as much trouble with this as I thought I would. I actually thought they did a really good job. The only characters I had trouble believing were Scotty and Uhura. In Scotty's case, it may have just been because he didn't have much screen time. Or maybe it was the Ewok he was hanging out with.
STORY
The story. Yeah...so was I watching Star Trek, or Star Wars? There are soooo many parallels that were drawn that I just started to laugh at one point. I mean come on, the scene with all the cadets marching off to their shuttles - rebel base anyone? Since when do cadets crew starships (much less command them!) anyway? What the hell is the point of even having the academy and the military rankings if you can just toss any cadet into a high ranking position on a starship?
Star Wars parallels aside, my biggest issue with the story is of course the time travel, and the resultant parallel universe. Now, from the perspective of JJ Abrams and the reboot of the franchise, this was brilliant, because it gives them carte blanche to do whatever they want with Star Trek now. Spock and Uhuru were never lovers? Well this is a parallel universe! Kirk didn't grow up without his father? Well this is a parallel universe! Cadets don't captain starships? Well this is a parallel universe! You get the idea. The problem is, the whole parallel universe thing pisses me off. It's such a cop out, it always has been. Instead of rebooting the franchise while remaining true to the established universe, they've said fuck you, we're doing it our way. Which maybe isn't a bad thing, given that the Star Trek franchise had essentially died.
All in all, it isn't my Star Trek. That's probably a good thing. But I will be watching, and waiting, to see what the future brings.
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Do the words "suspend disbelief" mean anything to you? Ha!
ReplyDeleteYou have some very valid points. But, I will defend the "cadets" crewing star ships. Remember it was a humanitarian "all hands on deck" mission at first. They weren't throwing cadets into a combat mission. Also the cadets were not put in command positions originally. Bones, made it to chief medical, only because all the other Dr's died. Only option. Scotty wasn't a cadet. Spock, wasn't a cadet. James T, received a field promotion in the heat of battle. Something that is not unheard of in war time. Uhura was put in because she could speak all the romulian dialects. Then again how was Kirk able to talk to Nero without using a Universal Translator? And if they had one why would they then need Uhura.... hmmm maybe some plot holes do exist...
Ok point taken on the humanitarian mission. Given that the Romulan ship was from 125 years in the future, I'm sure it was outfitted with a universal translator that allowed Kirk (and the others) to talk with Nero. I did find it curious though that the crew of the ship from 125 years in the future was armed with automatic weapons instead of the usual disruptor type weapon. Loved the ping noises.
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