n light of the new Star Trek Movie coming out, and the recent developments of Trek show-runner J.J. Abrams. I thought I spend a little time reviewing the first of the relaunched Trek Franchise.
I have been a Star Trek Fan as long as I can remember, my father raised my on episodes of Star Trek The Next Generations, albeit it my fandom is minor in comparison to some of the more “eclectic” Trekkies out there. I will just admit it, I am a Star Wars man, always have been, always will be. So it gives me great pleasure to illustrate what I believe to the truth of the Abrams feasting of Lens Flares. Star Trek XI, or more simply Star Trek, is a mash up of Star Wars Ep. 4 and 5, with Star Trek characters, that is a roaring good time.
Star Trek has always been at its core, a view of what humanity could be. An allegory of ourselves through the lens of a possible futuristic outcome where humanity has solved many of its basic problems. Technology has solved mankind’s need for survival, and we spend our days in the furthering of enlightenment. The Federation is an ultimate socialist utopia the benevolently administers justice, and peacefully acquires further enlightenment by exploring space, the final frontier.
While I cry bull cheese of that actually happening, (future reviews of Star Wars Ep 3 will illustrate why), the ideas of Trek are nonetheless powerful. Star Trek, is and will always will be at its Television best, a philosophical discussion of who we are and whom we could be. It was the first show in which an interracial kiss was shown to a national audience, the character of Pavel Chekov provided a means to explore American/Russian relations at the height of the Cold War. Sulu, and Lt. Uhura presented a world where minorities and whites could coexist. These tackling of philosophical issues were the primary focus of Trek, mainly because the Television Series’s did not have the money to pull what Abrams was able to do, which was to make Star Trek fun.
Abrams Trek, exists in a parallel universe to the one in which the 1960’s and all subsequent series reside. I for one found it a brilliant move because after 700+ episodes and 10 prior films, maintaining continuity would require a supercomputer only seen on the Starship Enterprise. The writers brilliantly used time travel as a mechanism, to acknowledge what has come before, provide legitimacy for the new universe with the inclusion of the great Leonard Nimoy. but launch the original characters into uncharted territories. Watching Star Trek there was legitimate fear that some of the beloved characters were going to die because this universe was not tied to the others.
Without delving to the semantics of the movie. My thesis for this review remains that JJ Abrams made a top notch Star Wars movie starring the Star Trek original cast.
Farm boy (Kirk/Luke) with Daddy issues is meant for greater things than Iowa/Tattoine.
Diabolical Warlord has a weapon with enough firepower to destroy an entire planet.
Planet actually explodes.
Farm boy, while marooned on the Ice Planet Delta Vega/Hoth gets attacked by a strange creature, and receives instruction by an older gentleman of the previous generation, Nimoy’s Spock/Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Huge space battle, threat alleviated, and farm boy achieves his destiny.
The story telling of the new Star Trek reinvigorates the franchise by using critical plot points of Ep 4 and Ep 5 of Star Wars. Every previous Star Trek film, the villain had some philosophical squabble with the beliefs of the Enterprise, and by extension, the Federation and Rodenberry’s ideal of what the future can hold. Nero is a fairly simple minded villain, revenge for the destruction of Romulus in the original series timeline. A lot of passionate Trekkies bemoaned the simplistic nature of the movie; however I believe it to be necessary to reintroduce the world of Star Trek in a way that will be appealing to current audiences. The most important part of this movie is to introduce the characters, how they interact with one another, and throw lots of money at the CG to appease an audience was was raised in the CG love fest of George Lucas, James Cameron and Michael Bay. This movie was a retelling of the origins of Trek, the philosophy can come later, and I for one believe that Abrams did a fantastic job bringing back the franchise from the dead. I have full faith he will do the same for Star Wars.
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