Star Trek

I managed to convince M to leave work and go see the new Star Trek movie last night.

Once there, we asked for Julie, the manager I spoke with about the poor quality of our last few experiences at this theatre. She was willing to give us the free tickets to get in, so we have resolved that issue. We also noted that the food lines were running more smoothly. Ironically, they had some projection issues to start with, but had them resolved before the previews.

Star Trek is a great science fiction action adventure movie. It has a solid story, good acting, very good effects, and dependable direction. I think that most fans of any of the before-mentioned genre subtopics would enjoy the movie, would be strongly entertained, and would leave the theater happy/satisfied.

Trekkers (aka Trekkies) may see it otherwise, however.

Time travel is one of my least liked plot devices because it is rarely done well and rarely answers the questions it raises. It fills the screen with plot holes the size of semi-trucks and expects you either to ignore them or tries to explain them away, usually to little effect.

In this case, the main villain comes from a future where his planet has been destroyed. He is transported somewhat by accident back to a past where the actions he takes changes things. And herein lies the problem for Trekkers: Nero's actions affect the future of the entire Star Trek universe such that all of TOS, Next Gen, et al cannot happen in the same way as they "know" from the canon presented in the existing shows and movies.

One of the strongest aspects of the Star Trek universe for both Trekkers and non-Trekkers is the coherent continuity it has always maintained. Roddenbery and Berman, among others, always tried to fit everything into a coherent whole. Even other time travel stories, like First Contact, showed that "history" as we know it still happened, there was just another side to it that we didn't know until now. This Star Trek story, however, actually erases and changes all of those known stories and the much-loved continuity.

For example, because of Nero's incursion into the earlier timeline, Kirk's is not born in Iowa, as has always been established. Instead, Kirk's parents are separated in space by a battle and Kirk is born on a shuttle craft. These ripples keep spreading throughout the universe, causing people to be a bit different, to have different histories than fans are used to, and to meet under very different circumstances than canon states.

According to the writers and producers of the new movie, the fact that certain coincidences happen to bring the crew of the Enterprise together (for example, Scotty just happens to be on the ice planet that Kirk just happens to get stranded on) is the universe's way of trying to correct itself. However, this is not explicitly stated in the movie; I know that from a recent interview with them (see here). If this had been a line somewhere in the movie, I think Trekkers would have an easier time with the changes.

Never brought up is the fact that Nero is transported back to a time well before the precipitating event occurs; it seems strange that he would go on a rampage against the Federation instead of doing things that could prevent that event from happening in the first place.

The other thing that disappoints me about using time travel as the main plot device is that this is a reboot movie. I could rewrite the exact story without the time travel aspect and it would be a better film because you would not be invalidating everything that comes before. You would instead just be telling everyone that this is new and, because you're at the beginning, different things are going to occur than you're used to. It would make it stronger overall and wouldn't irritate the Trekkers nearly as much as a time-wipe would. If forced to keep with the time travel story, I would have put a lot more explanation in to suggest how this was going to affect the universe and the people in it.

I was disappointed by the fact time travel was used but was otherwise completely and thoroughly entertained by the movie. I was willing to set aside most all of my knowledge and understanding of the Trek universe as things started to change. If my wife is any indication, true Trekkers and die-hard fans will likely have a greater issues with doing this.

Especially strong in the movie are Chris Pine (who does not do a Shatner impression, but does hit the right spirit often enough that it feels like he is paying homage to the Shat without trying to mimic or impersonate him), Karl Urban (his Bones is very well done throughout, and he gets some of the best humor lines throughout), Simon Pegg (he was a bit broad, but in a good way), and John Cho (his Sulu was strong but definitely a secondary character). Zachary Quinto did a very good job with Spock, but didn't make it his own-- a second movie would likely let him grow into it more.

This could be a break out hit, along the lines of an Iron Man. It is strong in all facets of production and acting. All it needs is some time to find its audience. Hopefully Trekkers will give it a shot and will set aside their preconceptions and Trek universe knowledge and embrace it.

I look forward to a second movie from the same team.