JJ Abrams Was Kinda Right About Trek Needing To Get Its Act Together
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Not a Wormhole. The Wormhole. Jjverse star trek V guest starring mystic avery Brooks as the crazy guy on the desert planet who takes the enterprise, pops to the middle of the universe, punches a naughty God then resets the universe to how it should be.
The dreamer and the dream. It's all real!
I do agree the end suffered to some extent from the current trend of climactic scenes that bore the audience with CGI spectacle, and as has been pointed out, there are some plot holes.
But the things you say weren't there actually were there:
Exploration/discovery: There was that opening sequence on Nibiru, which even most haters think had some good parts. The Enterprise also went to Kronos for what was apparently the first time, though in practice it lacked the requisite sense of discovery.
Clash of ideologies/philosophies: The most obvious instance of this is Admiral Marcus, and his desire to put Starfleet on a war footing. He is a cynical, Kissinger/Rumsfeld-type character who is prepared to use false-flag operations and secret incursions, and Kirk has to choose between this and a more Trek-like idealism.
Eternal questions being tackled: This area is always debatable (how many other Trek movies actually addressed "eternal questions"?) The choice of political cynicism (the "darkness" of the title) or idealism is one instance. There is also Kirk's journey from arrogance to humility, which is necessary for responsibility, and which antagonist Marcus arguably lacks.
You can certainly argue about effectiveness of execution, but you can't deny these things were in the movie.
Action films are traditionally the more popular Trek movies, like TWOK, TUC and First Contact. Hell, TVH was the most financially successful pre-Abrams movie and it had no exploration, discovery, ideology or philosophy or eternal questions. It was a contemporary comedy about saving the whales. The only Trek movie that comes close to having those things you speak of was TMP.
And it's debateable how much of these lofty ideals were in Trek to begin with. TOS is largely an action series and while TNG did frequently indulge in philosophical musings, it is the action episodes which are typically the most popular among fans.
I won't disagree that most Star Trek movies are action-centric, that's why I always preferred the series to the movies, I've found most of the movies somewhat boring. I do disagree that TOS was a large action series, there was action in some scenes, but most episodes did raise philosophical questions that made the show great. I have nothing against action movies, but Trek action is kind of weak, in my opinion.
Perhaps you're right and I should give the movie another chance.
I'm certainly not saying it's perfect, just that there are good bits in it.
I could watch the opening of both films over and over again, though I cry at George Kirk's final words.
I also love the Kronos sequence in STID. Actually, lots of good character moments in both films.
I also love the Kronos sequence in STID. Actually, lots of good character moments in both films.
Abrams had some points... but really no merchandising sense. Yes he wanted a single point of control, much like Lucasfilm's traditionally had with George or like what Marvel has with Kevin Feige to act as gatekeeper. That was a great idea. Grow the brand. But if you are seeking to do that, the reboot path they chose was merchandising death. It's astonishing how toys and models from 20 year old movies still sell well. But every single item from the JJVerse was dumped into discount bins. Lucas survived atop a merchandising empire for 35 years by always keeping the connection to the beginnings. Growing it. When the prequels came out they went out of their way to not pull the original trillogy merch, instead they increased it and made sure it all worked together. The same with TFA or any of the TV shows. Give the Dad's something to share with their kids. JJ's merchandising and marketing approach lacked that. It severed the generational connectivity. Which is suicide for a multi generational merchandising franchise. This is why the other divisions that JJ so clearly resented quickly walled him off in his own little movie nook and went about their business.
The movies made great money. They did phenomenal on DVD sales etc. But Merchandising? It was a disaster. The big box stores ended up dumping most of the product they had at clearance. It ranks up there with the Hobbit movies for recent merchandising disappointments. This is why it took so long to even see a model kit of the JJPrise. The initial ones in development got cancelled when the retail merchandise tanked.
Yeah. Also, where is this clearance dump bin of Abrams Trek merchandise. I need to get some more.
Abrams (and Bad Robot) didn't control the merch, CBS did. More accurately, CBS Consumer Products.
.http://trekmovie.com/2009/01/23/details-and-images-on-playmates-full-line-of-star-trek-movie-toys/
I had a friend who brought that Spock Barbie. It was something like 50/60 AU$ at Toyworld.
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Well, here in the UK we have these things called 'pound shops' and that's where the JJ trek action figures could be found...the last time I saw such 'big name's action figures in there was 'sarah Jane adventures' action figures just after woolworths went under.
They are a tad more expensive now via Amazon, but they are still cheaper than star wars figures and that has a movie out right now.
These are not very collectable collectibles, my son got a set from my aunt for Xmas, he plays with them...and sadly, they aren't that great as toys either (has anyone ever managed to get Uhura to wear her phaser belt? Are those communicators welded in?)
The kreo sets are probably more successful, but there's not many ways to get a toddler his starship toy fix.
Compared to the army of galactic proportions that featured in many a thirty somethings childhood....Yeah.
Boys today (and girls) are really shortchanged in the action figure department. Good old star wars keeps on going though.
I think JJ was right to up the tempo of the franchise. I found that the TNG movies felt more laboured than TOS. I can't put my finger on why though. Whatever the criticism, JJ;s movies are a fun rollercoaster ride.
Having said that, I dislike the way Abrams tried to shoehorn some of the action into a Star Wars style. Starship battles in Trek work better IMO using the battleship or submarine model (and there are plenty of movies out there to find inspiration from) NOT X-wing fighters and the Millennium Falcon. He made the Enterprise larger but then tried to treat it like a smaller more manoeuvrable vessel to make the visuals cooler and it just doesn't work for me. I put my head in my hands when I see the Enterprise flying out of the ocean without a civilisation destroying backwash and performing handbrake turns over San Francisco as opposed to just redirecting the ship to crash at sea.
Trek's failure to be as big as Star Wars probably stems from its failure to market to young boys as effectively. They love action, aliens, and cool ships. IMO they need to capitalise on JJ's movies with an animated show with an over-arching theme like the Klingon war. Introduce a gang of multi-racial mercenaries with cool ships. Maybe insert some flashier combat vessels alongside your shuttles, and introduce some wider, semi-regular crewmen based on some of the funkier alien races. Rip off the Clone Wars basically. If they treat the franchise with respect and give us decent stories, Trek might capture some of that elusive SW teenage toy market that they love so much.
Having said that, I dislike the way Abrams tried to shoehorn some of the action into a Star Wars style. Starship battles in Trek work better IMO using the battleship or submarine model (and there are plenty of movies out there to find inspiration from) NOT X-wing fighters and the Millennium Falcon. He made the Enterprise larger but then tried to treat it like a smaller more manoeuvrable vessel to make the visuals cooler and it just doesn't work for me. I put my head in my hands when I see the Enterprise flying out of the ocean without a civilisation destroying backwash and performing handbrake turns over San Francisco as opposed to just redirecting the ship to crash at sea.
Trek's failure to be as big as Star Wars probably stems from its failure to market to young boys as effectively. They love action, aliens, and cool ships. IMO they need to capitalise on JJ's movies with an animated show with an over-arching theme like the Klingon war. Introduce a gang of multi-racial mercenaries with cool ships. Maybe insert some flashier combat vessels alongside your shuttles, and introduce some wider, semi-regular crewmen based on some of the funkier alien races. Rip off the Clone Wars basically. If they treat the franchise with respect and give us decent stories, Trek might capture some of that elusive SW teenage toy market that they love so much.
The other problem is....it's just not suitable for really young boys. It's violence isn't fantasy based like star wars, it starts with death and distress, and it's overall tone is too dark and violent for younger children. And it's younger children who are going to pressure their parents into buying that merchandise. It's why even if the new star wars is rated too high for the young kids, there's still rebels on TV.
For the most part, TNG, especially when edited for transmission, is family friendly. Which helps explain the popularity of the toy line.
These days we have the flash and bang and battles of a kids show, with the angst and violence of 'adult' entertainment. (not just limited to trek)
This makes things kind of a mess (though I recall them selling toys off of T2 back in the nineties. We were too young to see the film, but wanted the toys anyway. I think part of this is down to a difference internationally about age related censorship.)
I wholeheartedly agree, whatever my story concerns etc, even when I was more 'pro' the prequels (about 3 mins after leaving the cinema) I still hated the Star Wars pew pew in it. As opposed to the more traditional fwoosh of course.
Yes the new Star Wars is darker alongside the more family friendly cartoon. I think that's clever. The new sequel does not insult its audience by making a children's movie, unlike the prequels. They learned a sensible lesson. By making the new movie a bit darker, even those who aren't allowed to see it really want to see it and this could increase desire for merchandise like the T2 stuff.
Trek does also suffer from technology bloat, which hampers telling a good story, since you have to think of convoluted ways to ignore the tech if you don't want your characters to look stupid. This can also make cool visuals look stupid and unnecessary. Rather than get a grip, the new movie took that even further, with interstellar warp transporters. Why fly in to effect a rescue when you can just beam them out from light years away - booooring.
Reduce the tech and up the fun IMO. The Narada was nowhere near as much fun as the Reliant. A mix of Insurrection and Blakes 7 is probably the right idea. Lose your communicator and you're going nowhere unless you're tagged with a transporter tag (with limited battery life, unsuitable for long term use).
I think the character arcs in NuTrek are reasonably well done. I confess I love a climactic finale though. I do think that it is the execution overall that is a bit childish and sloppy. A few tweaks is all it would have taken to improve matters.
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See, I like the tech. I am from that group of fans who liked the tech more than the battles, and read the technical manuals etc.
I also don't think, that with a writer really trying, the tech should limit the action. At the very least, come up with an imaginative reason as to why that tech is useless. They could have all beamed off the enterprise to a nice planet somewhere at the end instead of dumping warp poodoo at the thunderstorm in space. After all, kirk and scotty just did the opposite ten minutes before.
The tech is how you make the world, the action and dialogue is how you make the characters in trek. If you give up and use both as just a means to get your next set piece, it falls apart a little.
Trek needs to be balanced. For every trek fan who loves the action of the dominion war, there's another who loves the courtroom drama like measure of a man or drumhead. Some even like the Klingon political saga, it takes all sorts.
The absolute closest thing to trek on TV today is probably NCIS, with humour, ensemble cast, action sometimes, introspection other times....in many ways those anomaly of the week episodes on trek are just police procedural without the murder in the teaser.
That's what you need on TV with the violence turned down a notch or three most of the time.
A lot of 'grown up' fans may hate Lwxana in a mud bath, but my little one finds Alexander proclaiming 'the higher the fewer' to be hilarious.
One of them has more good reason to go spend on toys than the other.
Oh I love the tech too but I'm a firm believer in giving it limitations so that the story can be built around that frame. I think if you constantly need to come up with excuses as to why tech doesn't work so that your plot can work, that's mental effort that could be better spent on story-telling or characterisation. Worse is where you just ignore the fact that established tech could save the day. But I agree completely that the issue is balance. The TNG episode where the ship is knackered (Disaster?) is one of my favourites.
Ja Ja Binks is the best example of the divide between adults and children. A comedic character that children love who dominates the first movie so much that he annoyed grown up fans immensely. Then because of that, he was self-consciously excised almost entirely from the next two movies even though a scene or two of his antics would have been welcome. Balance is indeed very problematic!
Also, Bad Robot is a movie/TV production company that was hired by Paramount to make movies, I doubt that Abrams gave any thought to toys and tchotchkes, since there was no way his company would be making any money off of them, that all goes right to CBS. The only hint of truth in that "merchandising" rumor is that perhaps Bad Robot wanted to be hired to make a multi-media Star Trek project but were told "no".
