A thread called "It's not Star Trek" just got closed, so I apologize if my opinion is frowned upon here, however the gist of it is the same as the title of that thread. I post on these boards about once a year I think, but I lurk a lot here and have been a member since 2000 and a longtime fan of Trek. So I'm not a "cadet" drawn out by the new movie to come here mindlessly bashing it for no reason, however I felt like giving my opinion on the film given that it is a monumental turning point I think for the franchise. I realize that the majority of the fanbase is very positive about the film and don't like to hear negative things about it, but I think I have a reasonable argument as to why I don't think this film is good for Star Trek and hope that people here can consider it and not just post "fail" pictures and what not.
Now first of all I'm fine with the "reboot". At first I was dead set against it but I've come around and accepted it. It's not perhaps what I would do with the franchise but that's okay. The alternate timeline-plot actually makes it more acceptable for me, separating the "prime" and "alt" timelines, so I don't have a problem with doing away with the original continuity like some people. Likewise with new actors playing the old characters, that's fine too.
What the problem with this film is however is style and feel. To me this does not feel like Star Trek. It feels like a run of the mill blockbuster action movie with it's frantic pacing and simplistic plot. The fact that it's creators don't understand or appreciate Trek and instead just set out to make a generic space action movie is evident at every turn. It might be a competently executed generic space action movie but that's beside the point (for me).
Now of course I realize the franchise had become stagnant and needed a fresh new look and all that. I would argue that Trek has had two distinct styles during its history (before now), the first one being that of TOS and the second one a re-imagining done for TNG (with the first 6 movies possibly constituting a third). The franchise sort of rode the "TNG style" all the way until 2005 by which time it had become outdated leading to the franchises "death" and need for a reboot. Both these times Trek emerged as something intelligent, unique and different from anything that was around at the time, and that was the source of it's success and iconic status. This time however it does not. To me this effort does not have that creative vision, it is not unique, it's just like any other action movie without much substance. It might be popular for a while but I think say 20 years from now it'll look really dated and meaningless. Abandoning the old way of doing things is fine by me, even necessary, but not if there's nothing of substance to replace it. A lot of people are enthusiastic that this film makes Trek popular and mainstream again. To me that is completely irrelevant really, I'd be happy with Trek remaining in a niche. Mainstream does not seem to me to correspond well with quality, quite the opposite actually.
I understand that I'm in the minority and most people really enjoyed the movie, and while I am somewhat disappointed at that, I respect that majority opinion and wouldn't presume to claim that my opinion is any more valid than theirs. Perhaps my way of seeing things is just archaic and I just don't "get" the new movie, but that is how I honestly see it, to me it's an empty and dumb film, not worthy of the Star Trek name. I'm surprised to find myself on this side of the argument actually, because usually I'm more inclined to see positives in a lot of things that get bashed a lot. Nemesis for example I didn't find anywhere near as bad as it's commonly made out to be. I will see every sequel for sure and see if things change, and even if they don't, well there's always the novels set in the good old prime universe.
Now first of all I'm fine with the "reboot". At first I was dead set against it but I've come around and accepted it. It's not perhaps what I would do with the franchise but that's okay. The alternate timeline-plot actually makes it more acceptable for me, separating the "prime" and "alt" timelines, so I don't have a problem with doing away with the original continuity like some people. Likewise with new actors playing the old characters, that's fine too.
What the problem with this film is however is style and feel. To me this does not feel like Star Trek. It feels like a run of the mill blockbuster action movie with it's frantic pacing and simplistic plot. The fact that it's creators don't understand or appreciate Trek and instead just set out to make a generic space action movie is evident at every turn. It might be a competently executed generic space action movie but that's beside the point (for me).
Now of course I realize the franchise had become stagnant and needed a fresh new look and all that. I would argue that Trek has had two distinct styles during its history (before now), the first one being that of TOS and the second one a re-imagining done for TNG (with the first 6 movies possibly constituting a third). The franchise sort of rode the "TNG style" all the way until 2005 by which time it had become outdated leading to the franchises "death" and need for a reboot. Both these times Trek emerged as something intelligent, unique and different from anything that was around at the time, and that was the source of it's success and iconic status. This time however it does not. To me this effort does not have that creative vision, it is not unique, it's just like any other action movie without much substance. It might be popular for a while but I think say 20 years from now it'll look really dated and meaningless. Abandoning the old way of doing things is fine by me, even necessary, but not if there's nothing of substance to replace it. A lot of people are enthusiastic that this film makes Trek popular and mainstream again. To me that is completely irrelevant really, I'd be happy with Trek remaining in a niche. Mainstream does not seem to me to correspond well with quality, quite the opposite actually.
I understand that I'm in the minority and most people really enjoyed the movie, and while I am somewhat disappointed at that, I respect that majority opinion and wouldn't presume to claim that my opinion is any more valid than theirs. Perhaps my way of seeing things is just archaic and I just don't "get" the new movie, but that is how I honestly see it, to me it's an empty and dumb film, not worthy of the Star Trek name. I'm surprised to find myself on this side of the argument actually, because usually I'm more inclined to see positives in a lot of things that get bashed a lot. Nemesis for example I didn't find anywhere near as bad as it's commonly made out to be. I will see every sequel for sure and see if things change, and even if they don't, well there's always the novels set in the good old prime universe.
