It would be only be ripped by the same people who are ripping it now. And everyone else who likes it would be saying the same things they're saying now.
I strongly disagree. It would'be been ripped apart as a TNG film or
Enterprise episode and indeed far less severe ideas have been, but because Kirk and Spock are there, and because it happened on the big screen it's somehow allowed to get away with it.
Of course you strongly disagree. You didn't think this film should have been made in the first place. That colours your judgement. Like everything else that has come before, hardcore fans will rip anything a new one when it doesn't fit their preconceived view of expectation. It doesn't matter which "era" of Trek is on the big screen, or small screen for that matter....especially if it achieves some kind of mainstream success.. To some fans Star Trek is exclusively "theirs," and every attempt at a mainstream audience has been perceived by the hardcore as "selling out" and "dumbing down" the franchise. These same people were out in force bashing TWOK, TSFS, TVH, TUC, GEN, FC, INS, ENT, VOY, and this film.
Some people don't want change and some people are comfortable with it.
People are comfortable with change, but not change change's sake. There was literally
no need whatsoever to 'reboot' the franchise. It's not like continuity was a mess like DC in the 1980s, or that it was a good idea poorly executed like the 70s BSG.
I think a reboot, or at the very least a restart or prequel was absolutely necessary. People turned away from Star Trek because there is so much you need to know about it to understand it. Its own history and universe was becoming fairly complicated for anyone who isn't already a hardcore fan. If they had done a TNG film or just plopped another crew onto a 1701-Q in the 28th century, it would have flopped. They made the right choice by going back to Kirk and Spock. Even the uninitiated know who those characters are. It is a good starting point to bring people into Star Trek and, in fact, I know some people who have warmed up to the original show as a result of this movie.
Do I agree with everything they did?? Certainly not, but as it's been said, people are going to complain no matter what and I think the writers made some bold decisions with the characters and gave the franchise a hit movie that they can now build from. Having read the interviews of what they'd like to see with a sequel, I think the next film will be even truer to what we, as longtime fans, have come to expect from Star Trek.
A decent writer and creative team could've made a new film or TV show work within the existing Trek universe/timeline. Trek IV and FC proved you could tap into a non-Trek audience and bring in bucket loads of new fans.
Yes, but those films were made when TOS and TNG were at the peak of their respective popularities. By the time the next films in each franchise came out, the interest in new Trek had waned and those films were written mostly for the hardcore fanbase. Star Trek as a franchise needed a restart.
Again.. I agree with some of your sentiment.. Though I liked this film, I would have loved to have seen a DS9 film, or even that Romulan War thing Berman has talked about, rather than see a recast Kirk and Spock and 1701. I would have loved to have seen that 60s Enterprise and bridge on the big screen, rather than the hotrod thing with a windshield.. I could go on, but I found the film to be satisfying and I am a huge fan of what this team has done with MI:3 and I am a big fan of Fringe. I think these guys care enough about the franchise to please this old fan, but have enough balls to shake things up and make it their own, which is now totally their right to do.
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