I get chills when I watch the first teaser:
JJ Abrams is phenomenal for helping shape an evocative feeling in short cuts, but lacks formal substance. Consider - this teaser sets the cinematographic and aesthetic stage for a futuristic humanity grounded in aesthetic realism, and uses JFK’s speech to quicken our ongoing desire to courageously discover the sublime mysteries of the terrifying cosmic unknown (okay so the welding is wrong but whatever). This animates the question - “What is out there and who are we in the face of what we discover.” What a bold trek to take!
And then the movie is released and while it’s competently shot, it’s a stylized action adventure that’s arguably… conceptually light even for contemporary Hollywood standards. Consider all of what Star Trek can and has represented. It was often intimately staged with deeply human experiences, but the characters existed in the schema of something much larger than themselves; the journeys were from fantastic explorations within and without.
So maybe 2009 wasn’t the grounded science fiction Star Trek I thought it was going to be. I’d hoped the follow-ups would find this depth, even if it would be a very different teased aesthetic. But this never materialized in JJ’s vision. And I’m honestly kind of sad.
Anyone else feel this, or have opposing thoughts to share?
Thanks for reading!
JJ Abrams is phenomenal for helping shape an evocative feeling in short cuts, but lacks formal substance. Consider - this teaser sets the cinematographic and aesthetic stage for a futuristic humanity grounded in aesthetic realism, and uses JFK’s speech to quicken our ongoing desire to courageously discover the sublime mysteries of the terrifying cosmic unknown (okay so the welding is wrong but whatever). This animates the question - “What is out there and who are we in the face of what we discover.” What a bold trek to take!
And then the movie is released and while it’s competently shot, it’s a stylized action adventure that’s arguably… conceptually light even for contemporary Hollywood standards. Consider all of what Star Trek can and has represented. It was often intimately staged with deeply human experiences, but the characters existed in the schema of something much larger than themselves; the journeys were from fantastic explorations within and without.
So maybe 2009 wasn’t the grounded science fiction Star Trek I thought it was going to be. I’d hoped the follow-ups would find this depth, even if it would be a very different teased aesthetic. But this never materialized in JJ’s vision. And I’m honestly kind of sad.
Anyone else feel this, or have opposing thoughts to share?
Thanks for reading!