[Warning: Long Essay. You have been warned.]
My thoughts on Trek XI. Despite what this sounds like at first I’m really looking forward to Star Trek. Read on…
I’ve tried really hard to avoid spoilers for the new film, but I did skim read the explanation for this Trek reboot.
The first thing that came to mind was: I’ve seen this film before
The premise is almost identical to that of Star Trek: Of Gods and Men. In STOGAM, Charlie Evans goes back in time and kills Kirk’s mother before he was born, thus creating an unrecognizable post-STVI timeline.
In Star Trek (XI), Nero goes back in time and kills Kirk’s father before Kirk was born (I’m guessing Mum Kirk was already knocked up at this point), and proceeds to raise hell throughout the galaxy, thus creating a very different TOS-era.
Heck, in Stargate Continuum, Baal goes back in time and (attempts) to destroy the Earth Stargate, creating a very different present for SG1 to set right. They also did a double episode where a loser version of SG1 had to band together and undo the damage done by their original selves in ancient Egypt.
All the Spocks running around sounds a lot like that episode of Voyager (no idea what it was called) where Seven and Janeway are recruited by some guy from the future to diffuse a time bomb hidden somewhen on Voyager. Although a decent and fun episode, I’m hoping Trek XI will be a little more epic and clever, and not just a (very very expensive) rehash of what’s gone before.
You all know about “Yesterday’s Enterprise”, which influenced the new film, but what about the (ultra-gay, ultra-surreal) old novel “Killing Time”? In it the Romulan Commander from “Enterprise Incident” attempts to prevent the Federation from being formed, leading to a Vulcan-built Enterprise, Spock as captain and Kirk as an abused, drug addict redshirt loser (hopefully no gay love/mind rape scene in the ship’s botanical gardens in Trek XI!).
Long story short, this story type is well-worn. I, for one won’t mind one bit watching it again, tho! The reason it’s so popular (among writers, at least) right now is that it allows *anything* to happen – and this time it’s being used to ‘wipe the slate clean’ and bring us a new take on Kirk and Spocks origins (although not covered much on TV and film, Kirk and Spock’s backstories have been thoroughly covered in novels such as “Best Destiny”, “Vulcan’s Forge” and loads of others).
Imo, the coolest thing about these stories is that they’re essentially all about destiny – in all of them the main characters, despite having their pasts massively changed (Alan Ruck in STOGAM going from Captain Weakling to a genocidal maniac, for example), always end up teaming together to put things right, as if there’s some grand plan that has to play out, no matter how everything’s screwed with.
My only concern is that the plot will be more about setting the future ‘right’, rather than the Kirk/Spock back-stories (which is what the film is supposed to be about).
Personally, I would have been 100% fine with a straight-up Batman Begins “We’re starting from scratch!” approach, without trying to justify it in the story. Imo, Star Trek has become bogged down with the weight of 40 years of mythos and ‘canon’ (I hate religious terminology applied to a TV show!). But I guess only in sci-fi can such a complete rebirth be part of the story, and it would probably be a bit of a missed opportunity not to do it.
My thoughts on Trek XI. Despite what this sounds like at first I’m really looking forward to Star Trek. Read on…
I’ve tried really hard to avoid spoilers for the new film, but I did skim read the explanation for this Trek reboot.
The first thing that came to mind was: I’ve seen this film before
The premise is almost identical to that of Star Trek: Of Gods and Men. In STOGAM, Charlie Evans goes back in time and kills Kirk’s mother before he was born, thus creating an unrecognizable post-STVI timeline.
In Star Trek (XI), Nero goes back in time and kills Kirk’s father before Kirk was born (I’m guessing Mum Kirk was already knocked up at this point), and proceeds to raise hell throughout the galaxy, thus creating a very different TOS-era.
Heck, in Stargate Continuum, Baal goes back in time and (attempts) to destroy the Earth Stargate, creating a very different present for SG1 to set right. They also did a double episode where a loser version of SG1 had to band together and undo the damage done by their original selves in ancient Egypt.
All the Spocks running around sounds a lot like that episode of Voyager (no idea what it was called) where Seven and Janeway are recruited by some guy from the future to diffuse a time bomb hidden somewhen on Voyager. Although a decent and fun episode, I’m hoping Trek XI will be a little more epic and clever, and not just a (very very expensive) rehash of what’s gone before.
You all know about “Yesterday’s Enterprise”, which influenced the new film, but what about the (ultra-gay, ultra-surreal) old novel “Killing Time”? In it the Romulan Commander from “Enterprise Incident” attempts to prevent the Federation from being formed, leading to a Vulcan-built Enterprise, Spock as captain and Kirk as an abused, drug addict redshirt loser (hopefully no gay love/mind rape scene in the ship’s botanical gardens in Trek XI!).
Long story short, this story type is well-worn. I, for one won’t mind one bit watching it again, tho! The reason it’s so popular (among writers, at least) right now is that it allows *anything* to happen – and this time it’s being used to ‘wipe the slate clean’ and bring us a new take on Kirk and Spocks origins (although not covered much on TV and film, Kirk and Spock’s backstories have been thoroughly covered in novels such as “Best Destiny”, “Vulcan’s Forge” and loads of others).
Imo, the coolest thing about these stories is that they’re essentially all about destiny – in all of them the main characters, despite having their pasts massively changed (Alan Ruck in STOGAM going from Captain Weakling to a genocidal maniac, for example), always end up teaming together to put things right, as if there’s some grand plan that has to play out, no matter how everything’s screwed with.
My only concern is that the plot will be more about setting the future ‘right’, rather than the Kirk/Spock back-stories (which is what the film is supposed to be about).
Personally, I would have been 100% fine with a straight-up Batman Begins “We’re starting from scratch!” approach, without trying to justify it in the story. Imo, Star Trek has become bogged down with the weight of 40 years of mythos and ‘canon’ (I hate religious terminology applied to a TV show!). But I guess only in sci-fi can such a complete rebirth be part of the story, and it would probably be a bit of a missed opportunity not to do it.
