Review: Star Trek XI: Star Trek (J. J. Abrams)

Review: Star Trek XI: Star Trek (J. J. Abrams)

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This preview rated ‘A’ for anyone not familiar with Star Trek:
A teaser from a good Star Trek movie: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Khan (Ricardo Montalban)
Khan (Ricardo Montalban)

Khan (Ricardo Montalban) blames Kirk for the death of his wife and the hardships suffered by his crew.  The planet that Kirk had long ago planted the Khan colony on had suffered a major catastrophe, yet no one from came to check up on them.  A Starfleet expedition chances upon Khan who commandeers their ship bent on revenge.

Khan tries repeatedly to kill Kirk but only manages to maroon him.  Khan suddenly realizes that marooning Admiral Kirk serves his purpose better:

Khan: I’ve done far worse than kill you, Admiral. I’ve hurt you. And I wish to go on hurting you. I shall leave you as you left me, as you left her; marooned for all eternity in the center of a dead planet… buried alive! Buried alive…!
(Kirk shakes violently)
Kirk: KHAAANNNN!
[echo]
Kirk: KHAAANNNN!

Khan!
Khan!

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… and now for our feature … a review of J. J. Abrams’ “Star Trek”.

Felicity: Keri Russell
"Felicity": Keri Russell

Prior to the release of Star Trek XI, my only exposure to J. J. Abrams was when I flipped past his series “Felicity” in search of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” reruns.  Now I admit that there were moments when I tuned in to Felicity, specifically when it looked like Keri Russell was about to get naked.  But every time it looked like things were about to get interesting, Felicity went into a long soliloquy ruminating about the morality of it all leaving me with a case of ‘Clothes-off-is Interruptus’.  The rest of the show consisted of contrived plot twists all designed to elicit pouty and extended reaction shots.  In fact the one hour Felicity, stripped of the reaction shots would run around a minute and a half.  Is it any wonder that I desperately flipped channels seeking the scientifically shielded warp speed plot progressions of Star Trek?

When I heard that J. J. Abrams was set to produce and direct the latest installation in my beloved show, all I could think was “uh oh”.  I approached the movie with great trepidation and it only took a few moments into the film to realize that my fears were justified.  The antagonist of the film Nero is a Romulan who watched his entire race destroyed by a supernova.  The Romulans shall hereinafter be referred to as the ‘stock bad guys’ because they bear almost no resemblance to the Romulans of Star Trek lore.  If anything Nero looks more like Vin Diesel than any other character.  Nero decides to take revenge on Spock and the Federation who failed to save his race from extinction.  By analogy, this would be like assaulting a competent doctor whose best efforts had failed to save a loved one suffering from heart failure.  It just doesn’t make sense; there is no motive for Nero to go after Spock and the Federation other than J. J. Abrams’ motive to write a movie.

Vin Diesel XXX
Vin Diesel XXX
Nero Diesel
Nero Diesel Star Trex XI

The movie was wrecked for me right there.  The rest of the movie was filled to the brim with other such contrivances.  There was a giant drill which drilled into the planet before planting a device which created a black hole.  Why couldn’t they just create a black hole on the surface of the planet?  Because Abrams needed it to take longer so he could write in more reaction shots.  The black hole was created with mysterious (and convenient) ‘red matter’.  The red matter interacted with the green matter of the given planet producing brown matter which then collapsed into a black hole.  So we have black holes and brown matter.  This single sentence is perhaps the best summary of the entire plot.

Take for example the sword fight with Kirk and Sulu versus the stock bad guys on the deck of this great planetary drill.  This single sequence drearily occupied at least ten minutes of the running time.  What happened to their phasers?  They fell out of reach.  How did they fall out of reach?  Abrams had them written out of reach to foster the sword fight.  What happened to the explosive charges they had brought with them to destroy the drilling platform?  Abrams killed the chief engineer who carried them to make things more interesting.  Why didn’t they all have an explosive charge each?  Abrams wanted a sword fight.  Starting to get the picture?

The Drill that launched a 1000 reaction shots
The Drill that launched a 1000 reaction shots

So Abrams got his sword fight and Kirk and Sulu won.  They then destroyed the drilling platform which existed only for the purpose of the sword fight.  They were too late though and the planet Vulcan was destroyed anyways.  Why didn’t the few surviving Vulcans seek revenge against Kirk and Sulu for failing to save them?  Because that would have ruined Abrams’ movie.  Why did a surviving group of Romulans blame Spock for failing to save their planet despite his best efforts?  Because Abrams needed them to.

The movie was so chock full of similar cheesy contrivances and plot holes that I could swear Abrams was Swiss.  Take this slice of the Swiss cheese plot for example:  Abrams again has Kirk brandish his sword this time wielding it on a scantily clad Starfleet cadet.  Abrams fails in trying to play up on the Kirk-lothario theme of Star Trek.  Kirk of classic Trek was a man of many women because his heart only had room for his first love, his ship.  While it’s true that the Kirk’s bed welcomed the United Colours of the constellation Benetton, classic Trek did it all with style.  Abrams’ Kirk was nothing more than a man-whore frat boy on a teen series (say Felicity) as follows:

Like, okay.  So there they were in the dorm room with nudity on the horizon and in walks Uhura, her roommate.  Like, oh my God!  So like Kirk totally jumps under the bed while Uhura starts to like undress.  Like thank God the dorm monitor had been binge drinking Romulan ale or it would have been all their asses!  Uhura is down to her undies and bra before she catches wind of Kirk in the room.  She is like sooo embarrassed but she plays it cool and pouts proudly as Kirk like hops out of the room.  Is it like any wonder Uhura went on to be Communications Officer.  That girl is like built.  She could raise any admiral in Starfleet, totally!

I was furious: Abrams had turned Star Trek into Felicity Trek, The Next Reaction Shot.  Sure this ‘new’ star trek (sic) was set in an alternate timeline leaving the original timeline intact, but I was offended by its very existence.  I couldn’t figure out why I was so angry, given that Abram’s hadn’t killed Star Trek.  But it occurred to me that Abrams had done far worse than killing Star Trek:  He’d hurt it.  I feared that in spin offs he’d go on hurting it.  Abrams was set to leave Star Trek as he’d left so many other shows, marooned for all eternity in the center of dead plot lines, buried alive.  Buried alive.  My fists shook and I stared at the ceiling of the movie theater and screamed: “Abrams!”.

3 thoughts on “Review: Star Trek XI: Star Trek (J. J. Abrams)

  1. I love Star Trek – always have and always will HOWEVER – This new film is not Star Trek, or at best it is a non – canon film. I have seen it twice and I am still devastated by it. The events that negated so much of Trek Lore or continuity.
    Firstly, anyone who loves the series would know that Gene Roddenberry would not have approved of Vulcan being destroyed. Vulcan is the soul of the Star Trek universe. This new timeline (if it is accepted) negates 40 years of continuity.
    The attacks on Rick Berman are a joke. He worked with Gene on the development of the TGN and Gene knew of the plans for Deep Space 9. Let alone hours of fantastic television. Who could forget the emotion of ‘The Visitor’.
    He led a team that gave us hours of the best Trek. If in doubt watch again Generations and First Contact.
    Secondly, this new film has so many links to Star Wars I am surprised that George Lucas hasn’t sued:
    Young Kirk / Anakin in car / pod racer.
    Bar scenes – New Hope
    Snow attacks – Hoth monster / Kirk monster.
    Spock / Yoda links
    Battle scenes – Return Jedi. etc

    I just hope that people who love Star Trek can retake the franchise and bring it back to watch Gene imagined. Not just a film that rips of star wars.

    In terms of the timeline. There is only one true timeline in Star Trek. It has been manipulated on many occassiuons, but always corrected, in accordance with with the temporal accords etc. Some ‘fans’ are confusing the mirror universe which is different. If we accept this new film as canon it DOES wipe out everything we know. Why do that? Why destroy things that are loved by many for no reason?

    For example see these examples from
    http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Alternate_timeline

    In 2344, the USS Enterprise-C responded to a distress call from a Klingon outpost on Narendra III, which was under attack by Romulan forces. In the “real” timeline the Enterprise saved the outpost and strengthened relations between the Federation and the Klingons. However, during the battle with the Romulans a Temporal rift opened and the Enterprise, badly damaged and disoriented, traveled to 2366, in the presence of its successor, the USS Enterprise-D. Because the Enterprise-C was not there to save the outpost it was destroyed and the Klingons declared war on the Federation. For the next 22 years, the two powers engaged in a bitter war that cost 40 billion lives and left the Federation on the brink of defeat. In this timeline, Tasha Yar was still alive and serving as tactical officer aboard the Enterprise-D in 2366.

    Guinan began to feel the change in time as “not right”. She advised Captain Picard of the changes and eventually convinced him to send the Enterprise-C back through the rift. Yar discovered through Guinan that she died in the other timeline and felt that she could help aboard the Enterprise-C rather than where she felt she didn’t belong. The Klingons attacked the two ships as the Enterprise-C flew toward the rift, while the Enterprise-D defended her. The Enterprise-D was likely destroyed by the Klingons, but the Enterprise-C made it through the rift and restored the timeline, erasing the war from history. (TNG: “Yesterday’s Enterprise”)

    However, during the battle with the Romulans, the Enterprise-C was forced to surrender and prisoners, including the alternate Yar, were taken. Yar had a child with a Romulan and was later executed. The child, Sela, became a commander in the Romulan military and encountered the Enterprise-D several times. (TNG: “The Mind’s Eye”, “Redemption”, “Redemption II”, “Unification I”, “Unification II”)

    In Enterprise we see something happen that is similar to that of Vulcan.

    The effect of a Delphic Expanse anomaly leaves Archer unable to form any new long-term memories. Twelve years later, he wakes up one morning and is stunned to learn the outcome of the Human-Xindi conflict, including the loss of Earth, and the near-annihilation of the Human race. Jonathan Archer wakes in his quarters in the midst of battle. He rushes to the bridge only to see Earth destroyed by the Xindi superweapon. The story restores the timeline.

    Together Trek fans can have the Best of both Worlds – a new trek for new fans and keep the faith we all those fans that kept the dream alive – the timeline can be restored.

    Live Long and Prosper
    Anthony O’Leary
    anthonyoleary@bigpond.com

  2. J.J. Abrams made “Felicity”. Do you really find “Felicity” compatible with “Star Trek”?
    Let’s review:
    Felicity:

    Star Trek:

    Compatible? I think not.

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