Not in Accord with Star Trek

Rating: 2/10 (22 May 2013)

The start was really good. I thought if the whole movie can keep up to this level than I will be highly pleased. But it hit a wall after the first scene and became another CGI film with so little to offer. The first scene - WOW! And there was a lovely piece of music as backing in one of the first dramatic scenes that I thought was wonderful. But then the wall emerged and it descended to CGI only. What has happened to movies - or to be precise - these type of movies?? I'll even state it again using exclamation marks. What has happened to these type of movies!! Do the movie-makers think that CGI is enough? I went and saw The Hobbit the other day and it is exactly the same but this time it is Tolkien that was desecrated rather than Star Trek. Don't the movie-makers know that it is the quality of the story-line and the characterization that has given these creative works their greatness? And oh God!! - how I am tired of the multitude of impossible escapes or staggering feats. It is all utterly unbelievable!! Doesn't it bother the producers that it is unbelievable? I just sit there going, bullshit bullshit bullshit. Don't they ask themselves, " Is this believable?" Apparently they don't care. To put it concisely - these action-type movies that rely solely on CGI affects and hardly anything else are just trash. They are nearly worthless. Like a blown egg. The shell is left but there is nothing inside. Just eye candy. I'll leave that criticism and take up another one. This movie doesn't adhere to the real message of Star Trek. It is not in sync with all the rest of the Star Trek franchise. And it is suppose to be. There is just so many discrepancies. One of the messages of Star Trek is that in the future, cool heads have prevailed. Mankind has largely moved beyond a money driven economy and warlike division. They have risen passed their shortcomings and ignorance. There has been a significant enlightenment. This is what makes the Star Trek franchise so positive and interesting. I will explain to you a large discrepancy. On all star-ships that I have watched or read, the bridge is quiet, efficient and stately. It reflects the cool command of the captain and bridge crew. There is a side room where the senior officers convene to discuss the mission at hand. There they quietly discuss diplomacy, technicalities, analysis... To speak descriptively, the bridge has a solid feel to it, contrasting to the fact that the ship is hurling through space. Subjectively, it expresses dependability ,efficiency, confidence and humanness (even homeliness). Now lets view the inside of the Enterprise in these last two Star Trek movies. The bridge is totally white!! Even the corridors are white! The computer screens are transparent. And the whole bridge and ship and crew are in a state of chaos. Now, subjectively, the two star ships couldn't be more different. Now this seems to illustrate the problem with this Star Trek movie in a nut-shell. Consummate quiet efficiency, confidence, dependability, rationalism - these qualities are not exciting enough for the people making this movie. They have to amp it up at all cost, to make it more sensational!! Make the whole movie a roller-coaster ride, have the characters argue all the time, let no cool heads prevail. Put them up against impossible odds multiplied by 10. Roller-coaster, roller-coaster, roller-coaster. We understand!! You want to put bums on seats!! Get the teenagers involved. But enough is enough. And god damn, leave Star Trek (and also Tolkien) alone! If all you can make is a glitzy Hollywood movie then leave Star Trek alone. These movie makers don't give the public enough credit. They treat us like morons. Do they think this is enough? But it is all dollars. In the end they'll probably make a squillion. Anyway - I have spewed out enough bile. And to think, I started this review so calmly...