Star Trek 2009, The Haters, Criticisms and Rebukes.
>> October 14, 2009
I simply cannot believe the sheer number of articles on the web which are completely hammering JJ Abrams reboot of Star Trek, actually scratch that, I can believe it. I guess I just forgot for a moment while I was wrapped up in the incredible resurgence of Star Trek that there is a size able, vocal minority out there in the Sci Fi fraternity which simply cannot help but be dour, joyless nerds who care about nothing but the minutiae.
Yes I know that all Star Trek fans are probably considered nerds anyway, but what I am talking about is 'NERDS!' not nerds, ok?
There is an absolutely staggering amount of haters out there who absolutely MUST find fault with a movie which lets just remind each other for a moment, is 'Sci Fi' as in 'Science Fiction' as in, 'lets face it it's a bunch of made up shit' which we love, of course.
So, even though sci fi is a bunch of made up shit and we love it, these guys (and gals) cannot help themselves. OK I know that this is a free world and I am not telling anyone not to criticise this film, but when that criticism blindly finds fault with the contents of a film which exist entirely in fiction, I cannot help but want to hit these people.
Here are a few of the main criticisms flying around the Internet at the moment.
1
:Janeway Pi Alpha 47
Cadet to Captain? What is this? Did someone submit a piece of fan fiction to the studio that got somehow got swapped with an actual movie script and no one noticed?...read the full post
OK, yes I admit, Kirks move from Cadet, to XO, to captain was remarkably quick. However if you take it in the context of the story and situation then I think it makes it more believable, bearing in mind that Sci Fi does rely upon its fans to 'believe' many things. Here is my rebuke:
- Primary fleet in the Laurentian system, leaving the remainder made up of mostly cadets and young officers with a few senior ones such as Captain Pike.
- We already know that Pike likes the idea of 'leaping without looking' and he thinks that this is something Starfleet has lost.
- Historically we also know that soldiers are promoted very very quickly during wartime and with the decimation of the 7 Federation ships this is effectively a war and the Enterprise is all that stands between Nero and Earth.
- So Kirk is promoted to XO, (probably also thinking that he could be dead at anytime during the crisis). Pike is taking a chance on him and he is right to do so. (leaps without looking)
2:Tiki's review
'The main bad guy apparently was lost in space for 25 years, but pshh, didn't age a day.'
read more
Here we bloody go again. Ok, listen up Tiki, this is Sci Fi. Lets just say that maybe, just maybe those pesky Romulans might not age as quick as we do, OK? lets just say that maybe they live much much longer!.... wait hang on a moment, this was already established in Trek, DECADES AGO!
3:whytheysuck.com
This guy makes several very well written and thought out criticisms of the movies but throws a cheap shot about the 'fucking dog'.
With Star Trek’s medical science I can buy the idea of a 140 year old Jonathan Archer. I can not buy the idea of a 94 year old Porthos. Not even Phlox is that good a medic. read more
They never mentioned for one moment that this was Porthos. People often buy the same breed of dog to replace the one that dies, this could have been Porthos XI for all we bloody know... in fact, why am I even rebuking this comment? Jesus I have been dragged down by all the gloom....
SOMEONE HELP ME!
ScienceFictionStuff.com
8 COMMENTS:
Boy, I am with you! I've been a fan for over 40 years and am thrilled with having new Star Trek stories with Kirk and Spock. I know a lot of long time fans who feel the way I do. JJ and Company did a great job and I am looking forward to many more years of exciting new Star Trek brought to the screen by these talented artists. The haters can go pound sand!
T'Marii
I'm with you too :-D OMFG such things people can bitch about... :-D Firstly, it's sci-fi, for gods sake and secondly, when I'm going to watch sci-fi I accept the rules of its particular "universe" and then watch and enjoy. My consequent opinions depend on many other things - not on details like IF the badguy has had some lifting :-)
BTW, I was so taken with Star Trek 2009 movie, I actually imaginally fell in love with new Spock :-D
And something more crazy - I wrote a post about it. LOL!
http://riddicksrealm.blogspot.com/2009/10/spock-uhura.html
I love this film!
P.S.: I found your blog today and immediately clicked on follow ;-) I like it.
Me and my bro looked forward to Trek & loved this movie when we went and saw it! I questioned the promotion of Kirk as well as being quick, however not out of the realm of possibility (your "war" scenario" explanation being a very 'logical' one that could explain it.) I guess those critics had never heard of battle field promotions happening before (AKA young General George Custer). Also I wonder if they ever questioned the 17 year old Ensign Chekov (pretty young there, he might have went to the Academy for less than the normal 4 year average). Wesley Crusher comes to mind (when he almost got to SFA at what, 15 years at the most?
The age thing kills me too, since Spock (Nimoy) is well over 200 at that point. Romulans are cousins to the darn Vulcans so it would make sense they may age slower (like T'Pol looking like shes in her 20's but actually over 60 y.o. on Enterprise) like their close cousin race. But again, the whole Porthos complaint make me laugh even more. They would mention the Admiral's name but not his dog's? (Answer: may or may not named "Porthos").
And maybe the Romulan ship disappeared because Nero's main gripe was with Spock. He hadn't shown up yet in the time line, so Nero could let him witness Vulcan's destruction first hand for full effect. Punishing the Federation was secondary to what he wanted Spock and the Vulcans to go through. Hell, he and his crew might have had to repair the darn thing since a star ship rammed into it. Or maybe he just didn't want to fight the whole sector (Tellerites, Andorians, Vulcans, Klingons, Breen, etc...,) including, of course, his very own people. The Romulans would have seen him as a threat to unite all of the races against them. And Romulans only play the divide and conquer game.
But in the end I liked the movie because they did pay homage to the TOS as well as Enterprise (underrated in my opinion). The actors did well with Abrams as director. Everything in my mind played out better than I hope, and I'm looking forward to more in the future!
So, your argument it that since its sci-fi, it doesn't have to have a good plot, doesn't have to have to have the basic movie idea of continuity, doesn't have to have good writing, doesn't have to have any depth, no good characters/characterization? As long as it looks good?
Really, this movie was quite bad on every front except production. Was it the prettiest Trek ever? Hands down, but hey, its 2009 & it had a huge budget. As for the rest of it, pretty much horrid.
actually no, thats not what I am saying. What I am saying is, we must draw the line between what matters in a movie and what is simple nitpicking.
I thought the plot in this movie was flawed, but thats the nature of sci fi in my opinion. The Wrath of Khan is one of the greatest movies ever made, could we say the plot is flawed? yes, absolutely, why? because we can pick it apart to suit whatever our definition is of what is 'believeable', or not.
Remeber, this was an origin story, we already know the characters, they were fleshed out over many many years. This movie is about bringing us the origin of those characters which I feel was done superbly. Surely you cannot deny that the casting in this movie was near perfect, esspecially Karl Urban as bones. Superb!
If I only liked movies that 'looked good' then I would have loved Transformers 2, which I thought was an absolute pile of steaming shite.
Yes this movie is pretty, it has great production value, superb FX and briliant editing. The Music was fantastic and the limited amount of aliens we say were done with top notch makeup.
Was the plot flawed? yes. Was the main baddie a bit thin on motive? yes. But I am not going to simply denounce this movie for those things.
The characters were superb. The 'moments' were superb (its all about those moments I reckon) The Star Trek comedy was there, the high adventure was there, the clean, green optimistic future was there, the tragedy and sacrifice was there... jesus, what more do you want?
Tell me (apart from Khan) what this movie did not have, that TWOK did...
Also, what continuity problems are you referring to?
I can BUY the fact that people get promoted up the ranks quickly but come ON!! Spock was standing right there. Are you telling me Spock is not ready for the XO chair but Kirk is? Pike is still Captain. If Spock is already XO then Pike's move to make another one is contradictory. It doesn't make sense. It's a bad plot device. Also Nero in space for 25 years is believable. It's just that Nero waiting for Spock in a black hole that could have destroyed him and randomly places him there through time. Sorry but that's waay to thin for any science fiction story. Exclude Spock altogether. 25 years to find materials to destroy Vulcan is much much better and more true to what JJ is trying to do (make the universe a bit more realistic yet alien). I forgot about the dog. :D
Yes but remember, Pike did not make Kirk the Captain. He used regulations to force Spock out of the chair for that. Spock was given the role of Captain when Pike left the ship and Kirk was made XO. Pike surely has the ability to grant a 'field Comission'.
We know from TNG era stories that they always find a clever way to analyse and computate stuff like when someone will emerge from a black hole or somesuch thing. Sounds like a normal Trek type thing to me. Nero waited and calculated the moment that Spock would arrive, the Nerada made it safely so surely would the jellyfish ship.
Extreme, exaggerated, hell yeah, but thats why I like Sci Fi.
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