I recently heard about the online rating of Star Trek: Into Darkness as one of the worst Star Trek movies ever. Of course, there was a significant and vocal backlash, including that wonderful argument of how ST:ID made oodles of money, and therefore must be good. Box Office success is no indication of quality; unfortunately, it seems the movie going public will drop their hard earned cash on just about anything these days.
I've already reviewed the movie, but wasn't quite sure what to make of the online furor. Recently, I watched an episode of Star Trek the Next Generation which reminded me how amazing the franchise can be, and clarified for me why I disliked ST:ID. The episode in question is 'Yesterday's Enterprise', possibly one of the finest Trek episodes ever.
The story is simple; a fluke causes an Enterprise from a doomed battle in the past to jut ahead years into the future, altering the timeline. Ultimately, the crew of the time-displaced ship return to their past, setting everything right by sacrificing themselves valiantly.
THIS is what Star Trek is all about. Characters are well defined, and the viewer can identify why they make certain decisions or act a specific way; dialogue serves to move the plot forward, and is heart-felt and poignant. Paths are chosen with selfless and heroic motivations, with the good of the many more important than those of the few. Violence isn't glorified; as a matter of fact, scenes with violence stir up feelings of horror and dread.
Into Darkness isn't concerned with revealing dialogue, or characters that use their brains to solve conflict. It's more concerned with running, jumping, constant movement ensuring a tiny attention span might not wander. Characters toss aside annoying quips, while their motivations are mostly unknown; they act as they must in order to get the complicated plot from A to B.
Star Trek is a concept that embraces peace over war, wisdom and intelligence over brute might. Into Darkness is hated by ST fans because (IMO), it strays far from these concepts. For me, it's a generic sci-fi action thriller, but doesn't jibe with my version of Roddenberry's fine creation.
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