Can J.J. Abrams‘s new vision of Star Trek change my lifelong dislike of the franchise? The answer is yes. (And no). Throughout the film, two thoughts occupied my fragile little mind:
1. This movie is going to make a starship-load of money.
2. There are going to be a lot of people in Trek costumes at San Diego Comic-Con this year.
I hate to launch into a discussion of Star Trek by starting with Star Wars, but it’s my review, so I’ll do it anyway. Quite simply, Star Wars is in my DNA in a way that Star Trek never was. I tried to be a Trekkie to get me through the years between Star Wars films. But Trek always left me cold. There was a warmth and a humanity to Star Wars that appealed to me in a way that Trek‘s lofty and logical missions didn’t. I bring all this up, because the best parts of the new Star Trek movie are the ones that borrow from the Star Wars universe. Exploding homeworlds, frozen ice planets, farmboys with absentee fathers…all familiar emotional territory for a Star Wars geek like myself. I daresay the whole premise of the reboot is based on the question: “What if Han Solo had been Luke Skywalker?” I hear a billion Trek fans crying out in horror and making the argument that Star Wars borrows just as liberally from Star Trek. No doubt, no doubt. When it comes to space opera (and myth in general), maybe there’s only one mold.
(More after the jump.)
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Can J.J. Abrams‘s new vision of Star Trek change my lifelong dislike of the franchise? The answer is yes. (And no). Throughout the film, two thoughts occupied my fragile little mind:
1. This movie is going to make a starship-load of money.
2. There are going to be a lot of people in Trek costumes at San Diego Comic-Con this year.
I hate to launch into a discussion of Star Trek by starting with Star Wars, but it’s my review, so I’ll do it anyway. Quite simply, Star Wars is in my DNA in a way that Star Trek never was. I tried to be a Trekkie to get me through the years between Star Wars films. But Trek always left me cold. There was a warmth and a humanity to Star Wars that appealed to me in a way that Trek‘s lofty and logical missions didn’t. I bring all this up, because the best parts of the new Star Trek movie are the ones that borrow from the Star Wars universe. Exploding homeworlds, frozen ice planets, farmboys with absentee fathers…all familiar emotional territory for a Star Wars geek like myself. I daresay the whole premise of the reboot is based on the question: “What if Han Solo had been Luke Skywalker?” I hear a billion Trek fans crying out in horror and making the argument that Star Wars borrows just as liberally from Star Trek. No doubt, no doubt. When it comes to space opera (and myth in general), maybe there’s only one mold.
(More after the jump.)
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