Let's talk 'Star Trek', seriously

A movie for everyone? Certainly that's the intention of the filmmakers. With writers from Lost and Transformers, I expected directionless pulp and unnecessary special effects, a kind of Star Trek for 11 year olds, and sadly, in this respect I was not disappointed.

It is also true that 'the franchise' is 're-imagined' in the least imaginative 'Hollywood' way. Why don't we make it an alternate reality? Batman just went and told a new story with no apologies. Yeah, and make Spock more human, then 'everyman' will be able to relate to him. The whole point of Spock was that he was 'alien' in every sense of the word. And make Kirk an 'angry young man' so his 'journey' can be more transformative (and unbelievable - what's wrong with ambitious, clever and humanitarian?). Uhura, she's a woman, let's make her a love interest. I'm not even going to go into 'for whom'. And let's model Starfleet on current U.S. military policy - 'we are merely peacekeepers' (after creating the war for our own financial gain, oops veered into the real world, sorry).

I could go on, but I like the film, despite this writers-meeting hell. The Roddenberry family were brave indeed to take no interest until the finished product, and against all this total misunderstanding of the concept of Star Trek and Gene's legacy, their trust has been rewarded.

What on earth could save such a misconceived project from oblivion? And I haven't even started on the plot holes. Like Lost and Transformers and some of J. J. Abrams better efforts, there is a wit and knowingness about Star Trek XI that shines through the lowest common denominator Hollywood makeover. The characters and friendships are 'real'. The 'situations' are hilarious. The concept of 'the cameo' really makes the film. One can only imagine how pissed Shatner must be. And last, but not least, is the pressure relief from the overabundance of pulp contrivances - the inside jokes and references back to (let's face it) Star Trek and many other science fiction greats. I particularly liked the Futurama joke.

So if you can stomach a Star Trek that takes the "Enterprise" series as canon, but the rest is up for grabs, I promise you will be rewarded. For even the most intelligent and thoughtful Trek lovers, there is something here for you. Well done J. J. Abrams and your crew. Mission accomplished.