The worst Star Trek movie has an even darker secret
Pa Drew Dych
| Published
How do you pick the worst Star Trek movie? There are so many criteria to judge by. Do you go with the one you think is the most boring? How about the one with the dumbest plot? Maybe you should choose one that effectively killed the film franchise for over half a decade?
These are all valid scales to judge the worst Star Trek movie, but we have to look at this decision through a wider and deeper lens. There are many obvious reasons to call Star Trek the worst movie ever. While some were misunderstoodthere are others who have earned contempt. there is Star Trek V: The Final Frontier a ridiculous futile project with a cringe-worthy climax? Probably. there is Star Trek: Nemesis a weak and uncharacteristic departure for The next generation crew? Undoubtedly.
But that criticism alone doesn’t earn it the title of worst Star Trek movie. Achieving that status will require a story that cuts to the very heart of Star Trek’s optimism and hope. It was meant to be aggressively stupid in the plot department, lazy and a little sacrilegious in its plot, and secretly insulting everything Star Trek is supposed to stand for.
That leaves only one choice for worst Star Trek movie: Star Trek Into Darkness.
The surface of the worst Star Trek movie.
There are a number of deeper reasons Star Trek Into Darkness qualifies as the worst Star Trek movie, but before we really dig into that movie, let’s address the film’s more personal issues and flaws.
The most pressing issue is that Star Trek Into Darkness wants to sleep from Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khanpossibly favorite entry in the entire series. It’s not inherently bad when a film remakes or reconfigures elements of a previous popular entry, but the way Star Trek Into Darkness processes it Wrath of the Khan parts are awkward.
Benedict CumberbatchThe performance is somehow both grand and muted, never reaching the melodramatic joys of Ricardo Montalbano’s iconic take on the character. Most egregious is the deafening remix of the catchy song “Khan!” to shout in which Zachary Quinto instantly delivers his riff and it’s just… *sigh*.
It should be noted that the cast of Star Trek Into Darkness are doing their best with a truly disgusting script. JJ Abrams struck gold when he rebooted his series in 2009, but a good cast can’t save a story filled with poor character motivations, leaps in narrative logic that don’t hold up on second thought, and an overall tone that’s constantly is at war with himself.
Name Star Trek Into Darkness definitely makes you feel like, “Oh, this Star Trek movie is going to be a big deal!” That’s certainly what the film wants you to believe, but its wild swings from sleazy bleakness to goofy character clash violently and break as they collide with one another. The film never finds its tonal rhythm.
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Part of this reason is that Star Trek Into Darkness it’s a mess when it comes to filmmaking.
Chaos behind the camera
When JJ Abrams took over the feature film franchise in 2009 Star Trekhe brought a special sense of manic action energy to the series. truth be told The next generation films certainly set that tone, but their filmmaking styles remained relatively grounded. A big part of this was the fact that the purely digital camera hadn’t gotten to the point where it could render believable landscapes and smooth camera movements.
However, this ability existed until 2009 Star Trek was rolling, and Abrams took full advantage of it. Bolstered by such an aesthetic and energetic choice, he turns it up to eleven Star Trek Into Darkness and it is unbearable. It’s an onslaught of noise and visual pandemonium that stops functioning as a narrative.
But in the 2009 film. this choice wasn’t all that offensive because it synced up with the edgy tone of this movie. Star Trek Into DarknessThe decision to try to be dark while maintaining the visual language of a more exciting adventure story heightens this dissonance.
However, all of these issues and more – poor treatment of villains, poor characterization, problematic portrayals of female characters – all pale in comparison to the element that really makes Star Trek Into Darkness the scariest movie star trek.
Star Trek Into Darkness
When we’re talking about the worst Star Trek movie of all time, we have to consider more than just how the movie performs on its own terms. Star Trek Into Darkness does not work as a piece science fiction action movie, but what becomes downright abhorrent is how it relates to the history of Star Trek as a vision and an ideal.
Screenwriter Roberto Orci was able to use Star Trek Into Darkness as an allegorical vehicle for his own disgusting conspiracy theories about Terrorist attacks on September 11. It may sound funny, but the inclusion of a dedication to “post-9/11 veterans” at the end of the film redefines the entire film.
The specifics of this reading in the film are well documented elsewhere, so I won’t repeat all of those observations. Instead, I want to highlight why this particular aspect really does Star Trek Into Darkness the scariest movie star trek.
As a fictional concept, Star Trek is supposed to represent the most optimistic possibilities for humans. Yes, throughout the franchise there have been important episodes that have tested the integrity of Star Trek’s ideals – including best episode ever Deep space nine – but it always came from a place of sincerity and heart for the world that Star Trek wanted to build.
Star Trek Into Darkness removes that hope and replaces it with brazen cynicism. He disgraces Starfleet and the Federation, seeing them as a corrupt organization led by a leader who wants to start a war at any cost. It rips out the heart of Star Trek and replaces it with something so rotten that it’s impossible to even watch the movie without feeling sick.
It’s not that the Star Trek world can’t handle self-critical and dark stories. Deep space nine my favorite Star Trek seriesand an important reason for this is his willingness to hold a candle to the ideals and practices of the Federation and Starfleet. But, the creators are behind Deep space nine It’s clear that they have a deep, understandable love for Star Trek, behind which the main creators stand Star Trek Into Darkness do not share. Instead, they used Star Trek so they could spread a misanthropic worldview that is ugly in itself, but gets even uglier when you go through the world of Star Trek.
And it is clear that it was these creative forces that led to this horror. continuation Star Trek onreplaced the director and screenwriters, resulting in the best of the rebooted films. And this film even managed to evoke some critical feelings towards the Federation without having to resort to an insidious political agenda.
This is the main reason Star Trek Into Darkness has to be the worst star trek movie ever. You can debate the artistic and technical merits of all the other films, but none of them come close to actively depicting something so inherently toxic. If you love Star Trek, you will most likely love its treatment of humanity and belief that we can work together for the greater good. If you love Star Trek, you love hope. Star Trek Into Darkness is a hopeless, vindictive, immoral blight on the Star Trek title.
If that doesn’t make it the worst Star Trek movie, I don’t know what does. I will take a God who is in need starship over that any day.
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