Latest Trek Pics: A Good Bad Idea

Latest Trek Pics: A Good Bad Idea

Oct 16

As you’ve no doubt seen already, a quintet of websites have premiered new stills from the upcoming Star Trek film by J.J. Abrams. (This one’s from UGO.com; hopefully I’m not hurting anyone’s feelings by posting it here too. Hit that link at UGO for the full set of stills.)

Because I am enough of a fanboy to like being mollycoddled by major film studios and their benign corporate overlords, I appreciate what the Star Trek folks are trying to do. They’ve got a cover story coming out in Entertainment Weekly, and they want to give the die-hard fans a treat by getting some images out to them ahead of the mainstream press coverage. It’s a great impulse, a good idea.

Except that I think the pictures are maybe a bad idea.

Here’s the thing: The pictures don’t really show us anything we don’t already know. General geek osmosis has already informed us all that this will be a “reboot” flick and that they’re updating the look of the Original Series to a degree.

Plus, really, who cares that they put a black shirt under the yellow/red/blue shirt, or changed the sleeves, or some shit? I’m sure some fans do care, but guess what–you’ve already lost those people. If you’re the kind of Trekkie who’s gonna let a hem on a garment get in the way of enjoying a movie, you’re already gone. There’s no hope for you. You will hate this movie.

Me, I’m most interested in seeing how this thing moves. What’s the dialogue like? How’s it gonna cut together? What’s the pacing and tone gonna be for the action sequences? How have they reinvented Trek–not how it looks, but how it is–to serve a new audience?

I know the trailer’s coming soon. But if they really want to get the fans hyped early, let us see a single, well-cut, minor action scene with a few bits of dialogue. Give us a real look at this film. Because the pictures…they’re just excuses for nitpicking. The best they can hope for in terms of reaction is “Okay, thank god, they’re not fucking it up yet.”

Like I said–putting out the pictures was a nice move. I appreciate it and wish them goodwill. I just wish they’d gone a step further. I’d take a single clip over a hundred stills of Zachary Quinto looking vaguely Nimoy any day.