Because not Everything Can Be About Politics

So, I must give in to my nerditude, although it is tangentially related to my hatred of our current generation.

I went and saw the new Star Trek today, and it was brilliant. As was my wont, I watched a few reviews to make sure I wouldn't be caught with my pants down regarding idiotic plot twists. Instead, I was caught with my pants down regarding idiot reviewers. There are no major spoilers here, so feel free to read on.

In the opening sequence, time traveling baddies are revealed. This of course presents the old logical conundrum that altering the past of a necessity alters the future. This is where the movie gets brilliant. Read this next line carefully.

No effort is made to refute the fact that interference from the future dramatically alters the course of history.

That's right folks. This movie, rather ambitiously, has thrown out the canon. Everything that happened in Star Trek TV shows and movies (other than Enterprise, though accept it as canon at your own risk) has not happened and most likely will not happen. The entire Star Trek universe is being reinvented, just as James Bond was reinvented in Casino Royale. Characters have the same names, the theme is the same, but the setting has been fundamentally altered (I won't spoil the movie as to how, but it's pretty freaking cataclysmic).

The movie was witty and very well executed, with clever nods at each iteration of Star Trek. I particularly enjoyed Kirk's womanizing (Yes there is in fact a Green Alien Woman, he does make out with her, and she is Gloriously Hot) and the fact that the infamous Cheating on the Final Test incident gets dramatized. Bones is suitably cranky, Scotty is very scottish and hilarious in his own right, and Uhura remains the token hot chick on the bridge. Life is good. Spock is a much more central character than you'd expect, and frequently steals the scene.

So why do I hate the whining nerds? Because they are symptomatic of a society totally bent on instant gratification. Those who bitch and moan that it "doesn't feel like Star Trek" are missing the point. You don't bitch about Shakespeare because it doesn't feel like Virgil. The intent of this movie was to take a successful setting, the future, and reinvigorate it for the new generation. I'm sure people bitched that Patrick Stewart was no Shatner, and that simply proves the cyclic nature of idiocy. The directors of this film have taken the franchise in a new direction. Pull yourself out of the primordial goo that is obsessive fandom and actually analyse the movie. Coherent plot? Check (baddie out for revenge). Sympathetic and interesting characters? Check. Gunplay, fast cars/ships, and attractive women/men? Check, Check, and oh dear god more of the Green Hottie next time Check.

It was fantastic. Stop whining, and enjoy the latest iteration of the series. After all, as the movie itself states, it's an alternate Star Trek timeline. If you really miss Shatner's Kirk so badly, buy the damn DVDs.