7.23.2013

Star Trek 3: New Writers and Thoughts

     By the looks of it, according to the rumor mill, Bad Robot has found a new set of writers for Star Trek 3.  The new duo of Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz may be up to the job.  They've previously done Thor, X-Men: First Class, and worked on Fringe, Andromeda, and Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles.  Not too bad, at all.
     By no means is this a done deal, but I suppose Paramount wants it done kind of swiftly to get the next film out in time for the 50th Anniversary of Star Trek in 2016.


     While this could be amazing news, seeing as all my big complaints about the new Star Trek movies are directly related to crappy storytelling, we still need to be wary.  Two of the old writing team (Alex Kurtzman and Bob Orci) are still attached as producers, but they may still have some writing sway.
     Now I don't mean to slam Damon Lindelof, but he really, REALLY needs an editor, and I'm fairly pleased that he's been removed right now.  He's a great idea man, but he fails to keep things cohesive.  Does anyone know what the hell was going on in that giant mess called Lost?  And by god, he ruined far more than he helped with John Spaihts' Prometheus script.  Mystery is not created by simply eliminating parts of a story!

     They started the J.J. Abrams Trek series reboot with a brilliant plan- altering the path of Trek history.  To boldly go in new directions.  Instead we got a ridiculously homage filled slog with Into Darkness.  The homages are nice, but it shouldn't be the focus.  What's the purpose of changing the history if they continually repeat what's been done before?!?

     Everyone knows the opening monologue:
"Space.  The final frontier.  These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise.  Her 5 year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life, and new civilizations.  To boldly go where no man has gone before."
     Where is this wonder and exploration now?  It seems to have been replaced with special effects and rushed, shoddy storytelling.
     Shouldn't they be shooting for something more?  Other Trek writer's knew this.  Think of this amazing quote from the Star Trek: The Next Generation finale "All Good Things."

Capt. Picard: I sincerely hope that this is the last time that I find myself here. 
Q: You just don't get it, do you, Jean-Luc? The trial never ends. We wanted to see if you had the ability to expand your mind and your horizons. And for one brief moment, you did.
Capt. Picard: When I realized the paradox.
Q: Exactly. For that one fraction of a second, you were open to options you had never considered. That is the exploration that awaits you. Not mapping stars and studying nebulae, but charting the unknown possibilities of existence.

     This is what the new writing team should always keep in mind- it's what I believe to be one of the most important quotes in any of the Star Treks.  This is the ideal in storytelling that the new teams should strive for- particularly Q's last statement about possibilities.

     The current writer's have got the characters all nailed down, but they lack something important to the story itself- plot.  The movies feel like a loosely held together series of implausible events that ended up as a sort of Rube Goldberg sci-fi film.  Don't neglect the potential of this untrod path.  Take chances.  Make the stories matter by charting those unknowns.


Source [ Badass Digest ]

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