By Drew Dietsch | Published
How do you choose the worst Star Trek movie? There are so many criteria to judge by. Do you choose the option that you think is the most boring? What about the one with the stupidest plot? Maybe you should choose the one That essentially brought the film franchise to a standstill for more than half a decade?
These are all valid standards for judging the worst Star Trek film, but we need to look at this decision from both a broader and deeper perspective. There are many superficial reasons to call a Star Trek film the worst of them all. While some were misunderstood, there were others that provoked contempt. Is Star Trek V: The Final Frontier a ridiculous vanity project with a climax worthy of ridicule? Probably. Is Star Trek: Nemesis a weak and uncharacteristic farewell for The next generation Crew? Surely.
But these reviews alone don’t give it the title of worst Star Trek film. Achieving such status would require a story that encapsulates the optimism and hope of Star Trek. It would have to be aggressively stupid in its plot, lazy and slightly sacrilegious in its conception, and secretly an affront to everything Star Trek is supposed to stand for.
This leaves only one choice for the worst Star Trek film: Star Trek Into Darkness.
The surface of the worst Star Trek film
There are a number of deeper reasons for this Star Trek Into Darkness is considered the worst Star Trek film, but before we really break down this film, let’s look at the film’s more obvious problems and flaws.
The most pressing problem is this Star Trek Into Darkness wants to crib Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khanarguably the fan favorite part of the entire series. It’s not an inherently bad thing when a film reprises or remakes elements of a previously popular film, but rather the way it does so Star Trek Into Darkness takes care of it The Khan’s Wrath Parts are embarrassing.
Benedict CumberbatchThe actor’s performance is somehow both grandiose and subdued at the same time, never reaching the melodramatic pleasures of Ricardo Montalban’s iconic take on the character. Most horrifying is a tone-deaf remix of the memorable “Khan!” scream, in which Zachary Quinto delivers his riff at the moment and it’s just… *sigh*.
It should be noted that the cast of Star Trek Into Darkness do their best with a truly hideous script. JJ Abrams hit the jackpot with the casting of his 2009 series reboot, but good casting can’t save a story full of bad character motivations, leaps in narrative logic that don’t hold up when you think about it for a second. and an overall tone that is constantly at war with itself.
The title Star Trek Into Darkness certainly makes you feel like, “Oh, this Star Trek movie is going to be serious business!” That’s definitely what the movie wants you to believe, but its wild shifts from grim expressions to goofy character parts clash so hard and shatter when they collide. The film never finds its tonal rhythm.
RELATED:
The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine conversation that changed television history
Part of this reason is that Star Trek Into Darkness is 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 manic action energy to the series. To be fair, that Next generation Films had certainly established this in tone, but their filmmaking styles had remained relatively grounded. A large part of this was because purely digital camerawork was not yet sufficiently developed to be able to reproduce believable landscapes and fluid camera movements.
However, this capability was already present in 2009 Star Trek rolled around and Abrams used it to his full advantage. Strengthened by this aesthetic and energetic decision, he increases the speed to eleven inches Star Trek Into Darkness and it is unbearable. It’s an onslaught of noise and visual tumult that serves no purpose other than storytelling.
But this filmmaking choice wasn’t as compelling in the 2009 film because it matched the swashbuckling tone of that film. Star Trek Into DarknessThe decision to appear dark while maintaining the visual language of a more exciting adventure story contributes to this dissonance.
Still, all of these and other problems – poor treatment of villains, poor characterization, problematic portrayals of female characters – pale in comparison to the element that really matters Star Trek Into Darkness the worst Star Trek film.
The insidiousness of Star Trek Into Darkness
When we talk about the worst Star Trek movie of all time, we have to consider more than just the way this movie behaves in its own way. Star Trek Into Darkness fails as a piece of science fiction action cinema, but it becomes downright disgusting in the way it relates to the history of Star Trek as a vision and ideal.
Screenwriter Roberto Orci could use Star Trek Into Darkness as an allegorical vehicle for his own disgusting conspiracy theories regarding the September 11 attacks. This may sound ridiculous, but the inclusion of a dedication at the end of the film to “Post-9/11 Veterans” gives the entire film a new flavor.
The details of this reading of the film are well documented elsewhere, so I won’t parrot all of these observations. Instead, I would like to emphasize why it is this particular aspect that is essential Star Trek Into Darkness the worst Star Trek film.
As a fictional concept, Star Trek is intended to represent the most optimistic possibilities for man. Yes, there have been critical episodes throughout the franchise that tested the integrity of Star Trek’s ideals – including the best episode of Deep Space Nine – but it always came from a place of sincerity and heart for the world Star Trek wanted to build.
Star Trek Into Darkness removes that hope and replaces it with brash cynicism. It denigrates Starfleet and the Federation by portraying them as an inherently corrupt organization led by a leader bent on starting 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 film without feeling sick.
It’s not that the world of Star Trek can’t handle self-critical and dark stories. Deep Space Nine is my favorite Star Trek series, and a big reason why is its willingness to defy the ideals and practices of the Federation and Starfleet. But the people behind it Deep Space Nine The core creators behind it clearly have a deep, understanding love for Star Trek Star Trek Into Darkness don’t share. Instead, they exploited Star Trek to spread a misanthropic worldview that is ugly in itself, but becomes even uglier when applied to the world of Star Trek.
And it’s obvious that these creative forces led to this awfulness. The sequel, Star Trek Beyondreplaced the director and writers, resulting in the best reboot films. And this film was even able to evoke some critical feelings towards the Federation without resorting to an insidious political agenda.
That’s the main reason why Star Trek Into Darkness has to be the worst Star Trek movie. You can debate the fictional and technical merits of all the other films, but none come close to actively depicting something so toxic at its core. If you love Star Trek, you probably love its attitude towards humanity and its 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, vengeful, immoral attack on the Star Trek name.
If that doesn’t make it the worst Star Trek movie, I don’t know what does. I assume that God needs a spaceship every day.
