Let’s face it: J.J. Abrams faced an almost impossible challenge with Star Trek. He had to breath life into a beloved, well-known and – frankly – worn-out franchise. He had to make a movie that appeals to arguably the most devoted, extreme and nitpicky fan base this side of, well, most of your major religions. You know, those dweeby Trek geeks. (Not cool people like you and me.)
Set crotch on stun.
At the same time Abrams had to appeal to moviegoers who don’t have a collection of three phasers, a gold velour uniform shirt, and 47 variations of Captain Kirk action figures on my bookshelves and hidden in the back of my office closet. Those — um, we — normal people just want to see a good flick with lots of action, solid character development and a great story.
Add to that one more barb. Abrams was working with a concept that in the last 20 years had all the life wrung from it by some of the most notably mediocre writers and producers in the business, who have been sucking like parasites at the legacy the Original Series with their anemic, gelded spin-offs — Next Generation, Voyager, et al.
The groundbreaking had become grating, and the inspired had become insipid.
So all that stood against Abrams before he even got under way. It was pretty much a no-win scenario.
Abrams took a cue from Kirk; he beat the Kobayashi Maru.