Full speed backwards, Scotty!
On Monday, William Shatner all but confirmed the rumor that he would be appearing in the upcoming “Star Trek 3,” the third movie in what was supposed to be a rebooted franchise.
So much for that. Beginning with 2009’s “Star Trek,” the new series hasn’t exactly boldly gone where no movie has gone before.
For starters, original cast member Leonard Nimoy reprised his role as Spock in the 2009 film, as well as in the sequel, 2013’s “Star Trek Into Darkness.” Now, Shatner is set to return as Captain Kirk — something that should, in theory, be impossible, considering this franchise is supposed to feature the younger version of the classic characters.
But the writers finagled some time travel deus ex machina, and poof! Here are all those older characters we love mixing with their younger selves. You get the feeling that if much of the 1960s cast, including James Doohan, hadn’t passed away, they’d be here too.
The writers of the new franchise have also dusted off villain Khan, the fuzzy Tribbles and other nods to the old TV series.
Could someone beam up some new ideas, please?
One of the problems the new movies face is that hard-core Trekkies hate them, considering them too mainstream and a betrayal of the intelligent standards set by the original TV series. Bringing back the 1960s cast is likely an attempt to appease those folks.
Instead of writing a story that might become classic in 20 years, the people behind the new “Star Trek” seem content to mine the past, throwing up old characters and plotlines so the audience goes, “Oh, I remember that!”
But the “Star Trek” reboot is just the latest example of a troubling trend in pop culture. Call it Reference-apalooza, or something — that just referencing something from the past counts as an idea.
Some of the lazier episodes of “Family Guy” are also guilty of the same thing. One episode inserted Peter Griffin into the opening credits of “The Great Space Coaster.” No jokes or ideas beyond that. The show just perfectly aped the sequence.
And listen to Nicki Minaj’s hot new single “Anaconda,” which is basically just a slight variation on Sir Mix-a-Lot’s 1992 hit “Baby Got Back.” “Anaconda” steals the music and many of the lyrics wholesale. Sir Mix probably gets a bigger royalty for the song than Minaj.
Maybe by the time the new “Star Trek” hits theaters in 2016, the Shatner idea will have been discarded and the filmmakers will find the courage the blaze their own trail. Although that would probably be highly illogical.