Axiom’s Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy

By Sam Christopher

Rating: 3 ¾ out of 5 Stars (between 2 people)

(THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS)

The Beginning:

My group, the USS Continuum—a ship in Starfleet, The International Star Trek Fan Association—has been preparing for this film for months. We began a concerted effort to be at local events; we planned an event at our local planetarium (until the computer system in the planetarium crashed, which has led to another project for us). We designed and built a replica of the Captain’s Chair from The Original Series, which isn’t as easy as it sounds since they give you nothing beyond the measured dimensions of the entire chair and we had to guess at angles and dimensions of the pieces; this project worked out very well as our CO, Bruce, may not be a Ramblin’ Wreck from Georgia Tech but he is a heckuvan engineer. Our XO, Jay, designed and pieced together a Borg costume which he couldn’t wear today because the heat made useless the simplest part of the suit, the white latex makeup he was using on his face (and, yes, he could have used something else but there just wasn’t time to switch over when he realized what was happening). I “created”—which means I came up with the idea and a couple people much better at sewing than me made it—a TOS Mirror, Mirror Captain’s Uniform which came out mostly okay. A lady from the local Klingon group was there, too, in full Klingon costume. Sharon and several others in the group wore more conventional uniforms ranging from Sharon’s TOS Yeoman’s Uni to Bruce’s NextGen Captain’s Suit. Then, we stood inside the theater and invited moviegoers to come over and have their pictures made in The Chair (this thing is just so cool I’ll always refer to it as The Chair) or with us, and give out information on our group.

One great thing about the crowd tonight was that there were many people in ST costumes themselves. One girl—late teens, early 20’s—walked up in a TOS Yeoman’s Uniform with Vulcan ears, which she explained as also being used for elf’s ears when she played Dungeons and Dragons. She also apologized for having run out of the flesh colored adhesive she usually used for them and having to use a too-white version. Another young lady stared at us from across the room as she entered before walking as though moved by some near-religious spirit to our table. She stammered out that she never knew anything like us existed and just looked so happy to have found us that it was very gratifying to have been in a place where she could find us. There were others, of course, with varying degrees of interest: some just wanted to talk about Trek, some wanted to just sit in The Chair, some just wanted to get a flyer about the group and move on. There was a reporter there, too, taking pictures and asking us about our costumes and interest in Trek. All in all, a fun day at the theater.

The Film:

Finally, we went into the 10 PM showing. I had not really talked about the film with anyone who had seen it  as they came out. I asked if they liked it, if it was what they had hoped, and received virtually universal positive responses. My brother told me it was a total ret-con, and that every series but Enterprise was now obsolete in many ways. But he liked it. Everyone seemed to like it. But everyone was also pretty quiet about it, too. No one really seemed to have a lot to say about the film.

Then I saw it. It changes everything, both with the conceit of an alternate timeline and even without that explanation. It changes the ages of characters, their backstories, their motivations, their first meetings, their futures. Some of that has to do with the temporal incursion of the main villain of the piece but, really, most of it has to do with a total disregard for what has come before in this masterwork of modern sf. And I don’t mean that as a slam. In any reboot of a great franchise, even one that is arguably the most storied in all of filmed sf, the past must be nodded to while being discarded in large measure. There can be Leonard “Bones” McCoy calling Spock a “green-blooded hobgoblin” but that means there has to be a Bones McCoy on the ship to say it—even though that violates any “Temporal Prime Directive” the fans may have. It is just a creative freedom that the writers and directors of any franchise must have.

The only real problem with a film that changes this much of existing mythos with someone like me who grew up with the original tales is that this film changes so much that I have a hard time processing it all at once. As with Superman Returns, I was left at the end of the picture not being sure what I thought of it. I liked it, it was a damn good story—as long as you don’t look too closely at the science, an old story with ST—but it was just so different from any other Trek that I am just a little overwhelmed by the amount and the sheer enormity of the changes it makes in the overall timeline of the Star Trek Universe. When I say it changes everything I do mean EVERYTHING. And changes it all in a huge way. Jay had the same thought I did at the end; he just sat quietly, staring at the screen long into the credits without saying much of anything.

Sharon gave the film a four star rating; it’s Trek, she knew they were going to change everything and she had no problem with the changes they made. And she just liked the movie that well. My rating is a trifle more conservative 3.5 stars. I thought it was well-made, and there were parts of it that were just exceptional, but I’m just not sure enough about it to go any higher at the moment—when the film ended I would have said 3, but like I said, the more I think about it the better I like it. I do plan to see it again in the next couple of days, as the group is planning to spend that time at the theater and I’m sure there will be slow times at the booth.

Star Trek Take 2 – Read Johnny Jay’s Review

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