After the announcement that Bob Orci would no longer be manning the director’s chair for Star Trek 3, rumors began flying as to who would take his place. Many questions about the switch remain unanswered, but we finally know who will be the next leader of Trek on the silver screen. Justin Lin, who directed ‘Fast and Furious 6′ has reportedly taken over the role.
I have a bad feeling about this (wrong franchise for that language, I know). The spirit of Fast and Furious is not exactly what I want in a Trek film. I have recently been re-watching Star Trek: The Next Generation. There are a lot of dyed in the wool Star Trek fans for whom there is no substitute for Kirk. They want some good old fashioned fist swinging and womanizing. But I have to tell you, Picard is my captain. So admittedly, that’s the angle I’m coming at this from. But I sure don’t want any rolling and crashing space shuttles, or ships colliding at warp speed and whatever.
But, perhaps it’s unfair for me to characterize a director based solely on this one things of his that I have seen. And yet, I also don’t see anything in his directing portfolio that is particularly compelling. There is nothing here that tells me he gets and understands Star Trek. But, the same was true for J.J. (and it showed a lot in his two films) so perhaps it won’t be any worse than that.
Rumors are abound that Paramount has expressed a desire for Star Trek 3 to be “more like Guardians of the Galaxy”, which is unsurprising given the films huge international success. But, what does that mean for Star Trek 3, and how might Lin deliver on that? If the rumors are true, you might prepare yourself now for more Keenser, more comedy, and lots of action (perhaps Lin can replace rolling, exploding cars with rolling, exploding shuttlecraft?).
No, no, no, no, NO! Star Trek is NOTHING like Guardians of the Galaxy, a quite good super-hero film. But it would not make good Star Trek. And count me out for more Keenser. I really hope this film turns out better than I’m imagining at this very moment.