Why Star Trek Fans Still Have A Bone To Pick With JJ Abrams And Into Darkness

There are quite a few "Star Trek" fans who have a serious bone to pick with writer, producer, and director J.J. Abrams, myself among them. After delivering the 2009 "Star Trek" reboot — which created the Kelvin timeline and deviated from the canon set by the original series, but was surprisingly entertaining — he had earned a bit of goodwill. Unfortunately, that goodwill was phasered out of existence with the sequel, 2013's "Star Trek Into Darkness." 

While the first Abrams "Star Trek" had a few issues, they could mostly be ignored because it was a pretty darn fun adventure with some truly brilliant casting. It was a little more bombastic and action-packed than most of "Star Trek," drawing heavily from Abrams's other true love, "Star Wars," but it mostly worked. So when hardcore "Trek" fans and new fans alike sat down for "Into Darkness," they hoped for more... and instead got a confusing, muddled retread of "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan." 

The film's marketing had tried to be sly about the fact that "Sherlock" star Benedict Cumberbatch was playing the famed "Trek" villain but any Trekkie could tell that was the plan, and it was made all the more frustrating by "Into Darkness" doing nothing new and missing the point of "Star Trek" by lightyears. 

About halfway through "Star Trek Into Darkness," we learn that the rogue Starfleet baddie going by the name of Commander John Harrison is actually Khan Noonien Singh, the single most important villain in the entire "Star Trek" franchise. While there are plenty of smaller beefs to be had with "Into Darkness," including killing off Admiral Pike (Bruce Greenwood) in a way that also totally misunderstands his role in "Trek" lore, completely and utterly blowing it with Khan is a far greater sin. First they whitewashed the character by casting Cumberbatch when the original was played by Mexican acting idol Ricardo Montalbán. Then they made him purely revenge driven, without much nuance.

In "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," Khan absolutely is looking for revenge and destruction, but he also wants to create new life in the aftermath with the Genesis device. He's a tyrant and a murderer, but a complex one whose rise to power the audience can understand. The Khan of "Into Darkness," on the other hand, is pure villainy, and it makes for a much weaker story. When you add in Spock's (Leonard Nimoy) death at the end of "The Wrath of Khan" being switched out for Kirk's (Chris Pine) death in "Into Darkness" — leading to Spock (Zachary Quinto) screaming the infamous "Khaaaaaannnnn!!!!" — it feels less like an homage to "The Wrath of Khan" and more like a poorly assembled remix made from lesser parts.  

While some mainstream movie fans might have been alright with "Into Darkness," it definitely rubbed Trekkies the wrong way, and even frustrated "The Wrath of Khan" director Nicholas Meyer. He was critical not only of switching around Spock and Kirk's deaths and cribbing some lines directly, but of the movie's ultimate undo button that allows for the dead to be resurrected. He pointed out that killing someone only to bring them back in the next scene removes any emotional weight, and he's right. While Spock's death in "The Wrath of Khan" led to an entire movie about bringing him back with "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock," in "Into Darkness" Kirk's death is undone before the credits even roll. 

"Into Darkness" is a slick and massive production with all of the typical J.J. Abrams flair (and lens flares), but a lot of that big Hollywood blockbuster energy really flies in the face of what "Star Trek" has always been about. Since there were very similar complaints about Abrams's attempt at a "Star Wars" sequel/reboot with "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," which was a retread of "Star Wars: A New Hope," maybe J.J. and the writers he regularly works with need to stick to creating their own projects away from beloved franchises for awhile, or at least until they show a deeper understanding than just the tropes and imagery. Otherwise, he's just going to continue to face the wrath ...of fans.