While ‘Star Trek Into Darkness‘ was an enjoyable popcorn flick, it had many flaws as a film in general and director J.J. Abrams owns up to what many consider the biggest mistake of all. We could say that the film lacked the sense of wonder of the original films, an overuse of lens flares, the not so secret Khan identity which turned into lying to the fans, having too much gratuitous sexuality, or that it didn’t solve fundamental story problems. We could say quite a few things but there is one specific snafu Abrams owns up to.
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Abrams straight out stated:
“We got in trouble on the second Star Trek film with some of the fans. There were too many nods to The Wrath of Khan. I’ll cop to that.”
Considering Benedict Cumberbatch’s John Harris actually was Khan you would have to of course expect some nods. They really overdid it with all of the references that would have easily gone over the heads of anyone who was only a fan of the rebooted Trek universe and hadn’t seen the original films. Obviously the “needs of the many” speech was fitting but the yelling of Khan’s name, the role reversal and death and rebirth of Kirk was a joke, the shoehorning in of Carol Marcus as a character, and the use of an older Spock breaking his cardinal rule about not speaking about his own past. Honestly the overall plot hole of beating death by bringing Kirk back really just irks me the most.
While a great summer popcorn flick set in space, it was universally viewed as a horrible ‘Star Trek’ film and I wouldn’t disagree with that in the slightest. It would have been a great blockbuster tentpole movie had it gone by any other name and instead has left a tarnished installment into the ‘Trek’ cinematic franchise.
Here’s hoping the next installment can bring back our faith in the series.
Do you think the callouts to ‘Wrath of Khan’ were the worst parts of ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’? Share your thoughts below!
Source: Collider
