JJ ABRAMS HATES COLONS, WILL ‘STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS’
Director/producer/writer /genius JJ Abrams — the man who created the TV shows Alias, LOST, and the upcoming Revolution, and also directed films like Mission: Impossible III, Star Trek, and Super 8 – is currently in post-production on the sequel to his well-received 2009 reboot of the Star Trek franchise, a semi-controversial movie that had the nerve to A.) re-cast the beloved “original crew” of the U.S.S. Enterprise with new, young actors, and B.) be a fresh, bright, fast-paced, *GASP* fun Star Trek film! (Oh! The unmitigated gall!) And now the director may be coming under fire yet again for manipulating the grammar and syntax of the film’s title. This Star Trek movie will not have the traditional colon, followed by a subtitle. Instead, the word “Trek” is used as a verb, and the title functions as one statement: Star Trek Into Darkness.
Comingsoon broke the news that Abrams and his Bad Robot production company registered the domain names: “startrekintodarkness.com,” and “startrekintodarknessmovie.com,” and fansite Trek Movie confirmed the news with multiple studio sources.
You know, my friends like to joke with me about my sycophantic loyalty to JJ. They rib me about his over-reliance on lens flares; they call him “Spielberg-lite;” and they pile on him for what they perceive to be his “half-baked ideas,” or his continual need to spin mysteries that go unsolved and deliver unsatisfying conclusions to his grand stories, ala LOST. (That last critique is completely unfair, as Abrams had nothing to do with LOST‘s final episode. He left the show in the first season, turning over the show to his writing partners, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse.)
But it’s ok, it doesn’t bother me. I like JJ because he’s a idealist…a dreamer. Abrams is a guy who likes to make the kinds of movies that I grew up on. He’s in love with the misty magic of filmmaking, and he likes to tell stories about people dealing with extraordinary experiences. He also never relies heavily on CGI; JJ likes to shoot in real environments with very little green screen and uses a lot of practical, old-school movie special effects as often as he can — a rarity in today’s film climate. I was long-time Star Trek hater, until JJ came along and opened my eyes to just how wonderful that universe truly is. It if wasn’t for JJ’s Star Trek, I never would’ve enjoyed going through the original, groundbreaking series on Netflix streaming.
That being said, there’s something…off-putting about the way this title rolls of the tongue. It feels silly somehow, gimmicky. I can’t really put my finger on why, though. Perhaps it removes the grandeur or the importance of “Star Trek” as an identifier? Having the words “Star Trek – colon – subtitle” feels more traditional and immediately tells you that the film is part of the Star Trek brand/franchise, whereas the colon-less, singular statement Star Trek Into Darkness sounds like it could be a generic horror film set in space. It’s just weird, man. And why does JJ want to “go into darkness,” anyway? I don’t want a dark Star Trek, I like my bright, shiny Star Trek, dammit! You can’t have lens flares, in the darkness, JJ! You might want to re-think this, sir.
Star Trek Into Darkness will be released in theaters on May 17th, 2013.
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