Up until yesterday the Rotten Tomatoes “Tomatometer” aggregate review score for J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek sat at a cool 100%. Not one reviewer, and there were more than 40 who had chimed in at the time, thought the film’s problems outweighed its merits.
Now that release day is upon us the first negative reviews have driven the score down to 94%. By negative I mean these critics legitimately did not like the film everyone else seems to love.
Take UGO’s EFilmCritic review by Erik Childress. He begins with the following quote: “Maybe Muppet Babies Will Get A Better Story.” Maybe he has a point, or maybe he confused a sci-fi summer blockbuster for Oscar season.
The big rotten ranking comes from Roger Ebert who tore a new hole into the time travel element that is the crux of Star Trek’s story. His argument is sound if compared to what we know about black holes today instead of how the holes are created in the film. He even admits the film is “fun.” I get the impression he read too much into the working “science” which has been deliberately toned down for this reboot as to not scare off audiences needed to justify the astronomical budget.
Ebert also complains about a sequence in which Kirk, Sulu and another Enterprise crew member “parachute” onto a Romulan device. He wonders why they didn’t just beam onto it instead. At multiple points in the film it is stated that the platform’s activity interfered with using transporters. Convenient, yes. But Roger was apparently still mentally affected by time travel when it came time to nitpick the rest of the movie.
Star Trek is not without its small issues and I’ll be the first to admit that. I can’t see how anyone would deem this film “Rotten” as it’s highly entertaining from the first frame to the last. Don’t let these negative impressions keep you away.
To get into the mood for Star Trek that opens this evening, I highly recommend picking up Star Trek: The Original Series Season One on Blu-ray Disc. A quick watch will remind you of the great performances that cast put forth and draw out the homages strewn throughout Trek’s reboot.
Read our J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek movie review.
