J.J. Abrams has accidentally developed a reputation for pissing off longtime fans of iconic sci-fi properties, with Star Trek supporters the first to voice their disdain towards the filmmaker’s handling of a franchise multiple generations hold close to their hearts.
There was skepticism right from the off when it was first revealed that a brand built upon tackling weighty themes and serious subject matter in an intergalactic setting was being dusted off and blasted back onto the screen as an action-packed $150 million summer blockbuster, and that was before the marketing campaign infuriated the diehards even further.
Not only did Abrams openly admit that he wasn’t a big Star Trek guy, he also offered that his glossy cosmic spectacular wasn’t made for the existing fandom, either. The infamous “This Is Not Your Dad’s Star Trek” tagline needled his detractors even further, with the creative team apparently going out of their way to let the world know that it wasn’t anything like the many iterations that came before.
Ironically, though, Star Trek arrived to much fanfare to secure a status as one of the best reboots to come along in a long while. A 94 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, 91 percent user rating, and box office take of $385 million proved once and for all that the dissenting voices didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, with audiences turning up to witness a fresh-faced cast boldly go where their predecessors had gone countless times before.
The fourth installment is beginning to seem as if it’s dead in the water for good, but that only appears to have emboldened at-home crowds to revisit the original. Per FlixPatrol, Abrams’ Star Trek is one of the top-viewed titles on Paramount Plus, with 13 years having evidently softened the fury somewhat.
