Star Trek 4: Trekking Nowhere Fast

Star Trek was given a fresh coat of paint and came roaring back into theaters in 2009. J.J Abrams directed the sci-fi reboot with a new cast of actors, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, and Karl Urban. According to Box Office Mojo, Star Trek was a box office success, grossing worldwide $385 million. It was followed by two sequels, Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) and Star Trek Beyond (2016).

Star Trek is a very old IP (52 years) and a beloved cult phenomenon, but it’s never been a huge blockbuster-type action-adventure franchise. To be sure, it has enjoyed moderate box office success, but nothing approximating the levels of franchises like Star Wars or Transformers. And therein lies the crux of the problem.

Star Trek is not a huge moneymaker and worst yet, Paramount Pictures does not have the financial means to fully fund a new movie without investors. Star Trek Beyond, which coincided with the 50^thanniversary of the series, stalled at the box office, making $158 million at the domestic box office. Despite the fact that Paramount Pictures announced a fourth movie in the series, starring Chris Hemsworth (reprising the role of Captain Kirks father), the project is up in the air. 

As I have already note, Paramount Pictures cannot fund a new Trek film without financial backers, and in order to get any investors to put up money, the studio needs to bring down the production cost of the next movie. In laymen’s terms, the budget and salaries of the actors need to be cut. Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth, have stated that they want to be involved in the upcoming sequel but they are unwilling to accept pay cuts in order to reprise their roles.

So at this point the future of the Star Trek franchise is very much in doubt. Without Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth, Paramount Pictures cannot attract investors, but if both actors refuse to accept a reduction in their salaries, the studio cannot reduce the budget enough to make the film financially viable to investors. Ironically, this situation is literally playing out like the no-win scenario that Captain Kirk faced in the Kobayashi Maru test.

If nothing dramatically changes, the next installment of Star Trek is probably not going to happen. I have to admit, I would like to see one more film with the Abrams cast. All things considered they were the best part of the reboot and I will definitely miss Karl Urban as Dr. McCoy.

Sadly, the voyages of the U.S.S Enterprise seem to be over for the foreseeable future. Unless Paramount Pictures decides to sell their Kelvin-timeline/Trek reboot to another studio or media company, or a mega-rich Trekkie comes along and foots the bill for another cinematic adventure, I seriously doubt Star Trek will be in theaters for the 60^thanniversary of the series. 

The final frontier without Star Trek on the big screen is hardly worth contemplating … but here we are.

Doctor Who Season 11 Review

Doctor Who season 11 was conceived and built for success. Brand-new show runner (Chris Chibnall), new music composer (Segun Akinola), new VFX company (Double Negative), new group of writers & actors, and the first woman (Jodi Whittaker) playing the role of the Doctor ... there was no way it could fail. 

The series had a lot of good will and supporters. As to be expected, the premier episode, “The Women Who Fell to Earth,” did very well in the ratings. Moreover, according to the Nielsen Company, the overall ratings in the UK fluctuated throughout the 10-episode season but they remained consistent. However, the viewership in 18-49 demographic in the US dropped by 1 million viewers. According to a statement released by the BBC, Doctor Who has been renewed for a 12^th season and will return in the spring of 2020.  

The question that begs to be answered … was season 11 any good?

The simple answer is … the season was a huge missed opportunity that should have been a great new direction for the series, but instead, wound up becoming a boring slog of mediocrity.

Doctor Who season 11 is a mixed bag. Right from the outset, the casual observer will notice that the BBC reduced the episode count and overall budget for the series. For instance, the out door locations and the cinematography were gorgeous and impressive. However, the interior set designs and special effects run the gamut from sleek and sci-fi functional to low budget plywood and unconvincing CGI effects. Steven Moffat, the show runner for series 5 to 10, complained that the BBC needed to put more money into Doctor Who, in order to make it more competitive with other shows that have movie quality production values. He was completely right. 

The next thing that will jump out at the casual viewer is the musical score by composer Segun Akinola, is very distracting and annoying. Long time Doctor Who composer Murray Gold perhaps overstayed his welcome, but there is no doubt that his music has been a vital part of the show in its modern-day format and his absence in season 11 is keenly felt. 

Other things that become apparent: 

The scripts were poorly written and disjointed and the Doctor’s companions were not developed beyond the initial premier episode. Of particular concern is the acting. 

With the exception of Bradley Walsh (Graham), Jodie Whittaker (The Doctor), Mandip Gill (Yaz), and Tosin Cole (Ryan) lack screen presence and charisma, and very seldom strike up enough energy to make any of their scenes memorable or credible. However, in the interest of fairness, it must be noted, that the actors were really hampered by terrible scripts … so there is some room for considerable growth if better writers are brought in.

The editing and directing was erratic, leaving glaring plots holes that killed the pacing of the episodes. 

The villains: Classic Doctor Who villains (Daleks, Cyberman, and the Master) were sidelined this season. Instead, show runner and head writer Chris Chibnall opted to introduce new protagonists that fall into two categories 

1. Run-of-the-mill sci-fi baddies that consisted of tooth-collecting bounty hunters, giant spiders, mud-monsters that were actually elite alien soldiers imprisoned on Earth, and pocket universes that desperately need a friend. 

2. Bland and one-dimensional human baddies that are poorly written tropes meant to showcase the worst of human impulses, hate, bigotry, greed, religious intolerance, colonialism, paranoia and superstition. 

Overall, season 11 was a dysfunctional mess that felt like Doctor Who in name only. What was once a great science fiction series has been turned into terribly boring, agenda-driven after-school special.   

Can the series be fixed and made better?

The optimist in me would say yes. 

Doctor Who as a concept is a hard sell. The main character is basically space-Jesus, flying around in a magic box, getting into all sorts of wacky adventures with his/her friends. But despite all that, the series has stood the test of time and the fan base still supports it even after 55 years of time-traveling shenanigans. To be sure, like any long running franchise, Doctor Who has fallen out of favor and receded into the background, only to come roaring back with a fresh coat of blue-paint. 

Case in point, after years of declining ratings, the series was quietly cancelled in 1986, and triumphantly returned in 2005 with Russell T. Davies as show runner and Chris Eccelston taking on the role of the Doctor. Nu-Who has been on the air for 13 years and the fan base still supports it. So, it can be safely assumed that the series can falter and stumble and it can still be brought back from the brink. 

Will it be fixed? 

That depends …

Former show runners Russell T. Davies and Steven Moffat had their fair share of red herrings and nonsensical conclusions to convoluted story arcs, but at the very least, they understood the character of the Doctor and wrote stories that kept the fans engaged. Current show runner Chris Chibnall, clearly has no long-term vision for Doctor Who, and season 11 feels like he ran out of ideas and just made stuff up as he went along.  Moreover, the stories that he has penned in the past, and now in season 11, are horribly conceived, painfully disjointed, and just bland and boring. Chibnall’s milquetoast version of the Doctor is woefully inconsistent from episode to episode and not very interesting.

Of particular concern, the BBC and its rabid supporters on social media has shown very little interest in listening to the valid concerns and criticisms of long time fans, and instead have opted to silence them by claiming that they are a bunch of hateful, misogynist malcontents. This type of strategy didn’t work for Columbia Pictures/Paul Feig (Ghostbusters 2016) and Disney/Kathleen Kennedy (Star Wars The Last Jedi 2017).

And if history repeats itself … it won’t work for Chris Chibnall and the BBC. 

Ultimately, Doctor Who fans could take a page from the Star Wars fandom and stop supporting or boycott the series until their concerns have been addressed and corrected. Doctor Who is a beloved series that has been around for over fifty years. However, success is never guaranteed, and the BBC, just like Disney and Lucasfilms might find themselves with a product that the fan base doesn’t want to support. 

Doctor Who is at a crossroads, and the long-term viability of the series is dependent on the decisions the BBC makes going forward. The viewership in BBC America has declined this season, but the ratings in the UK are still good enough to justify a delayed season 12.   

Whatever road the BBC takes is clearly up to them, but one thing is for certain … the fan base that have supported the series throughout its 55 year history deserve better.

Certainly much better than the cheap knock-off that the BBC is trying to pass off as Doctor Who. 

The Force is Not Strong with Disney

Unless you have been living in a cave somewhere on the planet Dagobah, there is no way you have not felt a major disturbance in the force.

To recap: Star Wars The Last Jedi (2017) had a worldwide gross of  $1.3 billion.  According to Box Office Mojo, the film was the highest-grossing film of 2017, the second highest-grossing film in the franchise (behind The Force Awakens). 

The critical response ran the gamut from positive reviews:

BBC News, “a blockbuster movie packed with invention, wit, and action galore." 

To more subdued reviews:

Movie Nation, “Intentions and inspiration aside, “Last Jedi” doesn’t add up to an “Empire Strikes Back” for this trilogy. There’s no romance, little pathos and no real punch-in-the-gut moment.”

However, the audience review section of Rotten Tomatoes and Media Critic contained reviews that lambasted Disney and director Rian Johnson for destroying the Star Wars brand and their childhoods. 

Needless to say, the negative storm of fan criticism took Disney and Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy by surprise. Instead of a victory lap, the studio had a major PR disaster to address and it went from bad to worse very quickly. 

In a move that is eerily similar to the strategy employed by Columbia Pictures and Paul Feig to silence fan criticism of the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot, Disney and Kathleen Kennedy opted to launch a PR war aimed at quelling fan dissatisfaction by labeling all negative reviewers as misogynist racist. And thus began the Great War for the heart and soul of a beloved franchise. 

Not to be outdone, the fans co-opted the phrase “Get Woke or Go Broke” and they brought out their ultimate weapon and unleashed it at Disney in 2018 … they boycotted  Solo: A Star Wars Story. And as can be expected, the assault on the Magic Kingdom was devastating … the Ron Howard-directed sci-fi prequel became a box office bomb. According to Box Office Mojo, the film had a worldwide gross of $392 million, making it the lowest-grossing Star Wars film of all time. 

As can be expected the folks at Disney are in full panic mode, and in a desperate bid to try to appease the fans they decided to bring back director J.J Abram’s to try to auto correct the franchise, and hopefully make episode IX a commercial success. However, the fan base doesn’t appear to be ready to forgive and forget and there seems to be no great interest in seeing the next film installment.

Adding fuel to the fire some Disney supporters, and actors like John Boyega have taken to social media to address the “Star Wars Haters.” Which in turn has led to more fans calling to #BoycottStarWars and bring an end to the Kathleen Kennedy reign at Lucasfilm. Obviously, hurt feelings abound, and reconciliation, while being a laudable goal, seems highly unlikely under the current circumstances. 

At this particular moment, there is no evidence to suggest that Disney will eat crow, and issue a heart-felt apology to the fandom for trying to silence them by insisting that they are a bunch of cruel, sexist, misogynists.

IMHO, Star Wars episode IX might already be a box office failure … a victim of the ‘Get Woke or Go Broke’ Great War. 

The Fandom Strikes Back

Ghostbusters 2016 (Columbia Pictures), Star Wars The Last Jedi (Disney/ Lucasfilms), Doctor Who Season 11 (BBC), Star Trek Discovery (CBS Television), all have one thing in common… they have all gone to war with their customers.

In the last few years, through the use of social media, fans have become a unified force that will waste no time in making their displeasure known to the television and movie studios that produce their favorite content. In some cases the criticism has been a real attempt to help the producers and directors to stay true to the established canon, and in other cases it is has been brutal public floggings for perceived transgressions.

Producers, directors, and actors have been praised and vilified. Some have taken the criticism with a grain of salt and others have gotten into social media shouting matches with overzealous fans. To be completely honest, television and movie studios have always insulated themselves from the general public, and the vocal fandom. Companies like Disney and Warner Bros. have firewalls in the form of PR departments that handle the day-to-day vagaries of unhappy fans and harsh critics.

However, the fandom is now equipped with the power of the internet and social media, and the firewalls that were in place have been breached. The unruly fans can literally make or break a movie by word of mouth, and a keyboard stroke. And for better or worse, the fans are flexing their collective muscles, making their voices heard, and telling the creators of their favorite content that they work for them.

Instead of trying to embrace this new paradigm shift, the television and movie studios have decided to stamp out any honest debate and criticism. The strategy that they have decided to use is equal parts shameful and dangerous… any vocal group of fans are quickly labeled as a bunch of xenophobic, sexist, misogynist, misfits. And therefore, their concerns have no merit, and should be ignored as racist ramblings.

Columbia Pictures and Paul Feig, used this strategy to silence the fandom over the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot. End result … the movie bombed at the box office.

Disney used a similar strategy when the fan base voiced dissatisfaction over Star Wars The Last Jedi. End result … Disney and Lucasflims were publically humiliated when the fandom boycotted the Ron Howard-directed Solo: A Star Wars Story.  

Lastly, the BBC employed a similar strategy when Doctor Who fans expressed their concerns over the direction the series was going with the new show runner and actress picked to play the titular role. End result.  The UK consoldiated ratings have remained steady, but the US viewership has dropped by 2 million. 

Ironically, the slogan that has become the battle-cry for the Star Wars fandom is "Get Woke or Go Broke."

Yes  … fans can be rough and unruly. They can hurt your feelings, and make you see red. They also can be loyal and forgiving, and appreciative of quality art and entertainment. They don’t like to be ignored or labeled as racist knuckle draggers. Last but not least, they pay the bills … and the customer is supposedly always right. 

Any media company or executive that forgets that is going to get a harsh reminder.

**Disclaimer: there have been a few instances were some people have behaved in a manner that is equal parts sexist, cruel, and morally reprehensible. This article does not condone such behavior nor does it attempt to gloss over vulgar and mean spirited bullying. **