Abruptly, the Enterprise was stuffed with creatures of bizarre sizes and shapes, whether or not it’s Scotty’s pal Keenser (Deep Roy) or the visually hanging Jaylah (Sofia Boutella) from Past. Not solely did these additions make the films extra visually hanging, however in addition they underscored the first hope of the franchise’s utopian future: that beings from all completely different worlds can come collectively and work for the great of all. The Kelvin films achieved that dream with out making it an express a part of their tales, merely taking as a on condition that the universe is numerous.
4. Protect the Prime Timeline
One might legitimately argue that the perfect second in Star Trek historical past happens within the 2009 movie. Particularly, it happens proper firstly, when George Kirk sacrifices himself to save lots of his crew. That brief epilogue, starring a pre-Thor Chris Hemsworth as Jim Kirk’s father, has sufficient awe and emotion to face alongside something in “The Inside Mild,” “Metropolis on the Fringe of Ceaselessly,” or “It’s Solely a Paper Moon.”
However the even higher half is that the arrival of Nero and the destruction of the Kelvin gave Abrams an entire new quadrant to play in. In contrast to different reboots, similar to DC Comics Disaster on Infinite Earths, the Kelvin break up left in tact all the things that got here earlier than, and simply created its personal branching timeline. Thus, we might get Kirk blasting “Sabotage” with out ever compromising something we see in TOS, TNG, or another collection. Certain, they blew up Vulcan to make it occur, and there’s something tragic about having our Spock die so removed from the Enterprise he beloved and the planet he fought to unify, however given the way in which different reboots are inclined to wipe all the things out, it’s a reasonably good compromise.
5. Go Past
The worst of the three Kelvin movies was simply Into Darkness, maybe the worst Trek film ever made. And its main issues have been these widespread to Abrams as a author, together with his tendency to appease followers as a substitute of advancing the story (see additionally: “Rey who?” in The Rise of Skywalker). However outdoors of that entry, the Kelvin films did an admirable job discovering new corners of the Star Trek world to play in.
The 2009 film gave us Nero, a working-class Romulan with not one of the deviousness that we so usually affiliate with the race. Past did even higher, introducing Jaylah, a member of a completely new species, which gave a enjoyable twist to the Coronary heart of Darkness plot that drove the first villain, Krall.
These may appear easy advances, however in comparison with nu-Trek‘s countless must repeat the previous, the films function essential reminder. Trek should, essentially, boldly go ahead and hunt down new lives and new civilizations. The Kelvin films could have finished looking for imperfectly, however the did do it. And now its the job of right now’s Trek to do the identical, at the same time as we transfer on from Kelvinverse.
