By Chris Snellgrove
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Lately, Paramount launched Part 31, a direct-to-streaming Star Trek film specializing in Starfleet’s secret spy division that handles the Federation’s soiled work. Sadly, the fandom rapidly determined “soiled” was the nicest factor they might say about this stinker of a film, and its Rotten Tomatoes rating has continued to tumble down sooner than Captain Kirk falling off a mountain. Talking of which, Part 31 now has the doubtful honor of being the worst Star Trek film on RT, eclipsing earlier report holder Star Trek V: The Ultimate Frontier.
What Part 31 Beat Out As The Worst Star Trek Film
Earlier than Part 31, the worst Star Trek film was The Ultimate Frontier, which has the excellence of being the one movie within the franchise directed by iconic Kirk actor William Shatner. Evidently he needed to observe within the footsteps of Leonard Nimoy, the beloved Spock actor who directed The Search For Spock and The Voyage Residence. Sadly, Shatner’s directorial debut was a whole flop, and the film mixed broad humor and a nonsensical plot into one thing that belonged within the ship’s waste extraction division reasonably than the massive display screen.
Apparently, after Part 31 initially got here out, The Ultimate Frontier was nonetheless the worst Star Trek film, with the numerous critics featured on Rotten Tomatoes declaring that Paramount’s newest movie was simply barely higher than William Shatner’s notorious blunder. Nevertheless, the way in which Rotten Tomatoes works is that it examines all of its featured’ critics critiques and determines whether or not they finally would or wouldn’t suggest watching a movie. With Part 31, extra reviewers chimed on this previous week, and sufficient of them hated the brand new movie to decrease its rating far beneath that of Star Trek V.
Part 31 Is As Dangerous As Star Trek Will get
As of the time of this writing, the movie’s essential rating is 21 p.c. Correction, within the time it took me to put in writing that sentence it fell to twenty p.c.
The essential consensus for Part 31 humorously reads, “Beam it out of right here, Scotty.” Compared, Star Trek V: The Ultimate Frontier has a essential rating of 23 p.c, with the ironic essential consensus studying “Crammed with uninteresting motion sequences and an underdeveloped storyline, this fifth Trek film might be the worst of the collection.”
“If Paramount has any sense of disgrace or decency, it would now shutter your complete firm and public sale off its belongings to the bottom bidder.” – Joshua Tyler critiques Part 31 for GIANT FREAKIN ROBOT
Going by Rotten Tomatoes, Part 31 is now the worst Star Trek film, and we are able to solely hope that future franchise entries (just like the Star Trek origin film reportedly in growth) don’t handle to be one way or the other worse. The most recent movie is terrible sufficient to make me do what as soon as appeared unattainable: say one thing good about The Ultimate Frontier.
William Shatner’s directorial debut stays a deeply flawed film with an inscrutably silly plot, however it not less than offered some nice character moments (just like the unhappy lore concerning Dr. McCoy and his father) and fascinating concepts (just like the notion of God fairly probably being an evil alien hidden deep inside our galaxy). Part 31, nonetheless, has principally disposable characters and no really unique concepts. It’s the distillation of the prevailing NuTrek ethos the place writers and producers assume followers need nothing greater than violence, bloodshed, and one-note villains.
Hopefully, Part 31 formally being the worst Star Trek film and can function a wake-up name. It’s clear followers need adventures centered on exploration (like Unusual New Worlds) and tales that handle each humor and coronary heart (like Decrease Decks).
Sadly, it’s extra possible that this newest movie is an indicator of how unhealthy the following Star Trek film might be. If and when that occurs, Trek will discover itself in the identical place that Star Wars and the MCU are presently in: desperately in want of a full inventive reboot.
