For those of you unaware, the man pictured above is Roberto Orci. Orci, with his longtime writing partner Alex Kurtzman, are the screenwriters on some of the biggest films of the last few years like Transformers, Star Trek, and most recently The Amazing Spiderman 2. They are a very successful pair of writers and have had the luck to work on films of this caliber. But their films, while hugely successful financially, are often times not very good when it comes to the quality of the story and the writing.
Recently, Orci and Kurtzman split up as a writing team. This split was cited as having to do with each of them wanting to pursue new things creatively. However, at the time of this split both men were working on a screenplay for a third Star Trek film in the rebooted series. With Kurtzman gone, it leaves Orci as the man running things from a writing standpoint. It was recently announced that Orci would continue to work with two writers at Bad Robot (JJ Abrams production company) on the new Trek script. But it was also reported that Orci also has made it clear to Paramount that he would like to direct this third Trek film as well.
Now before I elaborate on the reasons this is a terrible idea, let me just lay out a few facts:
1) When this third Star Trek film is released it will be on the 50th anniversary of the first airing of the original series on NBC.
2) Orci has not directed ever. Not music videos. Not television. And certainly not films.
Ok, so this third Star Trek film in this new series is coming out at a pretty important time in the history of the franchise. Pretty important indeed. So important, in my humble opinion, to allow for a first time director to take the helm. No, it should be someone good. Someone who knows what they are doing and can bring some great things to this film.
After the moderate success of Star Trek Into Darkness, Paramount needs this third film to do well in order to continue justifying making future films in this new universe. Having Orci direct probably won't help matters much and in fact could make things worse. The man is partly responsible for writing one of the worst films in the Trek history with the aforementioned Into Darkness. Is he really the right person to direct this third installment?
Orci claims to be a big time Trekker. But to me I have to question that assertion because I don't feel that Mr. Orci really understands what makes Trek so unique in the science fiction landscape and what endears it so much to the fans and general public. If you look at his two Trek films, you see a pattern of abandoning what makes Trek what it is in exchange for a big action sequence or simply to move the plot forward.
There is no exploration in Orci's Trek films. There is no sense of wonder. It is a small world with recycled villains and plots, poor character choices, and logic defying actions. It is Star Trek for the ADD generation.
Now I will concede that there is really only four good films out of all of the Star Trek films, those being: STII, IV, VI and First Contact. That means there is alot of bad out there when it comes to Trek on film. But even with that being the case I think the fans of the franchise deserve a great film on the 50th anniversary. They deserve a film that honors the history of Trek while also taking it to new places and new heights creatively.
I do believe fully that Trek can be so much more cinematically. It has the ability to be as good as any of the great sci-fi films. It has the potential to be highly entertaining while also being appropriately allegorical. That is what the best Trek does. It entertains while also making you think. It dresses up current social and societal concerns in sci-fi trappings and questions them. That is the Trek I love and that is the Trek I want to see up on the big screen. A big film with big ideas.
Sadly that is not what we will get if Orci is allowed to direct. In fact, we will get more of the same. The same small ideas and half baked plots. The fans, myself included, deserve more on the 50th anniversary. That is why I am praying for this not to come to pass. Of course I have other, more important frankly, things to pray for. But this is being added as well. As a lifelong fan of Trek, I just want a good Star Trek film, that is all. That is all I hope for as the anniversary approaches. I am hoping (and of course praying) that Paramount understands this and makes the right choices about Trek 3.
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