I've given the Star Trek series as a whole many chances and simply couldn't sit through an entire movie. They just don't entertain me at all. I'm all for sci-fi movies that aren't all about kicking alien *** and what-not, but not these sci-fi movies. Part of my distaste to them may be due to the fact that they take themselves so seriously.
About half of the movies, including the first, absolutely ******** V'ger one, are damn near unwatchable. They range from absurdly bad to really, really good. But Star Trek IV doesn't take itself seriously (it's a comedy film, actually), and Star Trek II earns its serious tone.
I'm not a huge Star Trek fan either...I just think they're worth trying. Still, if you've been burned by the series before, I can see why you wouldn't want to watch any future ones.
My comparison however was merely drawing from personal experience. I would never say Abrams movie is THE definitive Star Trek movie, neither would I say it is objectively the best of the bunch. But he managed to turn what was once a lacklustre series in my eyes into something rather entertaining. I'm hoping he can usher the same transformation for the Star Wars series.
The Star Wars series only needs to recapture its original charm. The original films had simple stories with straightforward scripts that focused on character development,
not plot development. Not only is this ideal for mass-appeal action movies, it actually leaves room for development of
themes. The real strength of the original films was that, while you could watch them as run-of-the-mill action films, you could also watch them as modern retellings of classic stories. Star Wars, like Lord of the Rings, was a modern myth, and its success reflected its quality. Also, the worlds felt very tangible and well-defined, so they worked as good escapist fantasy.
The prequels were too complicated, focused too much on plot and too little on characters, and character motivations were incoherent. There were themes, but they were
just themes--they had no substance.
One example of a modern film that does what the Star Wars films did is District 9. It's dark, funny, action-packed, and oddly contemplative at times, all at once. Come to think of it, Neill Blomkamp would be a great director for at least one of the movies. Maybe they could get him on board to help with the screenplays, too.
But yes, my point about JJ Abrams is that if he could make a decent movie out of an all-around
awful script with
awful characters, I can only imagine what he could do with better resources. I can't wait to see.