So now it is official J.J. Abrams will be directing the next Star Wars movie while producing the 3rd Star Trek movie.
So what are everyone's thoughts on this? Prepare the mighty Lensflare-atron! And set course for a Galaxy far, far away!
Personally I think he's a pretty good choice that most people might have discounted due to his current entanglement with the other big "Star" franchise, but if you think about it, he's always been quite vocal about his love for Star Wars, often mentioning how he was trying to make the new Trek more Star Wars like in a vital, exciting and mythic way. And many a Trek fan has been quoted as not liking the new Abrams Trek due to him making it too Star Wars like in tone. So maybe on that basis he's the ideal man for the job.
Now the new Star Trek was by no means perfect, it was a thrill ride for sure, but for me lacked a little something in substance which I hope will get rectified in the sequel. though a lot of those issues could be attributed to the writers he tends to work with. So hopefully when he comes on board that won't mean a Damon (Prometheus/Lost) Lindelof re-write of the script, as we certainly don't want to see that, especially with such an accomplished writer already in place.
However J.J. Abrams did inject a much needed jolt of vitality not seen in a Trek movie since First Contact, so I must say I'm quite excited about what he could bring to the table here. He also seems quite good at homaging other director's styles while still keeping his own distinct aesthetic in the mix as proven with the Spielberg love letter that was Super-8. So I'd think him more than capable of capturing the feel of the classic original trilogy that we all know and love while still injecting some new energy into it.
The only danger I see is if he creates a new Star Wars too similar in style to the new Trek he's developed, as that is one of the things that has always made both franchises so strong. Yeah they both have 'Star' in the title, but they couldn't be more different and distinct. So we really want to see that distinctive difference remain. Other than that minor misgiving I think that this is just another very positive piece in the puzzle that will lead us towards Star Wars VII. It is now an even more exciting time to be a Star Wars fan in my opinion.
