New Star Trek = More Time Travel. Good or bad?

By now, those of you who are diehard Trek fans probably know most of the story behind the new Star Trek film. (We are tenatious that way.) You also know that like Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek: First Contact, and countless TV episodes, time travel plays a major role in the plot. Additionally, if you read the prequel story, "Star Trek: Countdown", time travel rears its familiar head there as well. Many have questioned the wisdom of going to this tactic yet again. Are filmakers and storytellers beating a dead horse with "slingshot effects" and history preserving voyages through time?

For me, I agree with most that time travel has been a bit overplayed in the Star Trek universe, but in this instance, I think it works, and here's why. First, it's important to note that the time travelling that took place in the previous movies and many of the episodes was deliberate. The intention was to go back in time, specifically to undo damage to the timeline. In the new movie, however, time travel is completely accidental (per the events of Countdown). There is no pre-meditated grand scheme to undo or change history. Secondly, you need to accept the premise that JJ Abrams wants a fresh start to Star Trek and part of that fresh start means seeing our beloved characters in a way that may, on some levels, conflict ever so slightly with what we already know about them. Subtle changes in origin and character development to make them more accessible to you and I. But how do you squeeze a tweaked origin like this into an already well known, firmly established universe? Well, by creating an alternate universe, of course! I say that tongue and cheek, but consider. In "our" Trek universe, the one you and I grew up in, the "Countdown" story (and for those of you who haven't read it yet, run away now) takes place in the Next Generation era and depicts the most current events in that timeline. Nemesis has happened and Spock is still on his Unification mission. It is in this universe that Romulus is destroyed by an exploding sun and the galaxy now has to, or will have to, deal with the political, social and military ramifications of their absence. Again, still all part of the continuing, forward moving storyline. (Imagine being the lucky author who gets to write the first Next Gen or Voyager story in an almost Romulan-less universe!) But in the "alternate" universe, created by Abrams with the new movie, the introduction of Nero and the Romulan race (through accidental time travel) early in Starfleet's history changes forever the direction of that universe and the characters within it. A completely different timeline than the one we know is now unfolding before them. Yes, these are essentially the same characters, but the opportunity exists now for old tales of familiar lore to be told with bold new twists, all the while keeping the "original" universe and its timeline completely intact and relevant. This also plays well to the whole concept of introducing Star Trek to a new generation of fans.

So, although Abrams could have easily done an exciting adventure story set exclusively in the original era, I think it would have been hampered by what ultimately killed the franchise to begin with...just another story with the same familiar characters squeezed into an already overcrowded bookshelf. Worse yet, we already know the future of that timeline. However, in this "new" timeline, the future has yet to be set! Just imagine, for a minute, if this new timeline were the Alternate Universe timeline!!! What if the Kirk and Spock of this movie eventually become the evil Kirk and Spock we glimpsed in "Mirror, Mirror"? We might just be witnessing the birth of Emperor Tiberius Kirk, and how frakkin cool would that be????