Star Trek: Lower Decks review – breezy yet forgettable animated spin-off | The Guardian

An unusual addition to the franchise refreshingly unshackles itself from the mothership, yet it can’t quite beam its way to anywhere distinctive Despite being set in the same universe as Gene Roddenberry’s landmark series and its myriad film and television offshoots, Star Trek: Lower Decks, an innocuous new animated series about a crew of up-and-coming Starfleet crew members, never leans on its own mythology. The lead characters are young goofballs who work on the crew of the USS Cerritos, a ship specializing in “second contact”, which means they visit new planets after the A-team has already done the more prestigious work. Their jobs are routine and bureaucratic. They usually involve paperwork. None of the characters resemble Captain Kirk or Mr Spock, mentioned here only in passing and usually as the butt of a joke. Instead, Lower Decks smartly creates new, original characters who are funny, relatable, and fully independent of their source material. If Star Trek weren’t in the title, you might not even notice the similarities. Related: Muppets Now review – Disney+ reboot boasts wit, warmth and charm Continue reading…

An unusual addition to the franchise refreshingly unshackles itself from the mothership, yet it can’t quite beam its way to anywhere distinctive

Despite being set in the same universe as Gene Roddenberry’s landmark series and its myriad film and television offshoots, Star Trek: Lower Decks, an innocuous new animated series about a crew of up-and-coming Starfleet crew members, never leans on its own mythology. The lead characters are young goofballs who work on the crew of the USS Cerritos, a ship specializing in “second contact”, which means they visit new planets after the A-team has already done the more prestigious work. Their jobs are routine and bureaucratic. They usually involve paperwork. None of the characters resemble Captain Kirk or Mr Spock, mentioned here only in passing and usually as the butt of a joke. Instead, Lower Decks smartly creates new, original characters who are funny, relatable, and fully independent of their source material. If Star Trek weren’t in the title, you might not even notice the similarities.

Related: Muppets Now review – Disney+ reboot boasts wit, warmth and charm

Continue reading…