Alex Kurtzman is worth following for the jokes, friendships and warmth he brings to complicated science fiction. We are less keen on the extra complications, which too often keep his characters busy without making them interesting.
Fi1m perspective
In Star Trek (2009), the jokes and the growing friendships make another action sequence feel like an interruption. The screenplay by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci gives J.J. Abrams a crew worth spending time with, and we recommend the film despite its thin villain. Editors Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey keep the introductions, comedy and action moving briskly. We would happily have traded some of that action for longer conversations.
His early television writing included Xena: Warrior Princess (1995), whose noisy fights matter less than the friendship. On Alias (2001), he was one of several writers feeding the quest for Rambaldi's relics. We were bored by the repeated missions ending with Sydney turning at a footstep, because the same attempt at suspense kept being used. Jennifer Garner, Victor Garber and Ron Rifkin give us better reasons to stay, particularly in the first two series.
Fringe (2008), co-created with Abrams and Orci, makes a stronger case for staying with a programme through its awkward beginnings. Its case-of-the-week investigations occupy too much of the first season, but John Noble's Walter Bishop gives the longer story an unexpected kindness. The affection is worth waiting for, though we would not blame anyone who tired of the basement explanations first.
In Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), Kurtzman, Orci and Ehren Kruger supply information without giving the fighting a persuasive purpose. Michael Bay's film has convincing machines, but Sam Witwicky and Mikaela Banes get little that makes their company appealing between battles. The effects are the main virtue of a poor film, and no amount of explanation makes its action worth following.
From 2018, Kurtzman has overseen the expanded Star Trek television universe. On Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (2026), he contributes direction and teleplay to a warm school drama steadied by Holly Hunter. The effects sometimes fail to convince, and the students deserve more equal attention. Start with Star Trek; save Fringe for when there is time to give it more than a few episodes.
Biography
Alex Kurtzman is an American screenwriter, producer and director. Born in Los Angeles on 7 September 1973, he attended Wesleyan University and began his career writing with longtime collaborator Roberto Orci.
He is known for co-writing the screenplays for Transformers (2007), Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), Star Trek (2009), Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014). Kurtzman made his directorial debut with People Like Us (2012) and directed The Mummy (2017). He co-created the television series Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and serves as showrunner of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (2026–present), on which he also directs and writes.
Kurtzman produced Now You See Me: Now You Don't (2025). He frequently collaborates with Michael Bay and J.J. Abrams, and founded the production company Secret Hideout.
