How two very different people came together

Rating: 8/10 (15 June 2009)

Blending the past, present, and future of the crew of U.S.S. Enterprise, J.J. Abrams' Star Trek tells us about the origins of Kirk and Spock, the launch of the U.S.S. Enterprise, and how two very different people came together "to explore new worlds, to seek out new life and civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before." More action than Sci-fi, the new Star Trek will keep older Trekkies and newer action/adventure fans happy with its scenes of space conflict utilizing state of the art technology while intelligently exploring the qualities required for command. Opening with a dramatic prologue showing James Kirk's birth after his father heroically sacrificed his life to save his crew, the film flashes back to the boyhood of Kirk and Spock to show us the forces that molded them into leadership roles.
In Iowa, the young Kirk (Chris Pine) is depicted as a rebellious teenager who steals and destroys a car but is convinced by Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood) to attend the Starfleet Academy. Star Trek also follows the early days of Spock (Zachary Quinto) who was taunted by bullies on the planet Vulcan because of his half-Vulcan and half-human ancestry. Soon, he too will join Starfleet and it is not long before the tension between him and Kirk manifests - Spock the cool, rational logician, and Kirk, the bold adventurer. Other members of the crew are the comical ship's doctor Leonard McCoy (Karl Urban), the alluring Communications Chief Uhara (Zoe Saldana), Sulu (John Cho), the gregarious engineer Scotty (Simon Pegg), and the seventeen-year old Chekov (Anton Yechin) whose heavy Russian makes him difficult to understand.
The original Spock, Leonard Nimoy, also appears representing a future Spock as an exile on a frozen planet called Delta Vega. Of course, the film must have a villain, and this time it's a tattooed meanie named Nero (Eric Bana), a Romulan who travels back in time to fulminate about taking revenge on Federation planets (particularly Vulcan and Earth) because his own planet was accidentally destroyed by Spock. Nero certainly has the tools as demonstrated in the release of drills that create a black hole causing a planet to implode killing millions of people. The threat by Nero causes Kirk and Spock to unite their talents and effectively end the debate over who is better suited for leadership. Together they must save the Federation planets and rescue Captain Pike who is being held hostage by the Romulans.
As the narrative reaches its inevitable conclusion, one can certainly admire the state-of-the-art special effects, the convincing performances, and the entertaining plot that depicts the emergence of a spunky crew learning to work together. Unlike earlier space operas like Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, however, there is not much here that one is asked to think about. We are told about the Enterprise's bold mission of space exploration, yet none of that element is present in the film. What we have are the same "evil" enemies, the same high-tech wars, and the same triumphalism that Hollywood has been churning out seemingly forever. Indeed, one is tempted to ask why the writers and directors in Hollywood cannot envision an advance in human consciousness to match the advances in technology, or why they cannot picture a future without ugly monsters, hateful villains, and endless conflict, indeed, why they cannot see a universe filled with beauty and wonder and things we have yet to imagine.