Star Trek - the kind of movie we need

Rating: 10/10 (28 May 2009)

Funny, isn't it? That a movie that reignites a science-fiction phenomenon from the era of Jimi Hendrix and Berkley's bra burnings could be exactly what our nation needs in this moment from a movie.
Star Trek is a move about hope amidst a time that is in desperate need of hope. A movie that tells us that what we do matters. A movie asks us if we are satisfied with our life, leaving us wondering what kind of life we were called and created to live. As movies like The Kingdom, Syriana, and Body of Lies seek to paint our present world (and flirt with a little too-real portrayal of that which scares, terrifies, and raises difficult memories), Star Trek moves down a different path.
The movie was funny. In both of my views, I found myself around people who were talking to each other, laughing together, and giving commentary about how great the film was (and how the casting was spot on). While the background is space, the director found a way to highlight the film's brightness, not its darkness.
The genre of science fiction and fantasy becomes accessible in this film. There are two kinds of people who will walk into theaters to see this film. The first group knows the original show, its characters and their nuances. The second group is uninformed. However, it was my experience that members of both groups connected with characters like Chekov, Sulu, Uhura, Spock, Bones and Kirk. And Simon Pegg's take on Montgomery Scott earned the most laughs and seemed the perfect balance of new twists, in the spirit of the original. These characters have rough edges; they are imperfect with weaknesses and flaws. Yet, their rough edges do not drive the viewer away; instead, they become winsome and attractive features that connect the viewers to the film. Star Trek was teaching diversity and tolerance before it became en vogue (a Russian character during the Cold War, a black woman during the Civil Rights movement, etc.).
While the story was very plausible and credible from a voyeuristic perspective, the real strength of this film was its characters. Even as the action-packed plot of this J.J. Abrams film partly followed in the path of films like Armageddon and Mission Impossible 3, intense dialogue scenes moved the development of the characters and plot forward here. The development of these characters and their interaction with each other is the driving force of the film. We find so much of ourselves, our dreams and fears, and our time in these men and women. We wonder with Pike about Kirk's future and if he was wasting his life screwing around in Iowa. We feel caught in between Spock's emotional brokenness manifested in fear of pursuing Nemo and Kirk's reckless we-can't-lost desire to pursue him.
While critics often find something about a film to harp on, this film had me falling head-over-heels and when the credits rolled, I looked at my wife and said, "It's already over?! I could have gone for another two hours."