Star Trek

On Thursday, December 3, I watched the movie Star Trek, a 2009 science fiction film directed by J.J. Abrams based on the original Star Trek television series. The film follows James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) before they meet aboard the “USS Enterprise” to combat the Romulan race. The story establishes an “alternate reality” through time travel, as the leader of the Romulan army named Nero and the original Spock both travel back through time.
Chris Pine did an excellent job portraying James T. Kirk. I enjoyed how Kirk’s persona was characterized by humor, arrogance and decisiveness, rather than the classic hero type leader. Spock however, was a very interesting character because of his half human, half Vulcan heritage. Since Vulcan’s can show now emotion, Spock grew up in a culture where he did not fit in; the only child who could have these feelings of love, hate, anger, and sadness. Spock is constantly exploring the notion of how to evolve in a responsible and respectful way; he is a genius leader but his lack of expressing his emotions bottles up and gets in his way of his guidance and control. Both of these can definitely apply to the development of society, and certainly the world as a whole, could implement: evolving in a respectful, yet responsibly way by not letting our emotions and wants take priority over other’s needs.
The action and special effects in the movie were fantastic. The actors did a extraordinary job of portraying the original characters of Star Trek, yet they did not impose upon the line of imitation. Each actor added their own spin the characterized, and modernized the humor. However, if I could mention one negative thing about the movie would be that it is confusing at some points. I had to pause and think about the time-traveling factor and the alternate realities of how the same characters were existing at the same time and how this affected the future, etc. Besides that, I would give this movie an A. I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys science fiction, comedies, and action films. I cannot say I particularly enjoy the original Star Trek episodes from television, but this moive did a great job explaining the backgrounds of the characters, and the director did a great job at including a whole other audience that had never seen Star Trek because of this.