Friday, May 10, 2013

"Star Trek" (2009) Retrospective


When They Were Younger: A Look Back At J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek”   by Bennett Campbell Ferguson
Looking back on my life, I sometimes find it hard to believe that there was a time when I wasn’t obsessed with Vulcans, androids, and every other facet of the “Star Trek” universe.  Yet such a time once existed, until the day in 2009 when me and my sister went to the Moreland Theater to see “Star Trek,” a reboot of the entire series directed by J.J. Abrams.  Watching the film, I could not have imagined that my life was about to change—I was to immersed in the moment.

            It was the opening scene that did it.  “Star Trek” begins with a sequence that seems at first oddly unforthcoming.  We watch a spaceship moving slowly through a passage of spaced seared by golden light that fills the screen, and then we meet the crew on board.  But there’s not really any explanation of what’s going on—we are not told who these people are or what kind of mission they are on.  Quite simply, Mr. Abrams throws us into the middle of the action with minimal fanfare.

            And yet it soon becomes clear that the details don’t matter.  As the ship gets caught in a one-sided battle with a massive, spider-like craft, the focus shifts from special effects to the people on board, specifically Captain George Kirk.  Reconciled to a horrible defeat, Kirk tries to stand firm against the enemy so his crew can evacuate in shuttles, but there’s a price—it means saying goodbye to his wife Winona, who has just given birth to their child.

            Like most viewers, I was aware and that the child being born would grow up to become the hero of the film, James Tiberius Kirk.  Yet no description could have prepared me for the emotion of the experience.  It’s all in the way it’s done.  “I need you to push, now!” a doctor tells Winona as their shuttle rockets silently into open space.  And as she pushes, Winona screams, a screams that echoes out into the stars because by this point, the noise of battle and explosions has been excised from the soundtrack.  The quietness, enriched by Michael Giacchino’s lyrical music, whisks us into an emotional trance of beauty and horror and hope. 

            It was not until later that I realized that this kind of scene was not standard for “Star Trek,” and that most of the series really revolved around complex intellectual discussions held in interstellar boardrooms.  And after watching “Trek” shows like “The Next Generation” and “Deep Space Nine,” I have come to appreciate the talky nature of the series and in many ways, I feel that philosophical chatter is the heart of “Star Trek” (I recently watched an episode in which a discussion about political oppression is kicked off with a character saying, “Try an Earth drink!  It’s called root beer!”   

            And yet I still feel strongly about Mr. Abrams’ vision.  With reckless abandon, he used his movie as an opportunity to hurl us into a sea of great emotions—pain, sadness, love.  With that experience, Mr. Abrams and “Star Trek” itself earned my everlasting loyalty and that is why as I await the forthcoming sequel (“Star Trek Into Darkness,” which opens this Thursday), I am an excited not only about seeing the film, but being plunged into that universe once more. 

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