at the risk of exposing my modest (an understatement) knowledge of one of sci fi's most revered and iconic programs, i'm going to illuminate my sheer excitement and awe over the new Star Trek movie. i hadn't read any reviews prior to seeing it, and have yet to, so my scope is limited in being able to compare its integrity to the old show, but i should know as well as anyone that a remake only earns its reverence when it can succeed on its own merit. this, in my mind, is a battle this year's Star Trek fought boldly, and won. not a note hit off key. not a life spared sentimentally. not a Vulcan hair ever out of place. the characters were consistent, endearing, and uniquely heroic. well, the male characters were at least. that would be my one dissatisfaction; an unfortunate and not uncommon one. there were no dynamic female characters, only two dimensional archetypes. perhaps it was simply upholding of the original show, perhaps it is a sign of a greater discontinuity in our culture's view of women. either way, that's where it failed. but in every other way, it was an awesome representation of our metaphorical struggles, and a hugely entertaining journey on the backs of some pretty bad ass members of Starfleet. (yes, i did just use the words "bad ass" and "Starfleet" in the same sentence. that must qualify for some amped up level of nerd-dom, no?) i didn't find any exchange gratuitous, even the action sequences - which is where i typically wander off. the humor too, walked a fine line, but was so clever and enjoyable, how could you resist? i suppose my only distraction was thinking, "oh! isn't that the girl from House?" or, "where do i know that Russian kid from?" but despite any preconceived imaginings, i was immediately taken in by the story before i could begin to scan my mental imdb. the casting all made sense and was amazing, which was a relief let me tell you.
in what i have seen of Star Trek, what I love most is its simple examination of our deepest concerns about humanity. with no pretense, it asks us to explore our moral stature through seemingly unlikely occurrences; though once examined, they become all too commonplace in our technologically advanced culture. and actually, what i think it shares with Battlestar in this regard, is an intellectual and emotional strength that merely complements the special effects, instead of relying on them for bravado. so i'm still not sure whether i would have liked it more or less had my historical framework been more prolific, but i can confidently proclaim that i'm really glad i saw it, and i may or may not even see it again... in digital... and IMAX.
