While I did not grow up watching Star Trek TV series, I was sure that my parents did. I remember sitting beside Mom while her eyes were all glued on this TV series when I was still very young. I wasn’t a Star Trek fan and didn’t bother checking it out in YouTube now. My brother and I were more of GI Joe, Transformer, Mickey Mouse and friends, Sesame Street and yes, even Batibot kids – that was our epoch.
So when Star Trek movie trailer was previewed early this year, I was not that keen about it. To me, it was just some (or another) sci-fi movie produced by Hollywood.
But all these changed after watching the movie.
The movie opened with USS Kelvin being attacked by Nero, a Romulan captain who wants to avenge his destroyed homeworld, Romulus. As the USS Kelvin is evacuated, newly-appointed ship captain, George Kirk decided to stay behind in order to cover their fleeing shuttlecrafts – saving many lives including that of his wife and son, James T. Kirk.
Fast forward to the present, we see James T. Kirk being synonymous to trouble - having gone to bar fights and yes, being a pain in the butt. And then he met Capt. Christopher Pike who tells him of his late father’s heroic act and convinced him to join the Starfleet.
Projecting this certain air on his head and being quite difficult at that, it took so much for James to earn the respect of his colleagues, most especially that of Spock.
Soon, they caught themselves hand in hand in combating Nero as The Enterprise was being attacked by the latter. How they did it, is one of the many reasons why people (both Star Trek fans and otherwise) should see this JJ Abrams film.
This movie, for me, also tells us how the camaraderie of James T. Kirk and Spock was inevitably formed. Both men grew up with such pretty troubled lives – Kirk grew up without a father figure while, Spock is a half-breed (half-Vulcan and half-human) that easily made him an object of mockery.
What with the superb storytelling, time warps and special effects, this movie is a top notch. And it was not thorny at all for newbies, like me, to appreciate the gist.
I so heart it.
Live long and prosper!
