Monday, May 11, 2009

Star Trek Lives!

Blogger has now graciously decided to allow me to post, so....

My younger son took me to see Star Trek tonight! It was a much better Mother's Day present than flowers. I really can't remember the last time I saw a movie in a theatre and the last few were all kiddie movies that we took Dear Child (age 6) to see. The problem with that (aside from the fact that I'm generally not that interested in the movie) is that there is almost always some kind of scary scene in the movie that necessitates me either cuddling DC or taking her out to the lobby for a while. And barring that, of course, there is the inevitable bathroom run which must be made at the climax of the action.

Being that my younger son is 24, there were none of the above issues. He bought me refreshments and we had a great time. I must say that I have been a Trekkie since I was 8 years old (when Star Trek first came out) and that I would not have met either of my husbands if it were not for Star Trek (even though my current hubby is not a fan, rather I met him through someone else I knew through Star Trek). This is a beautiful example of Hashgacha Pratit, G-d's personal supervision of each individual, designed to suit each unique person and provide them with the things they need at the right time and in the right place.

As for the movie, there have been good movies and bad ones in the franchise (The Wrath of Khan vs. the first movie with V'ger) and I will go down on the side of saying that this is a good one. It takes canon and shakes it a bit but provides a reason for doing so (much better than ignoring it I always think) and finally takes us back and shows us all our old friends in their younger days. I really think most of us long-time fans weren't ready for this before. If it had been done 20 years ago we would have compared them unfavorably to the original actors who were still, for the most part, in their prime. Now that we've all gotten to a certain age ourselves I think we're ready to appreciate the talents of a younger generation.

I liked all the characters but the one I thought really nailed it was the guy who played Bones. I just loved all his interactions with both Spock and Kirk. Kirk is a little different. I think of this Kirk as Good Will Hunting meets James Tiberius Kirk. And he's got a lot of Tom Paris (from Star Trek: Voyager) in him. Spock was played very well but there were a couple of things that were real departures from how the original Spock would have done things. Only one of them really bothered me but I won't say what it was because I'm trying to remain relatively spoiler-free.

Anyway, if this is the sort of movie you might like, I think you should go see it. Of course, if you're only interested in comedies or period pieces or something, never mind. Although there is one pretty funny scene with Scotty, come to think of it....

I hope all the mothers out there had a Happy Mother's Day! Live long and prosper.

2 comments:

Shevy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Grace. said...

Ah Shevy! I knew there was something about you I liked!

Permit this 60 year old to admit to one 50 year-long vice--ever since a kindly librarian turned me on to Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time," I have been a science fiction fan.

I even write and get published SF short stories from time to time, and, naturally, I am a die-hard Star Trek fan. I decided NOT to go for the first week-end, but I am definitely gonna see this one.

Live long and prosper. [I never could get that finger thingy right!]