I feel young

At 1 o'clock this afternoon, in a moderately nice theater in Martin, Tennessee, all of the waiting finally came to end. With my wife on my right side, and my best friend on my left, I was finally able to see J.J. Abrams re-tooling of the Star Trek mythos that I grew up with. I walked in hoping to like it — even expecting to — and praying that my wife would not have her own childhood too cruelly marred by this new treatment of a series that is beloved to both of us. I cannot adequately put into words what was riding on this film for me, and for my wife. And since you all know me, I'm not really going to try. Instead, I will simply skip ahead to the verdict.

Awesome doesn't begin to describe it.

I don't want to artificially inflate the expectations of those of you who haven't seen the movie yet, since all taste is subjective. But with that firmly in mind, I am happy to report that, for me, this film succeeds on a level that I hadn't expected. It could very easily be the finest Star Trek film ever made; I will need time and perspective, and a lot more repeat viewings, before I can tell. But the early results are promising.

Happily, I am not alone. Yvonne, who was almost afraid to see the film, was beyond delighted, I am happy to say. In fact, I believe she liked the film even more than I did; of course, I was so worried about whether or not she was enjoying it, it was rather like viewing the film with one eye shut. Now that I know we both loved it, all is right with the world, and I will be able to give the film my undivided attention on my next viewing.

Where to begin, and how much to reveal? On the latter point, not much; I will give away no spoilers here. I only ask that when you go see this film that you don't walk in with a lot of preconceptions, and you should do well.

Now, let me spend a few paragraphs talking about what was right with the film, and I will be off for tonight.

For starters, I hereby retract my comments on the new design of the USS Enterprise. As she is lovingly photographed in this movie, Enterprise is a beautiful lady indeed. Maybe it is the angles they chose; maybe it is the glorious amount of detail that is present in her every appearance. But I can honestly say I have never seen a better job of showing off the Enterprise in any of the previous movies. What we see here is not quite as lavish as the five-minute-long reveal she got in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. But pound for pound, it's at least second place.

As for the design, I still have some quibbles about how she looks from some angles, and it's still not my favorite of all of the versions of Enterprise. But as of this moment, all of that is cheerfully forgiven.

I am equally as impressed by the way the actors inhabit their characters; Pine is eminently believable as young Kirk, and Zachary Quinto's Spock is wonderfully complex. Bruce Greenwood's Pike more than lived up to my expectations, and, as anticipated, was one of my favorite parts of the film. Especially praiseworthy was Karl Urban's McCoy, in my opinion, although in point of fact, every single "new" actor did a fine job with their characters. It's not a recreation or pantomime of the original actors; the performances here are new. But at the heart of each performance are the characters we're acquainted with.

As far as the plot goes, I can only tell you that it picks you up at the beginning and carries you along without effort; the whole thing was over before I knew it. There is plenty of action typical to Star Trek. And at the end, all concerned have managed to pull off what I thought was impossible: Star Trek is back.

This movie, in my humble opinion, has managed what several previous additions to the franchise have attempted, but fell short of: they have recaptured some of the youthful spirit of the original Star Trek. By going back to square one with the original characters, and laying the foundation of the their relationships brick by brick, they have come closer to the first two seasons of the classic Star Trek that started it all than any of the other well-meaning efforts since then have managed. Some of it may not seem familiar, and not everyone may like it. But for me, there's no question. The series that I loved as a teenager has successfully been reborn. What I saw this afternoon has only whet my appetite. I cannot wait to see more.

Again, let me close with my usual caveat. The opinions expressed here are only those of one opinionated Jedi Master, and wannabe Starship Captain; your results may vary.

On a more personal note, let me say that the new round of shots, while more painful, have been extremely effective — as I write this, I am virtually pain-free, and am nearly as mobile as I was before I started this little adventure in indolence. Even if the treatments do not last long, I feel we have gotten to the heart of the problem, and that the end is finally in sight.

Add to that a very enjoyable Mother's Day weekend, and you have, all in all, one of my favorite weekends in recent memory. Hope it was the same with you. And, of course, Live Long and Prosper.