In common with so many established film franchises these days, Star Trek takes us back to the beginnings of the characters with whom we’ve become very familiar. But unlike the majority of them, this is a brilliant success (notwithstanding some problematic plot devices): it’s exciting, fresh and up to date, but is also faithful to its forty-plus year heritage.
The main characters are almost all instantly recognisable, even though director JJ Abrams insisted that the actors should not simply attempt to imitate their predecessors who defined the roles. The main characters are not just recognisable, they’re as compelling as the originals, setting this crew up well for sequels. Also in contrast to most ‘origins’ films, the story of how the crew of the USS Enterprise came together, and what made them such a great team, is actually an interesting story.
Given the number of Star Trek stories there have been over the years, it is surprising that no one has explored this before. Producer Damian Lindelof says, "For me, the idea that no one has ever told an origin story for Kirk and Spock and all these characters was very cool. We had a great conversation about how this crew of people might have come together and learned to sacrifice certain parts of their personalities to get along."
The story opens with the USS Kelvin being attacked by a massive Romulan ship, the Narada. When Captain Robau (Faran Tahir) is summoned onto the Narada, he leaves George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth) in charge. Captain Nero (Eric Bana) of the Narada wants one piece of information: the whereabouts of Ambassador Spock – a question which shows that the Romulans have come from the future somehow. Back aboard the Kelvin, when Kirk realises that Nero has killed Robau, he orders an evacuation of the ship, including his wife Winona (Jennifer Morrison) who is going into labour. Kirk stays at his post to hold off the Narada while the shuttles escape. In his last moments, he keeps radio contact with Winona while she gives birth to a son, whom they name James Tiberius. It’s a moving start to the film, exemplifying Abrams’s distinctive ability to combine high action with intense emotion.
We move forward several years to see James T Kirk as an adolescent getting into trouble with the police, and later as a hot-headed young man (Chris Pines) trying to chat up an attractive Starfleet cadet, Uhura (Zoë Saldana), and getting into a bar brawl with some of her male companions. JJ Abrams remarks, "We had the idea that Kirk would be almost a rebel without a cause when we first meet him. He’s a renegade, a nonconformist, a go-by-the-gut kind of guy, but he’s basically lost."
The fight is broken up by the arrival of Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood) who is thrilled to discover who the young man is, since Pike had written his dissertation on Kirk’s father and his heroism. He sees Kirk’s potential and encourages him to join Starfleet. As Pike makes to leave, he challenges Kirk: "Your father was captain of a starship for twelve minutes. He saved 800 lives, including your mother’s – and yours. I dare you to do better."
Bruce Greenwood comments, "I’ve always liked father-son stories and there’s something of that in Pike and Kirk. Every son wants to avoid his father’s mistakes and when Pike comes to Kirk and says 'I dare you to do better', that is the one thing that gets to him. As for Pike, he sees something remarkable in Kirk and is willing to take a chance on him, even though Kirk gives him numerous opportunities to regret it."
Meanwhile, across the galaxy, a young Spock is bullied because he is half-human. When his tormentors call his father a traitor, Spock snaps and lays into one of them. His father (Ben Cross), a member of the Vulcan Council, is disappointed at this display of raw emotion from his son. He reminds Spock that he must learn to "control emotions so that they don’t control you".
The boy’s difficulty is that, with a Vulcan father and a human mother, there are two natures competing within him: the rational and the instinctive. His father is aware of this and suggests that the boy must choose between them: "Spock, you will always be a child of two worlds, and fully capable of determining your own destiny. The question you face is, which path will you choose? This is something only you can decide." Alex Kurtzman comments, "It was really fascinating to think about young Spock, who is literally torn between the Vulcan and human world and, like any child, is trying to figure out where he fits in."
