I loved Star Trek Into Darkness. Earlier this week I wrote about my concerns that a Star Trek movie wouldn’t be able to capture all of the heart and spirit of Gene Roddenberry’s universe. While STID didn’t fully capture Star Trek’s heart, it did show a lot more if it than I had anticipated. The movie was exciting, filled with tremendous action and had enough of Roddenberry’s vision to keep this long-time fan emotionally invested.
Below are some thoughts I had while watching Star Trek Into Darkness. I’ll do my best to keep things spoiler-free.
Principles
A large part of Roddenberry’s vision of the future is a principled human race that follows its moral center. Roddenberry believed the best about humanity and thought that we could achieve everything in his 24th century by hard work and human ingenuity. The principles of Starfleet and the Federation stand at the core of the Star Trek universe and they shine through in this movie. Some of the best episodes of any Star Trek series are those that focus on the dilemma of the crew choosing between what they think is best and the principles they swore to uphold. STID touches on those principles far more than I thought possible in a summer blockbuster.
Friendship
Along with its principles, the Star Trek universe is also built upon the relationships among the crewmembers. The friendship between Kirk and Spock stands at the center of STID, as it did with the original series and all of the original crew’s movies. The friendship between Kirk and Spock is so fascinating because they are so different. Kirk and Spock perfectly complement each other and find greater strength together than they could as individuals. Star Trek introduced that friendship and STID really explores that friendship. We can learn a lot from their friendship and how we can benefit from having others in our lives to complement our strengths and shore up our weaknesses.
Darkness
When the title for Star Trek Into Darkness was first announced I was intrigued by the darkness. What darkness? Where’s this darkness coming from? Will there be a night light in the darkness? Without giving too much away, some of the darkness referenced is our own. We all have darkness inside of us and there’s nothing we can do about it. In Gene Roddenberry’s future humanity moves beyond its darkness by sheer will. Unfortunately our darkness is too deep and no matter how hard we try, no matter how advanced our technology, it will always be there. Thankfully Jesus gives us the opportunity to trek out of the darkness and into the light.
I loved Star Trek Into Darkness and I’m already excited to see it again. It wasn’t just a great movie but I really thought it reflected the heart of the Star Trek universe. It didn’t lessen my desire for a new Star Trek television series but it will help tide me over until that day hopefully dawns.
What did you think about Star Trek Into Darkness?
Hey Scott – I was avoiding spoilers, so it’s taken me a while to get around to your reviews. While I think we were “told” more than “shown” about Kirk and Spock’s friendship, I agree that STID was a pleasant surprise in at least making an effort – and a fairly good one, I think – to have the “morality tale” aspect of Trek intact.
Now, on to your spoiler review…! Looking forward to reading it.
Many thanks other sorts of great document. The site more could any individual get that form of info in these an ideal way associated with writing? I own a demonstration up coming week, that i’m at the find these kinds of info.