Movies: Star Trek Into Darkness

Score:  **** out of ***** (A-)

Long Story Short:  J.J. Abrams returns to the helm of his rebooted Star Trek (presumably for the last time before he takes over Star Wars) and this one is even better than the first.  Pine and Quinto (Kirk and Spock) once again lead an impressive ensemble with brilliance.  Into Darkness also shares its predecessors sense of humor, and bumps up the action a notch or two.  Unfortunately, it also suffers from a somewhat underdeveloped plot and villain, like the first.  Still, it sets a bar for 2013 summer blockbusters that will be hard to beat.


I was hoping to have seen another film - and written another review - sooner than this, but sometimes things don't go as planned.  I'm back with another post, though, and barring further setbacks should be putting out more on a consistent basis this summer.  I have been a fan of the Star Trek franchise for years, although almost exclusively the spin-off series - I've never seen the original TV show and have seen just bits and pieces of the original films.  Nevertheless, I was intrigued in 2009 when super producer J.J. Abrams was rebooting the original for a new movie and I liked the result a lot, particularly the cast.  Due to that film's success, and the great reviews coming in for this one, it was a no-brainer for me to see the newest installment.  Star Trek Into Darkness was directed by J.J. Abrams and stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Benedict Cumberbatch.

Into Darkness throws the audience straight into the heat (literally and figuratively) of a mission by the U.S.S. Enterprise and its crew.  Displaying his usual courage - as well as recklessness - Captain Kirk (Pine) manages to avert disaster for a strange new world in addition to saving his first officer Spock's (Quinto) life.  On returning to Earth, however, Kirk is rewarded with a demotion, losing his command of the Enterprise.  At the same time, a terrorist within Starfleet's (sort of like the U.N./NASA/U.S. military combined) own ranks makes trouble and then flees to a distant planet.

With Starfleet discombobulated, Capt. Kirk decides to take the hunt for this terrorist into his own hands; he is given back command of the Enterprise (come on, you knew this would happen, it's not a spoiler!).  The manhunt turns into something much bigger, however, and Kirk must rely on the input of his still-new but tightly-knit crew to put it all together and arrive at peace and justice.

As in 2009's Star Trek, the cast of Into Darkness is one of the strongest parts of the film.  Returning as Captain Kirk, Chris Pine is even better than before as the star of the franchise.  Having already introduced him last time, we don't get as much of his smart-ass brashness (both a good and bad thing) and Pine really settles into the role and now fully owns it.  Sometimes franchises with a significant new villain give the shaft to secondary characters, but this is not the case for Quinto's Spock, fortunately.  Really, everything I said about Pine as Kirk is true in this case as well; not only that, Quinto gets some of the most poignant scenes in this one and nails them.  Benedict Cumberbatch as John Harrison (no, that's not just a typo of my own name) is well-cast as a cunning, dangerous, chilling villain.  However, the script didn't fully take advantage of his character and so he is a welcome addition but a frustrating one at the same time.

With events flying at full throttle, Into Darkness incorporates the supporting crew members to an impressive degree.  Simon Pegg continues to be an inspired choice as perpetually exasperated (and hilarious) chief engineer Scotty; Zoe Saldana as Spock's partner Uhura disappears at times but really shines in one particular sequence; Karl Urban as Dr. "Bones" McCoy is a reassuring presence through most of the film; and even John Cho (Sulu) and Anton Yelchin (Chekov) get some very nice moments. Finally, there are a few new Starfleet officers who fit right in, but that's all I'll say about them.

Some have complained that J.J. Abrams' style has transformed Star Trek into a clone of its heated rival, Star Wars, thanks to heavy doses of action.  As a Trek fan myself, I can feel some sympathy for that view... but I feel more strongly that the new style is very entertaining (note: I could see Star Trek becoming something like Batman in that different creative teams - director/actors/writers - come up with their own distinct takes on the franchise).  With a few exceptions, the action in Into Darkness has a purpose and is meaningful.  And when the inspired minds of J.J. Abrams and his writers combine with the incredible CGI artists, the results are some of the most spectacular sequences in Hollywood.  Despite a darker tone - hence the title - Into Darkness retains about the same amount and quality of humor as its predecessor, Pine and Pegg being the standouts.  Finally, building on the themes of the 2009 film, Into Darkness boasts a sweeping score (by Michael Giacchino, frequent collaborator with Abrams) that resembles some of adventure film's other classics.

***

I almost gave this film a straight "A".  I really wanted to, and at some point perhaps I'll upgrade it.  The cast is great - probably the best part about it, really.  It has a great, and appropriate, sense of humor.  The pacing is very good, and the action is balanced (although at times gratuitous - a race through space and a one-man demolition by Harrison come to mind).  I think with respect to the Enterprise crew, the film is very tight.  However, as with the 2009 film, the villain and plot elements could have been significantly improved with a little more effort.  I understand that Star Trek technology is not just fake but also implausible; still, a more "authentic" feel of this made-up universe would be nice, rather than slapping Trekkie-things together haphazardly as is convenient for the plot.  The more specific plot problems also relate to the villain:  there was so much potential but the result felt kind of empty.  I kept waiting for another twist to reveal the real plans of the cunning Harrison, but it never materialized.  Again, though, the strength of characters, humor, and action (with cool music as bonus) are easily enough to make this one of the year's top films so far.  I just hope they work on the aforementioned issues - present in both films - for the next installment.  Highly recommended for all.