Review of 'Star Trek Into Darkness'
The second foray into the Star Trek universe by one J.J. Abrams sees a terrorist (Benedict Cumberbatch) sets off a bomb in London then attacks a meeting of the starship captains at Starfleet headquarters. The madman is traced to somewhere Starfleet cannot go to - The Klingon home world. The Enterprise captained by Kirk (Chris Pine) is sent on a covert mission along with a large number of torpedoes to make sure the terrorist is stopped…
Things are not quite as they seem in this big-budget sequel to Star Trek as Abrams keeps us guessing as to the true nature of events which makes this a cut above standard popcorn blockbusters. I particularly liked the many nods to the Star Trek franchise that came before (without giving too much away) including Leonard Nimoy's welcome return as Spock providing much needed advice.
This installment sees the relationship between Spock (Zachary Quinto) and Kirk taking center stage which adds a degree of humanity to the proceedings but is not quite convincing but enough for fans of the series who know of their history. Newcomers to the franchise will likely not see it. Part of the fun of this new series is the witty banter between the characters and that is here in spades - Thankfully - adding a bit of levity to the somewhat weighty events of the movie (nothing can be taken for granted, it seems). And, for those that have seen this movie, I was not entirely happy at the resolution of the death near the end of the movie (seemed like a cop-out to me).
The effects are unbelievable which calls into question what might be left for a third movie. There is not a lot left of Starfleet…
Loads of fun. A welcome return and looking forward to the next!
Rating: “Nearly perfect, but not quite”
Review Date: 2013-05-19
Directed by: J.J. Abrams
Studio: Paramount
Year: 2013
Length: 132 minutes
Genre: Science Fiction
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1408101/
Other reviewed films by J.J. Abrams:
- Star Trek (2009)
- Super 8 (2011)
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)