You know, they say never to judge a book by its cover. Historically, I've been pretty good at keeping an open mind about books, movies, and games until I've seen/played/read them (being part of a fanbase that celebrates candy-coloured equines learning lessons about friendship helps to remind one of that).
That said, the title of this motion picture was throwing me for several loops for months prior to its release. Star Trek Into Darkness… It just struck me as a bit redundant. If one is trekking into the stars, well, yeah, obviously it's going to be dark. Space tends to be that way.
My suggestion would be to toss in a colon: Star Trek: Into Darkness. Thusly not implying that our good characters are Star Trekking Into Darkness, but rather that the story itself would be some sort of descent into the dimly lit bowels of mysterious conspiracies of evilness.
Fortunately, this is pretty much what the story wound up being.
As both a moviegoer and a long-time trekker, Star Trek (COLON) Into Darkness was an excellent film that earns high marks both as a stand-alone Star Trek story, and as a sequel.
One of the things that I was concerned about going in was that the story would take a backseat to the action. There's no doubt that J.J. Abrams has created a much more crowd-pleasing action-packed incarnation of Trek.
Thankfully, though there was some off-putting fan-service (Carol Marcus in her underwear was a particularly pointless scene. Given Dr. Marcus's role in the classic movies, I think that Kirk's attraction to her could have been conveyed with more subtlety and human emotion. As opposed to his simply admiring her physical attractiveness) this is still a movie with great comedy and some very poignant character-driven drama, bolstered by performances I felt had only gotten stronger from the first film to the second.
Chris Pine's Kirk and Zachary Quinto's Spock continue to have an excellent dynamic, with some really good conversations about the nature of vulcan emotional suppression and how that affects Spock's friendship with Kirk, his relationship with Uhura, and his ability to deal with fear and loss. The vulcan psyche has always been a deceptively complex issue in the Star Trek universe, and I was pleased to see it returning as a core focus in the story.
And of course, there's good 'ol Sherlock Holmes himself: Benedict Cumberbatch, as the film's villain, John Harrison. This is the work that I hope solidifies him as a bearer of the greatest ability an actor can possess. A superpower that I like to call "The Sean Connery Factor". Or, to be more descriptive, the ability to single-handedly elevate the quality of anything he appears in.
Without giving away any spoilers, his portrayal of John Harrison creates such an intimidating presence, just as much for his prowess as a savage beast in battle as for his sheer intelligence, that it more than makes up for the first movie's fun but forgettable villain.
Now, there are a few minor plotholes dotted here and there, as well as a few continuity issues that, as a trekker, got to me a lot more than they should have (The Enterprise didn't have seatbelts until the late 24th century. This film takes place in the mid 23rd) but I think the most divisive thing about Star Trek: Into Darkness, will be the last 30 minutes of it's run.
Again, without giving any spoilers away, the movie takes full advantage of its alternate universe setting to recreate some scenes from the classic series with a few alternate history twists thrown in. People new to the series probably won't think anything of it, but as a fan, I can only imagine trekkers either finding it completely amazing… or feel horribly distracted and betrayed.
For my part, I absolutely loved it, and when combined with a great cameo by Leonard Nimoy as Spock Prime, it really gave me a good feeling that the continuity I know and love still has a presence here.
All in all, Star Trek DASH COLON APOSTROPHE WHATEVER THERE SHOULD REALLY BE SOMETHING DIVIDING THE FIRST HALF OF THE TITLE FROM THE SECOND Into Darkness does everything a good sequel should do: It continues the story of the first film without rehashing it, further develops the characters we love while introducing some phenomenal new ones, and offers us a good Trek story with the perfect balance of character, comedy, and action.
Also, I actually like the design for the new Klingons. It does a good job maintaining the overall impression whilst making them appear a bit more alien. Bring on a Star Trek 3 focusing on the Klingon/Federation wars, please!
Cheerio, pip pip, and thank you for reading!
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