Star Trek Into Darkness, 2013.
Directed by J.J. Abrams.
Starring Chris Pine, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Alice Eve, Bruce Greenwood, and Peter Weller.
SYNOPSIS:
After the crew of the Enterprise find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction.
Star Trek Into Darkness, J.J. Abrams’ follow up to his successful 2009 Trek reboot, is as remarkably assured, visually stunning and breathlessly entertaining as its predecessor and should find favour with casual fans and aficionados alike. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto return as Captain Kirk and Commander Spock, facing up to the threat posed by John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch), a murderous rogue agent whose actions risk triggering all-out war between The Federation and The Klingon Empire. A very strong supporting cast return to flesh out the crew of the Enterprise, led by Zoe Saldana (Uhura), Karl Urban (Bones) and Simon Pegg (Scotty).
The film pulls off the admirable feat of being accessible as a summer action blockbuster to the casual moviegoer whilst simultaneously offering enough reverence for its source material to appease all but the most fanatical Trekkie. Quinto’s exceptionally nuanced Spock provides the intellectual and logical grounding around which all hell can and does break loose, often as a result of the rule book-shredding, all guns blazing pragmatism of Kirk. Visually the film is spectacular, spoiling again and again with lush CGI environments, photo-realistic future tech and devastating scenes of carnage, but this is nicely offset by the emotional weight of a deepening relationship between Kirk and Spock, a necessary centrepiece to add genuine purpose to the action sequences.
The plot races by at breakneck pace, which may seem somewhat at odds with the more serene, cerebral nature of the general Star Trek universe but works due to the pains taken to keep events and tone rooted in the familiar principles of the franchise. Beginning with an exploration of the lengths to which Starfleet members are expected to go to avoid violating the prime directive and with several nods (some more subtle than others) to classic Star Trek moments and heritage, it is clear that this is a labour of love keen to acknowledge and pay homage to the rich history of Trek rather than an arrogant cash-in riding rough shod over what came before.
Chief antagonist John Harrison is an arrogantly superior villain who at first glance appears interchangeable with many a modern sci-fi/comic book heel but is fleshed out over the course of the film in to a three dimensional figure and a credible threat. In his efforts to top Star Trek, Abrams does make the bangs bigger and the stakes higher and it could be argued there are one too many moments where the characters overcome seemingly insurmountable odds which does occasionally puncture the suspense. However, overall Harrison is a figure of menace who appears capable of inflicting genuine peril and loss on the crew of the Enterprise which maintains tension throughout the film’s 133 minutes, a run time that (in a good way) feels much, much shorter.
Star Trek Into Darkness is a tremendous all-round triumph that manages to please multiple audiences simultaneously, entertains thoroughly and deserves to be one of the most successful films of 2013, as it surely will be. J.J. Abrams has built on the solid foundations of Star Trek with a bigger, richer film that is more ambitious in scope and in execution and if the crew behind the success of these first two films is kept together, there is no reason to doubt that the re-imagining of this great franchise will continue to go from strength to strength with future instalments.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Ryan O’Neill
Originally published May 9, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
