Star Trek Into Darkness

After making "Super 8", director J. J. Abrams went back to helming the next Star Trek movie. "Into Darkness" was quite fun to see in IMAX (even again three years later as part of a marathon which concluded with "Star Trek Beyond"). The story of "Star Trek Into Darkness" was well crafted in that it was both funny, exciting and dramatic. The filmmakers did a great job in taking what was so good about the first film and applying it again while at the same time telling a bigger story. The Oscar-nominated special effects were quite impressive and the 3D conversion was okay. The filmmakers also did a lot of things in-camera which I admire. I tried to see this movie as early as I could but regardless of that, the plot twist was spoiled for me.

Even though "Star Trek Into Darkness" is not as cool as its predecessor, it was a lot better than other sequels. Then tends to be the case anyways. The friendship between Kirk and Spock is stronger but it still is strained. Pike's role in the movie and what happens to him was great storytelling. He has become a father figure to Kirk in this new reality. Kirk needed a strong motive early on. I enjoyed how the filmmakers used the fact that Vulcans don't lie. We get a good deal of humor and drama from that alone. I also like the moment when Kirk says to Chekov "Put on a red shirt." It sounds almost like a death sentence. I am grateful for the brief relationship troubles between Spock and Uhura as well as the way that Spock makes-up on the way to Kronos. It is dramatic and very much in character for Spock. I was excited when Kronos is mentioned because I wanted to see how Klingons would look in this rebooted universe. I was satisfied, especially by how they behaved as well. I am aware that Klingon is a full-developed language from the TV show & previous movies and you can definitely tell that in this film. The scene in the bar with Scotty was fun. I love how Simon Pegg points to his phone when Kirk calls for example. That is so cliché in a bar scene like this when your buddy calls you up. While I was able to guess a lot of the story, I was kept guessing with other parts of the plot and that is a credit to Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. They are the next Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. They created some hopelessness during the climax and suddenly we realize that the resolution has been under our noses the whole time. The homage to the 1982 film "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" towards the end of this show was the best part of this sequel from an emotional stance. While I have not seen that classic film, I am familiar with pop culture and could tell that the powerful scene between Kirk and Spock in the climax was something we have seen before. I was waiting the entire film to hear the final line of that scene but I sort of wish another character had said it.

The acting performances were everything I was hoping for and it looks like these actors have truly embodied these iconic characters. Zachary Quinto went some great new distances with his character. Leonard Nimoy was once again a welcome sight even though he had said he would not make a cameo in this film. Zoe Saldana did amazing in speaking Klingon (her experience from working on "Avatar" came in handy) and when Sulu is in the "chair", John Cho owned it (at least until Kirk got back to the Enterprise). Benedict Cumberbatch is a unique actor. I first saw him in Spielberg's "War Horse" but "Star Trek Into Darkness" is the first time I have taken note of him. He gave a very cold performance and it was a great choice. I subsequently became quite excited for his performance as Smaug in "The Hobbit" sequel. I also like Alice Eve's character and performance. J.J. Abrams was able to convert his stereotypical scene lighting and cinematography to 3D very impressively. He continues to add a sense of realism in that you believe this universe is our future. Did anyone else see the San Francisco cable car during the chase in the climax? I thought that was a nice touch. It was really great to have Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood as the sound guys also. Oscar winner Michael Giacchino's work should not go unnoticed. His music during the Kronos scenes were good.

IMAX 3D was really fun to experience this show. It was too bad that the special effects from "Gravity" outshined the effects in this film. "Star Trek Into Darkness" is funny but also thickens the plot and I like the "five year mission" plot point at the end. The filmmakers worked hard on this movie and it shows. I was hoping we would get another "Star Trek" movie from Abrams but instead, he boldly went where no Star Wars fan has gone before: the director's chair.

4 Stars