As I sit here and begin to write this review I am just now seeing the weekend numbers for Star Trek Into Darkness and disturbed greatly that the movie did not bring in the metric shit ton of money the studio “expected” it to over its first weekend.
Why am I disturbed?
Because of all the things I want to be associated with this movie, flop is not one of them. Star Trek Into Darkness is big, bold and just plain damn fun and emotional.
I will keep this review spoiler free, so no need to read ahead with trepidation.
Star Trek Into Darkness moves at a break neck pace. I am not saying this in a bad way, much the contrary. There is no wasted movement here. When I say a lot happens in the first thirty minutes, trust me, it does. From Kirk and McCoy being chased off a savage world as Spock dives into an erupting volcano to save a planet, Kirk losing his command, an important character death, new faces being introduced and the set up for the majority of the movie, STID has a lot of explaining to do and thankfully it is done without feeling rushed…even though it sort of is.
Starfleet is under attack by a one man army. A former Starfleet officer named John Harrison coordinates a bombing in London and then lays waste to an important meeting of Starfleet brass and flees the planet. Kirk finds out he has gone to the Klingon home world of Kronos where Harrison believes Starfleet can not follow unless they risk starting a full-scale war with the Klingons.
Now don’t get your nerd panties all hot and bothered about seeing a lot of Klingons in this. Kronos and the squadron of Klingons are used sparingly during one part. It does seem like they are laying the groundwork for a larger scale event with them, possibly in the third film, but for now just enjoy what you get.
And yes, the new Bird of Prey looks A-MAZ-ING.
Sorry. Where was I?
After disobeying orders on killing Harrison (it’s James T. Kirk, what did you expect), they try to capture him which leads to a shootout with the Klingons and Harrison shows that he is indeed more than meets the eye. It is a secret and no, he is not a Transformer. Harrison begins to place doubt in Kirk’s mind about just what exactly Starfleet has been up to of late and if they are truly exploration based or a military on the rise. I loved this being brought up because there are some that have questioned Trek’s future losing Roddenberry’s original idea that the show was about seeking out new life and touching on social issues of the day.
A great thing that Star Trek Into Darkness does is continuing the ever evolving relationships between all of the main crew, even while the movie keeps whizzing along. The main focus, as is with most of the films involving the original cast, is Kirk and Spock’s friendship, which is something Spock is unfamiliar with for a lot of the movie. Giving this franchise the old reboot has allowed us to see it take shape and form into the lifelong bond that we all grew up watching.
The cast is more fun to watch this go round because they seemingly have connection with their characters. They were birthing them in the 2009 reboot and here we get to see the fruits of that labor. The roles are becoming theirs and can be compared less and less with their legendary counterparts. If I had to pick out the real standouts it would be Karl Urban as Bones with his (sometimes) Georgia draw and metaphor filled advice (of which Kirk makes mention) and Chris Pine can seemingly put Kirk on cruise control and still come off as suave and cocky as Shatner ever did. The biggest parts are left for Zachary Quinto and Benedict Cumberbatch who are worth the price of admission by themselves. Quinto’s Spock runs the full spectrum of emotions (yes, emotions) and should really have any doubter of his ability to be this generation’s Spock put to shame.
Quinto could have easily stolen the movie had it not been for Benedict Cumberbatch. For those of you who are used to him flexing his mental and vocal muscles on Sherlock you are in for a surprise when he uses his actual muscles. Like seriously, dude put on like 20 pounds and is completely badass. Imagine if Sherlock went evil and mix him with the physicality of Tom Hardy’s Bane and you have a good beginning.
Say what you want about J.J. Abrams (except a lens flare joke, its been four years), the man knows how to do big, and make no mistake about it, Star Trek Into Darkness is big. The effects, the feel, the music (again by Michael Giacchino) is sweeping, haunting and nostalgic at the exact right times. Watching this should give Star Wars fans hope that the prequels are long since gone and better days are ahead. I instantly began wondering where this would rank on my list of Trek films as soon as I left the theater and it is high…very high, which are also my expectations for the future adventures of the Starship Enterprise as this franchise boldly goes towards its 50th anniversary.
