Review: Star Trek Into Darkness

by Trevor Kirkendall

★★★

“Star Trek Into Darkness” comes at us four years after J.J. Abrams rebooted the series with the simply titled “Star Trek.” That film reset the whole story line that everyone thought they knew from the television series and the six original movies. It was an action packed film that opened up the franchise to a whole new audience without alienating its dedicated fan base (no easy task given the dedication of the Trekkies). A sequel to such a big film needed to exceed the scale and excitement of its predecessor. Despite many flaws throughout, “Star Trek Into Darkness” does deliver enough to make this a really enjoyable experience.

The film opens with the crew of the Starship Enterprise on a distant planet attempting to save an entire civilization from a soon to erupt volcano. When the life of Spock (Zachary Quinto) becomes threatened, Captain James Kirk breaks protocol to save him. He finds himself in some hot water back at headquarters, especially in the eyes of his mentor Admiral Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood).

Meanwhile in London, a terrorist has attacked a Starfleet archives building which in turn leads to an attack on headquarters. The mastermind of this attack is a former Starfleet Commander named John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbach). He’s tracked to a Klingon occupied planet, and Kirk seeks permission from Starfleet Admiral Alexander Marcus (Peter Weller) to go after Harrison. Marcus arms Kirk with an arsenal of torpedoes and instructions to kill Harrison.

It’s easy to see why J.J. Abrams was selected to resurrect this franchise. No other filmmaker working within the Hollywood studio system has a better grasp on movies of this size and scale than him. The look and feel of this film alone is breathtaking. Abrams seamlessly blends the live action and the computer generated images into a unified life like amalgamation.

There are hundreds if not thousands of effects shot put together in this film, and none of them are overdone or overused. In order to boldly go where no one has gone before, massive amounts of effects are required, and Abrams is able to sell it with near perfection. If this is what his forthcoming “Star Wars: Episode VII” will look like in 2015, we are in for a treat, to say the least.

Abrams is so good that he’s only about two or three shows away from having a monopoly on network television. The reason for that is his ability to find and tell good stories that keep people wanting to come back each week. Unfortunately, a sound story is what “Star Trek Into Darkness” lacks. The script, from frequent Abrams collaborators Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, along with Damon Lindeolf (who worked with Abrams on “Lost”), starts out relatively strong but quickly unravels.

From the beginning, it seems that we are going to get a movie that won’t only excite us, but also tell up a little more about who these characters are. In the 2009 reboot, we were introduced to all the characters; for the younger generation, it was the first time they were introduced to the crew of the Enterprise. Here, we begin with such promise to learn more about the crew. Maybe we’ll see Kirk grow up a little, or maybe they can advance the relationship between Spock and Uhura (Zoe Saldana), which was first established in the reboot. Then there’s the rest of the crew: the comic relief of Scotty (Simon Pegg) or the serious Mr. Sulu (John Cho).

A few subplots are set up and explored in the beginning, particularly Spock and Uhura. Once the action begins, however, all advancement of character ceases to continue. No one grows. No one changes. That’s an important part of story, one that all three of these writers should know given their highly regarded track record.

There’s really no point in digging too much deeper into the film’s flaws. What more does anyone expect from this? It’s another installment into a hugely popular science fiction franchise. It’s about good guys going after bad guys, which ultimately features battles in outer space. If that’s all you expect from it, than consider your expectation more than met.

Fans of the “Star Trek” franchise will no doubt love it. The film continues on with a new story path established in the reboot. Some parts are pretty disconnected, but you shouldn’t even be paying attention to that too much when you sit back and look at the screen. It’s an engrossing experience that takes you to a different place. And isn’t that the goal of the movies anyway? To escape? Despite its flaws, this isn’t a throwaway film. It’s another addition to an already illustrious film franchise, and one that will end up being one of this summer’s most exciting movie going experiences.