Spoiler Free Review: Star Trek Into Darkness
Writing a spoiler free review of Star Trek Into Darkness isn’t easy, as there are so many lovely little bits and pieces throughout the movie, I really don’t want to let any cats out of any proverbial bags, so i’m going to try and skirt around the main story, and focus on my feelings of the film as a whole.
Once again, JJ Abrams is back in the directors chair, with all the same cast as the previous movie. The trinity of Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), and Bones (Karl Urban) still holds together brilliantly well, with the 3 bouncing off each other as wonderfully as they did in the first film. Kirk is still a maverick. Spock is still logical, but battling his human side, and Bones is still grumpy about, well, pretty much everything! I still think Urban is somehow channeling the spirit of DeForest Kelley, and plays it brilliantly. Uhura (Zoe Saldana) is still in the relationship with Spock that was set up in the first movie, although the strain is beginning to show…
The opening scenes rather feel like you walked in towards the end of an epic episode of the tv show, so the movie hits the ground running and never really slows it’s pace. Writers Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman (Fringe, Hawaii Five-0), are joined by Damon Lindelof (Lost, Prometheus) this time around, and the 3 excel at pulling a sometimes touching, sometimes comic, and always action filled script together. A lot of that comic relief falls into the ever capable hands of Simon Pegg’s Scotty, along with Anton Yelchin’s Chekhov, but it’s still the interactions between the Kirk/Spock/Bones trinity that make me smile the most.
The threat this time around comes from Benedict Cumberbatch’s mysterious John Harrison, played with a wonderful subtle (and sometimes not so subtle!) level of menace you’d expect from the Sherlock actor. I’d love to say more, but I really don’t way to give anything away!
I’ve read a number of reviews from some of the broadsheets in particular that have been rather snotty about the film, but I really don’t agree with their issues with it. If you’re a dedicated trekkie or trekker, I think you’ll be extremely happy. There are plenty of clever nods and winks to the historic show to keep you going, and it’s a movie I’m sure Gene Roddenberry would have been very happy with. If you’re not especially a Star Trek fan, but like good action-filled movie fair, you’re still going to love it!
