I don't think I need to tell anyone of you how much I love Star Trek. I grew up watching TOS with my Mom and later TNG and all of the movies. I have always been more of a TOS guy, I just love the group dynamic with Kirk, Spock and McCoy (Bones has always been my favorite.) I remember back in 2009 how excited I was to see JJ Abrams take a stab at a franchise that I was so very much in love with; and I remember how perfectly he captured the essence of Trek in his first film. Because of that, I was unequivocally excited for
Star Trek Into Darkness. I can't say it was phenomenal, but it definitely wasn't bad.
*I find it really hard to describe my feelings about
Into Darkness in one neat little blurb. That's why I'm going to be splitting my review into three posts (sorry!) One post will review the movie for exactly what it is: a movie. It won't analyze it from a Trek fan point of view, but from a movie lover aspect. Then I'll do my Trek review (spoiler alert: it will involve a lot of fanboy ranting) then I will do a piece where I discuss the film with a non-fan (possibly Dwighty-pants, since he has a film making background!)*
Star Trek Into Darkness starts off at a sprint. They don't ease you into the story, because they really don't have to. That is the beauty of this franchise, the stories are completely separate and don't need any explanation. We get quick re-introductions to the characters we know and love from 2009's
Star Trek, with Kirk (Chris Pine) and Bones (Karl Urban) running from the indigenous peoples of Nibiru. Meanwhile, Spock (Zachary Quinto), Uhura (Zoe Saldana) and Sulu (John Cho) are trying to stop an active volcano from destroying the planet. I think this intro was a great way for Abrams to grab our attention early, and also remind us who these characters are and what the group dynamic is like.
I really think that the Star Trek universe was
made for JJ Abrams. He has such an eye for filming action sequences (of which there are
plenty of in this film) that it seems like a no-brainer that he would helm a project like this. Just like in the last Trek, he filled the movie with beautiful action set pieces and his trademark lens flare (which I must admit, I kind of enjoy.) That being said, I think this movie might have erred a little too much on the action side and missed a little of the substance that a good movie needs. But, overall, I think Abrams did a great job at the director's chair (as he has always done with his feature films.) This movie has really cemented in my mind that he is the perfect man to rejuvenate the Star Wars franchise.
The acting in this movie (which I will touch on a lot more in my second post) was quite excellent. You know you have a phenomenal cast when people can overshadow the amazingly brooding voice of Benedict Cumberbatch. The two people I would single out as absolute spot on would be Urban and Quinto. Both of these guys have nailed their roles in both films and really blew me away. I never thought anyone would be able to replace DeForest Kelley as Bones, but Urban really did a bang up job. I was pretty disappointed with the females in this movie though. Saldana wasn't awful in the acting category, but her character seemed underwritten, same with Alice Eve's Carol Marcus character.
That brings be to my biggest qualm with this film: the writing. Trust me, you will get an earful about this one later, but I thought that this movie was severely mishandled by Orci, Kurtzman and Lindelof. While the quippy dialogue was really spot on, I think this movie lacked substance. The plotline seemed too convoluted to be jammed into a 132 minute movie where 90 minutes of it was pure action. It seemed like they were trying to cram too much plot into a short period of time, and it just didn't work. I think they could have gone with an almost identical plot, just dumbed down a tid bit. And I would have loved it if they entirety of the exposition wasn't just monologued by Cumberbatch (though, I do love the sound of his voice.) I thought that the writing was lacking in terms of plot, but was really spot on with character interactions. Any convo between Kirk/Spock, Kirk/Bones, Kirk/Scotty, Spock/Uhura, etc. was absolutely beautifully written.
I realize this post has been kind of long, but there is one more thing I want to touch on: the score. Michael Giacchino's score was fucking brilliant. He has always been one of my favorite composers since back when I first saw
The Incredibles, but he has really proven himself over and over again with scores for:
Mission Impossible III,
Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, Star Trek and (my personal favorite)
Up. This man really knows how to enhance a scene with the subtlest of musical cues. Bravo for another fantastic score, Mr. Giacchino!
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While it may seem like I really loved the movie, I didn't love it as much as it's predecessor. I think that it was a good movie with some great dialogue and awesome action scenes. What it lacked in substance, it made up for with beautiful set pieces and gut-busting comedy. I hope that they learn from their mistakes and lean more towards what they did with Star Trek for the next film.
Writing: 6.5/10
Directing: 8.5/10
Acting: 9/10
Pacing: 7.5/10
Rewatchability: 10/10
Score: 8.3/10
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