Into Darkness, the sequel to Star Trek from Director and current Sci-Fi go to man, J.J. Abrams is a film worth watching. For those who are not familiar with Mr. Abrams work, you will be soon. Abrams is the most recent "film god" amongst us mere mortals. His current work includes the Star Trek series for one, he also did a little fan-boy nod of a film to a certain Mr. Speilberg, called Super 8. Abrams will also be known for yet another project, one with many years of love and loyalty, as well as a big ole budget, the upcoming Episode VII Star Wars! Now I know this sounds peculiar; the guy behind Star Trek will also be behind Star Wars? Yes. Instead of setting your phaser's to stun and hunting down Mr. Abrams for answers, we should all sit back and breathe a sigh of relief. The reason we shouldn't be going to Def-Con 1 is because it is pretty evident that J.J. Abrams knows what he is doing when it comes to making Science Fiction films no longer a thing of the past but instead the present and future! So fret not my friends, instead relax, take a deep breathe and enjoy the sweet gifts of great film that J.J. Abrams is mastering.
Into Darkness was similar to Terminator II. It made the first film look less impressive. Star Trek was a great film to kick off the re-boot franchise and get fans back into the adventure. It offered comedy, suspense, action and calm, all to a very solid story. What Into Darkness gave us was all of that to the 10th degree. The reason is rather obvious: the characters and the world had already been established in the first, so this film only had to create its own individual story instead of create a world and the people within it. This allowed the level of intensity to be put into the red. This film delivered on all fronts to blow your mind. The acting was superb, even more impressive than the first. The story was phenomenal with bigger twists and turns, ones even the most avid fan may not predict. Let's not forget about the directing, well that was pretty much on par with the first: top-notch. All in all Into Darkness did not disappoint even the slightest.
This film allowed so much more character development than the first film ever gave allowing the viewer the sink into the suspense and feel what the characters were feeling. Into Darkness really grabs the viewer and forces them behind the entire crew of the USS Enterprise, in fact, you even get behind a certain throwback character and have no problem being there, hopefully by this point I am not spoiling anything since the characters name has been released-Khan.
Khan is an ultimate baddie with super-human strengths. He is a genetically engineered human who was revived from a 300 year cryogenic sleep and is trying to rescue his fellow cryo'd crew. He was utilized to create advanced weapons and spacecraft by Star Fleet, then betrayed which forced him to become the antagonist he always was. This leads to altercations between himself and Kirk, a rather infamous hatred from one to the other, and the pulse which moves Into Darkness forward. In this film Khan was played by Benedict Cumberbatch (Tinker Tailor Soldier, Atonement) and is actually one of the best characters in this film. His acting and portrayal of someone who is so supremely superior yet vulnerable was very powerful. You wanted to root for him while needing to loathe his presence; he was the perfect villain, equal parts strength and smarts. A perfect fit and match to the smarts of Spock and the drive of Kirk.
One of the things I find the most entertaining about this franchise is its ability to harness bits and pieces of the original series and previous story-lines; like having Kahn for instance, or tribbles, or certain green tinted females for which Kirk has a certain affinity.
Being able to utilize these prior storyline gives this film a satisfying feeling. It allows for a bigger picture to the story, one that bridges generations of the Star Trek franchises: film and television. It's a little nod to those who have been fans since the beginning without excluding those recently baptized in the wold of Trekkies.
As can be expected from any and all Sci-Fi films, the use of CGI was overly present in this film. I have been on my soap-box for a while now about how CGI is no good, however, in this film I think even I have to bite my own tongue. Without CGI this film would have been a lot harder to make...good. They could have used miniatures, but I can be realistic and say that a film of this magnitude in this setting was not offensive to me, the self proclaimed LOATHER of CGI. In fact, I found myself almost oblivious to the fact that so much of this film was fake. Bad Robot Productions, the company behind J.J. Abrams and vice-versa, did a bang-up job on the look of this film. I truly feel that the production design on both Star Trek films was about as good as can be expected. The costumes, the special effects, the "feel" of this world was above and beyond the final frontier of film making. Star Trek into Darkness was the perfect sequel to an otherwise perfect franchise's starting film.
Final Words: Extra-Large Popcorn.
Star Trek Into Darkness is a complete film: story, character, look and feel. It was an impressive undertaking only shadowed by its impressive everything else. This film will not disappoint the longtime fan or the first time Trekkie. This film has many intense sequences, both with violence as well as language. Most likely not the best film for a younger person to see, at least no unattended by an adult assuming full responsibility.
Until next time, happy viewing!
Review Rating : Based on popcorn sizes; small, medium, large, extra-large
When films get a snore zzz... worth skipping
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