Film: Star Trek Into Darkness

Director: J.J. Abrams
Genre: Sci-Fi Action
Source: USA (2013)
Rating: PG-13
Location/Format: Glynn Place Stadium Cinemas
Grade: B

There is nothing particularly wrong about Star Trek Into Darkness, and in fact as far as summer movie sci-fi goes, there's a lot that's right about it. Like April's Oblivion, it engages some interesting ideas and looks good doing it, and it has the added bonus of a cast and characters who are engaging, well-beloved (both from the original series and from the reboot of a few years ago), and a lot of fun. That it didn't hugely grab me is no real fault of the film, and I suspect on a different day I would have enjoyed it even more. For whatever else it may be, it's fun, it's stylish, and it's a good way to spend two hours at the movies.

That said, I do feel the film retread a lot of unnecessary ground from the first film (particularly the do-nothing "Kirk may lose command of the Enterprise" subplot and the "Scotty separated from the rest of the crew" plotline) for no necessary reason, particularly when they could have spent a little more time fleshing out Cumberpatch even more or given more supporting players something to do. I love Cumberpatch from the BBC series Sherlock, and he's thriving here: menacing, interesting, intelligent. I could watch him all day. 

Other than some great scenes for Spock, Kirk, and Scotty, however, the main Enterprise crew seems to have little to do, since there is so much time spent setting up the main plot. It's unfortunate, because I really do like all these characters from the first film, and I'd like to see more of them have opportunities to grow. Without question Spock and Kirk are center stage, and they should be, but Sulu and Chekhov in particular seemed relatively pointless here, and Uhura has little to do but pout. I understand the challenge of juggling all those character balls, I just don't think it was fully accomplished.

Still, this movie is fun. It really does move relatively quickly, and it starts to raise some interesting questions about the morality of how wars are fought, though it doesn't follow through as well as it could. J.J. Abrams does one-liners and little moments well (the space-jump crouch stands out in my mind), and he treats the material with a lot of respect. I won't delve into all the Star Trek II nods throughout the film (The Wrath of Khan is generally acknowledged to be the best of the OG Trek movies, and Abrams handles it skillfully), but suffice it to say I am satisfied enough that I will happily line up for #3 of the rebooted franchise. I just hope they come up with a better title.

Alternate Film Title: "Spock + Kirk: Best Friends 4Ever"