Flash Movie Review: Star Trek Into Darkness
When the opportunity presents itself I take a drive through the neighborhood where I grew up. I see ghosts of my youth everywhere I look. Playing hide & seek or selling lemonade on the corner, my memories waken from a long sleep. They are refreshed and vivid allowing me to visit with the younger me, showing events that contributed to who I would become as an adult. It is that history that reminds me how I currently arrived at this point in my life. Director J.J. Abrams (Super 8, Lost-TV) treated the history of Star Trek with the utmost respect for this 2nd movie in the relaunched franchise. The story was brilliant as we found the Enterprise crew back on Earth, unaware they would encounter a dangerous villain close to home. Besides Chris Pine (This Means War, Unstoppable) as James T. Kirk and Zachary Quinto (Margin Call, Heroes-TV) as Spock, there was the addition of Peter Weller (RoboCop, the Hard Easy) as Marcus and Benedict Cumberbatch (War Horse, Atonement) as John Harrison. In this go around; the characters were more complex, filled with deeper feelings. Zachary was so incredible that I forgot about Leonard Nimoy for the moment, the original Spock. Chris earned my respect with what he did in this movie. I could almost hear William Shatner cursing at Chris’ exemplary performance. The nonstop action was exciting and evenly balanced to allow flourishes of drama and honestly, giving the movie goers a chance to catch their breath. I cannot add anything further to this review without giving away hints to the plot. Hopefully when people talk about this movie and they will, they do not say much about the story or cast. The added suspense, at least for me, made the time fly by. Also, I felt emotionally spent. Whether you grew up in the world of Star Trek or not will not make much of a difference in loving this film. History is what makes us who we are today; I tip my hat to the current custodian of the historical vaults of Star Trek, J.J. Abrams. A nice touch in the beginning of the credits. There were brief scenes with blood in it.
3 2/3 stars for Trekkies 3 1/2 stars for non-Trekkies
Posted on May 19, 2013, in Fantasy/Sci-Fi and tagged 3 1/2 stars, anton yelchin, benedict cumberbatch, chris pine, j j abrams, john cho, peter weller, science fiction, zachary quinto, zoe saldana. Bookmark the permalink. 26 Comments.
moviejoltz 
wow sounds like a must see, I’m a big trekkie fan.
Have you ever watched “The Secret of Roan Innish” — we watched it last night… a beautiful film and story ( nothing to do with star-trek but wanted to share it. )
I am still talking up the movie; today to all of my co-workers. Thank you for mentioning the film you just viewed. I added it to my list of movies.
isn’t that great when a movie is so good you can’t help tell someone. That’s the magic of film.
It really was the best one I’ve ever seen… JMO 😀
Looks awesome.
Awesome
Good review. Great points about both Quinto’s and Pine’s performance.
Thanks Victor. I enjoyed seeing your review the same time as I posted mine. But then I always enjoy reading your posts.
I enjoyed this a lot! Definitely a worthy sequel and the cast is pitch perfect, for sure!
Can’t wait to see where they go from here…the universe is wide open.
Nice write-up! 😀
Thanks Ned. They really are setting the bar high for the next one, aren’t they?
This movie was beyond fantastic, and I don’t consider myself a “Trekkie” (in spite of having grown up watching the original and, later, enjoying TNG).
I agree that Zachary Quinto was amazing as Spock. I didn’t particularly enjoy the first movie in this new franchise (haven’t yet even watched the whole thing, but I plan on doing that ASAP), mainly because I could not get past someone other than Leonard Nimoy playing Spock. I know … I’m a turkey. =P Anyhow, Zachary Quinto totally won me over in this movie.
I thought Benedict Cumberbatch was amazing, as well. It’s almost like he was born to play his role in this film.
Thank you for your comments and I am right with you regarding Zachary. With his recent interview on Bill Maher’s show and now this film; he is a real powerhouse. As for Benedict, I was less familiar but was amazed with his acting here. I hope you new enjoy the first Star Trek film or should I say the previous one.
Yes, My wife and I went to see it. It’s very good, but seemed to be missing something. I’m not sure what. Can’t quite put my finger on it. But albeit, very good. 🙂
Thanks for leaving your comments. If you are able to figure out what was missing for you, I would be curious to hear your thoughts.
I’m a closet Trekkie (shhhh..don’t tell anyone!), so maybe I’ll have to drag myself to the movies to check this out. Celeste:)
Don’t worry your secret is safe with me. Please try to see this film on the big screen; you will not regret it.
I’m not a trekkie, as Celeste puts it, but after seeing the trailer, I can’t wait to see this one.
I have been asked by non-trekkies if it was worth it for them to go and see this movie. I believe it is. After you see this film, I would like to hear back from you and what you thought of it. Thanks for the comment.
Sure, I’ll get back to you.
Just saw this yesterday with my Trekkie friend and our husbands. What a great ride. I’m an original Trekkie that never watched any of the TV series in between. This crew was well worth waiting for. I love the way they are playing to the original characters but with modern gusto. It’s like an ‘inside’ joke that everyones in on. The crowd at the cinema chuckled at all the right parts so I know I’m not the only original Trekkie out enjoying a new adventure aboard the Enterprise. I like that you mentioned being a kid again in your review, I’m nodding knowingly at that observation. The great thing about this crew though is, it doesn’t even matter if you aren’t addicted to the original series. There’s so much hotness, witty banter, adventure and suspense in this movie you’re going to have a great time. I’m going again!
Very cool to hear about your experience. There was enough for avid fans to first timers; everything was in place to take this movie to warp drive. Thank you for sharing your feelings with all of us.
finally saw it — it was great! I loved how they twisted kirk and spock’s destiny – and the primal scream! These guys take the story to a new level, and the bad guy…. WOW
I also liked how Sulu had a bigger role, they developed some of the crew nicely.
thanks for listening — just had to say.
We bought this movie in Blu-ray yesterday. We enjoy the franchise, and were not disappointed by Into Darkness. While I found the first movie had the charm of introducing the characters, and how they came to be on Enterprise, I found Into Darkness every bit as engaging. It had good pacing, action, drama, and touches of nuance (thanks to decent acting) between the characters. The juxtaposition feeling/humanity and blocking feeling/logic was awell done between Spock and Kirk. Nice original touches in music and voice as well. Not to mention the Nimoy cameo. Loved it. And your review.
Thanks for your comments. I bought the DVD yesterday as well. The movie was so well done and did justice to its heritage.
I just finished watching Star Trek: Into Darkness and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I feel that the casting choices for the main characters are really coming into their own as the actors become more familiar with the roles. The action was top notch and the humor, while present, seemed to be timed perfectly adding to the story rather than detracting from it.
If I had to nitpick the film, I could have used one or two less lens flares and there was one particular scene where I heard a crunching sound that I would have liked to seen. People sometimes argue that the human imagination is better than anything that could be put on screen but I don’t watch movies to imagine what’s happening off screen.
That being said, I’m still looking forward to a third offering from Abrams in the franchise and wish it many years of success!
I am so glad you enjoyed this movie. With it recently out on DVD I had to buy it and add include it in my collection. Also, I appreciate you sharing your comments on the film.