Star Trek Into Darkness Movie Review!!!

So does this big-budget super sequel reach light speed or does it simply fail to launch??? Read on for our spoiler free review.

I would never really call myself a Star Trek fan and in fact I actually found the original TV series and subsequently The Next Generation all far too grey, dry and depressing.  I remember coming home from school on Wednesday evenings to Star Trek: The Next Generation playing in BBC2’s 6pm time slot.  I’m still not sure why I’d watch it but I did.  It took itself so seriously, like Shakespeare in space.  Over the years I’d probably somehow caught all the Star Trek spin-off movies such as Wrath of Khan, Search for Spock, Nemesis and inadvertently somehow knew all the characters and even a lot of the story lines.  I still, however, remained pretty neutral about it all.

So the series was rebooted with the 2009 movie and guess what, I loved it!  It was a great twisty time-jarring story line brought smack up to date thanks to director J.J. Abrams (director of TV series Lost and Mission Impossible 3).  One of the best things about the reboot was the absolutely brilliant and ingenious casting.  Chris Pine as Captain Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, John Cho as Sulu, Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Simon Pegg as Scotty and Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) as Bones.  It was a real novelty seeing characters we knew getting facelifts as these young guys stepped into the shoes of these well known and loved characters.  They all stepped up to the plate and did a great job.  The film was a tremendous success.

Jump forward four years and we have the highly anticipated sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness.  So how does it compare?  Well, I’d actually argue that this sequel is even better than the 2009 reboot.

Straight off the bat we are thrown into the midst of things as Kirk and Spock are trying to save a primitive alien civilization.  It’s a great intro that reminds us of each of the characters and their individual eccentricities.  Spock is as logic-driven as ever, Bones is as cautious as ever and Kirk is as gung-ho as ever. 

The real story begins when former Starfleet agent John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch of BBC’s Sherlock fame) bombs a secret Starfleet location in London for reasons initially unknown.  What results is a nail biting intergalactic manhunt through space and into enemy territory. 

Cumberbatch is really great as the sinister villain and easily holds his own against the rest of the cast in his first real Hollywood outing.  In fact, I’d go as far as saying he’s one of the best things about this film. 

When Kirk and crew finally find their man things are far from simple.  To say anything is to risk spoiling the movie so I have to be very careful with my choice of words. 

What ensues is an action packed final act with a beautiful finale that will leave hard-core fans happy with its nod to classic Star Trek lore albeit reinvented and reimagined for 2013. 

Granted a few things may not resonate so strongly with those who are not familiar with the original TV series and movies but ultimately, regardless of whether you’re a Trekkie or not, this is a great movie with solid performances all round.  A great balance of action, drama and humour, I actually enjoyed this more than I did Iron Man 3.

It’s definitely worth your time and money, check it out!

Rating 4 out of 5.

  

Bobby