Star Trek Into Darkness - Review

Star Trek at Warp Speed

"Into Darkness is a fast paced, thrilling epic that's also triumphantly smart and humane. It's everything you could want in a Star Trek movie."

Star Trek Into Darkness - Theatrical Poster

The “Trek” world is full of challenges, of course, including ridge-headed Klingons and rigid Starfleet rules. Yet this action-filled sci-fi drama bridges the worlds of sci-fi brains and mainstream muscle which many fail to do so. As such it won't be surprising if die hard Star Trek fans aren't pleased with this film however for the casual and core audience, the film does a splendid job of keeping the source relevant yet inducing it with enough mainstream muscle to keep everyone entertained.

Star Trek Into Darkness is a fast paced action thriller, with numerous sub plots taking place. The most notable of which is the relationship between Spock and Kirk, which outshines in the third act. Spock provides much of Kirk's logical reasoning throughout the film. The Kirk and Spock duo is the most compatible team Star Fleet has ever seen and the USS Enterprise's greatest asset. Also Spock's relationship with Uhura is also showcased and features in the plot, albeit for some laughs nonetheless. Although Kirk is the captain of the USS Enterprise we observe how, Kirk is no way fit to be a captain. Kirk being privileged to obtain Captain rather than deserving this role has affected his ability to take on the role of captain seriously and we see numerous lapse of protocol by the young Captain. However it is in this that Kirk's humanity outshines and perhaps what makes him most different than other captain's in Star Fleet. 

By far the most notable actor throughout the movie is Benedict Cumberbatch. His performance as the main antagonist in this film is perhaps the most memorable and effective. Benedict Cumberbatch's "Johnathan Summers" is powerful, smart, and human. Whenever present on screen he draws in all of the attention and much of the mystery of the movie. It is his Human nature which makes him the most effective villain we've seen in Star Trek so far. Not only is he out for revenge but in his revenge, is humanity. Not fuelled by world domination, or any other 2-dimensional motive but rather justice, makes the viewer feel for the antagonist. Throughout the movie many would even consider Jonathan Summers not a villain but rather someone that's been mistreated and would even consider his unfortunate circumstances as being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

While overall the movie is spectacular and a definite summer blockbuster, the film does have a few drawbacks. The story being as fast paced as it is, many of the sub plots don't fully develop and others just fall into oblivion, exisiting for one second and then never mentioned again. Furthermore Alice Eve's character serves no purpose throughout the movie, and could have easily been served by Spock. Rather it feels as if her character was added just to please the crowd and provide some eye candy for the audience. 

Star Trek Into Darkness is a splendidly crafted film that rushes at a break neck speed. Personally i've never watched any of the star trek series nor any of the previous movies but J.J Abram's reboot got me hooked onto the Star Trek mythos and the second instalment in J.J. Abram Star Trek clearly shows that the first reboot wasn't just a fluke. For those newcomers hesitant to jump into Star Trek, rest assured it is not meant for the hard core Trekkie fans. Into Darkness is is a fast paced, thrilling epic that's also a triumphantly smart and humane. It's everything you could want in a Star Trek movie and a definite summer watch.

Overall Star Trek Into Darkness rating

8/10