Star Trek Into Darkness

J.J. Abrams reboot of the Star Trek series in 2009 created a new universe in which James Kirk and his crew could explore new worlds and go where no man has gone before. A universe altered by the old-reliable sci-fi restart button… time travel. Now, in Star Trek Into Darkness, Abrams picks up where he dropped us off in 2009; placing our old friends in familiar poses but in different, even inverted or transposed, settings and circumstances from what we remember from the original Trek history.

But this second venture in space is not quite as good as the first. Long-time fans of the series (TV and motion picture) will be pleased that Abrams continues to inject vintage components from the old Star Trek franchise into these new films. Old names with new faces will trigger the desired nostalgic response from the faithful. But just a bit of the specialness of having our old buddies back with us has worn off.

As with all of the Kirk-era Star Treks, the movie works best when the crew is engaged in its patented interplay… cocky Kirk riding his star ship like a wild horse, Spock responding with the single raised eyebrow, and the rest throwing in there special moves – all is the same but all slightly different… in good and interesting ways. Benedict Cumberbatch is outstanding as the enemy (or is he ally?), who is new to this crew's pseudo-parallel universe but well known, from another past, to long-time Star Trek viewers. But alas, writers and director eventually fall into typical summer-action-film excess and the misconception that if 10 explosions is good then 100 is better. Fortunately the CGI action is not as bombastic and laborious as other summer blockbusters such as Iron Man III or Man of Steal, but it does overwhelm at times. Although Abbrams fails to completely sustain the magic of his first Star Trek, Into Darkness is still worth the price of the ticket and is the best of the early summer action films. – 7 out of 10.