STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS - Review

Star Trek Into Darkness

Science Fiction, 2013
2 hours, 13 minutes
Written by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof
Directed by JJ Abrams

Starring
Chris Pine
Zachary Quinto
Benedict Cumberbatch
Zoe Saldana
Karl Urban
John Cho
Alice Eve
Bruce Greenwood
Simon Pegg
Anton Yelchin
Peter Weller

"I have no idea what I'm supposed to do. I only know what I CAN do."

For the record, I consider 2009's Star Trek to be a science fiction masterpiece. I can't say that I have watched any of the several iterations of the show, but I fell in love with the reboot the instant that the credits rolled. It was like nothing I had ever seen. I've seen it several times, and it's consistently entertaining. Definitely a perfect 10.
So Into Darkness takes place at some point after the events of the first film. Kirk is still the captain of the Enterprise and everything is hunky dory... Until an attack on Star Fleet sends the Enterprise to track down a dangerous fugitive named John Harrison. And that's when things begin to get interesting... but I can't reveal anything else without spoiling stuff.
Star Trek Into Darkness is an incredibly worthy sequel. It's got space battles, shootouts, fist fights, explosions, and motherfucking space jetpacks. The action and visual effects are top notch. There are some great twists and turns. The writing is fantastic, despite being much less funny than the first film. It's a much more serious movie, but that's okay. Much like the first film, it has tons of fan service for longtime Trekkies, fan service that is so subtle that non-Trekkies won't even notice.
The biggest thing that this movie has is it's villain, played by none other than Sherlock's Benedict Cumberbatch. And jeez, is he AMAZING. Not only is his presence onscreen constantly overwhelming and intense, but he knows how to kick serious ass. Other than Cumberbatch, Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto (Kirk and Spock, respectively) both reprise their roles for this one, and their performances, Quinto's especially, have improved quite a bit.
Into Darkness is more emotionally satisfying than the first. Whereas Star Trek is all about loss, and vengeance, Into Darkness deals with the concepts of life, death, and, above everything else, sacrifice. The payoff of these sacrifices is actually pretty huge, and really drive the story into something wasn't expecting.
Into Darkness doesn't quite have the same spark of energy that the first film had, but this doesn't mean it's bad. Sure, I won't watch it over and over like I have the first one, but it's definitely something that I want to see again.

9.6/10