Star Trek Into Darkness (Review)

I’ve tried to keep this review free of major spoilers but if you want to go in completely fresh then do not continue reading!

Speaking as a non-Trekkie (as far as classic films go I’ve only seen ‘Generations’ and ‘First Contact’, and nothing of the television series’) I really enjoyed JJ Abram’s 2009 re-boot of the ‘Star Trek’ franchise, that used some timey-wimey science to re-write the ‘Star Trek’ universe and thus make some plotting decisions that long-time fans weren’t expecting, whilst also successfully balancing fan service with an enjoyable film for those who don’t know their Vulcan nerve pinch from their Tribble.

Warp-drive four years into the future and the sequel finally lands and I saw the follow-up ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ at a 2D midnight showing. I’m not a Trekkie, honest. I just fancied the experience.

‘Into Darkness’ follows the crew as they come up against space terrorist John Harrison who, early on in the film, orchestrates an attack on Star Fleet’s London-based archive and on their headquarters, setting a chain of events in motion for Captain Kirk and his team to go chasing after him into enemy territory, with the threat of triggering an all-out war hanging over them.

‘Into Darkness’ is, in many ways, as enjoyable as its predecessor. It balances the light and dark scenes very well and there are some pacey, exciting action sequences. The difficult friendship between Kirk and Spock is explored much more fully and forms a centre piece of the film with Pine and Quinto both feeling comfortable in their characters. But it’s the rest of the crew that also get chance to shine in the film. Karl Urban as Dr. Bones gets much more to do this time around and is all the better for it and though Cho, Yelchin and Saldana perhaps aren’t graced with the greatest amount of screen time, have their own moments to shine and do well when they’re thrust into the spotlight. Saldana as Uhura does spend a lot of the film as the downbeaten object of Spock’s logical affections rather than the strong, lead character she should be, but it adds to the plot. Alice Eve as the new crew member makes a strong first impression with her sexy, cut-glass British accent, and balances her role neatly between a strong weapons expert and a bit of shameless eye candy in a scene that is perhaps a little bit jarring, but nice to watch.

It’s Simon Pegg as Scotty, though, that really steels the show with some moments of absolute brilliance with the witty script mostly focussing on him, and he’s the character I think stands out the most in the ensemble cast.

The big plot moments are strong from a tense, but also comedic, opening volcano rescue through to a tense stand-off in space near the end, though a fight on top of moving vehicles feels overly familiar.

Unfortunately ‘Into Darkness’ isn’t a perfect film. If you’re looking for a witty, tense and structured film to enjoy some popcorn with, but also offers a little bit more for the brain as well, you’ll have much to find here. However, it lacks the daring and inventiveness of the first. Without giving too much away one character proves to be very familiar and, leading from this, ‘Into Darkness’ seems to spend too much time offering an alternative universal look at a plotting area familiar to fans that feels like its retreading old ground, rather than offering something exciting and new. Like ‘Iron Man Three’, which I saw earlier in the week, it also undermines a potential twist of the plot that could have been very daring and touching – much like the surprise destruction of Vulcan in the first film – by pulling out a deus ex machine, in a very similar way to the recent Marvel epic as if they shared scripts in the development process, that feels disappointing and lacking in imagination. Kirk even finds himself being stripped of his captain-ship early on due to his decisions, in a plot development over-familiar from every cop-film you’ve seen.

One particular word that is uttered in the film was not greeted by smiles or by a nod of recognition, but a laugh at how awkward it felt as the film threatened to slip into self-parody.

Graphically the film excels with some very good CGI-led set pieces, though the film doesn’t paint Harrison as the amazing terrorist that the film suggests. Don’t expect Joker or Bane levels of destruction with the early-on “archive” attack feeling strangely muted and the crashing of a craft as seen in the trailer lacking much punch. It certainly doesn’t feel like London or San Francisco suffered a massive amount of destruction, even if the latter does when you consider it.

‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ is, really, nearly up to the greatness of the original in that the characters have chance to breathe and you feel for the crew, and it’s the less bombastic tense stand-off moments and the decisions made by the characters that carry more weight than the cookie-cutter action sequences. ‘Into Darkness’ tries too hard to please the Trekkies and in the end threatens to slip into parody. Benedict Cumberbatch makes a very convincing hard-man villain but he never really feels like the massive threat in the piece that he’s painted to be, which is more down to the plot-decisions rather than Cumberbatch, who is enjoyable to watch.

With enough to keep the fans happy and a plot that makes the two hours go by quickly, thanks to the ensemble crew offering enough moral dilemmas to make it more than your average popcorn flick, plus Pegg’s excellent Scotty, ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ is well worth seeing and the best of the summer blockbusters so far. The CGI is convincing, the characters well fleshed out, and the pace enjoyable. It just doesn’t feel as daring as the 2009 re-boot in doing things differently.

(7/10)