Star Trek: Into Darkness

Star Trek: Into Darkness  

Jeri Jacquin Movie Maven  

In theatres this weekend from director J.J. Abrams and Paramount Pictures comes the next installment in the adventures of STAR TREK: Into Darkness.  

This film tells the story of James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise who once again pushes things to far. After disobeying orders and a report from Spock (Zachary Quinto) not even his friend Pike (Bruce Greenwood) can do much to save him.  

That is until the unthinkable happens and a terrorist act brings the Federation together to discover who it is. Kirk jumps into the fray and discovers it is someone names Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) who has a grudge against Star Fleet.  

The crew takes on the assignment to hunt down and capture Harrison but there is more to this than Kirk could have imagined. With Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Sulu (John Cho), Dr. McCoy (Karl Urban), Chekov (Anton Yelchin) and Mr. Scott (Simon Pegg) the challenge is clear.  

Discover the true mission behind the weapons and the mysterious Harrison before the Enterprise is put down in space!   Final Word: Pine has the role of Kirk down to a science now. There are a few Shatner-isms that are easy to spot and whether Pine does this on purpose or not it is definitely Kirk. Recently seeing Pine and Quinto together talking about the film I could see these guys are having a good time and it makes a difference.  

Quinto as Spock is definitely going through the change, by that I mean loosening up and starting a friendship with Kirk. Recently Quinto said they will be examining Spock’s growth more when, in the next STAR TREK, he will be experiencing Pon Farr and if you don’t know what that is then I am more of a Trekkie than you are which makes me kind of cool at the moment.  

Urban as McCoy is hysterical as always and, once again, has McCoy-isms that are spot on and heart warming to see. Seeing Kirk, Spock and McCoy come together is a tad heartwarming and I’m not afraid to say it. Urban’s version of McCoy is charming and I’m diggin it.  

Saldana as Uhura has turned into a whiny, possessive stalker. Sorry, but that’s how I feel. She is constantly pouting, shrilling, or otherwise up in Spock’s grill and I, for one, am not impressed. So much for a strong woman I always saw Uhura to be.  

Pegg as Mr. Scott is endearing and hilarious. I love that he has given Scottie a little more life with his wit, sarcasm and all out ability to fix a problem in the most simplest ways.  

Cumberbatch as Harrison, or whatever they call him, is fine. He has more lack of feeling than Spock, which really put me off about him. There was nothing that I could latch on to and even when the big reveal happens (and you DON’T want to know my reaction in the middle of the theatre) I was over it.  

Hate to see Greenwood as Captain Pike be ruined but Abrams seems to have it in his mindset to ruin anything I like about my once beloved Star Trek storylines.  

Other cast include: Alice Eve as Carol, Noel Clarke as Thomas Harewood, Nazneen Contractor as Rime Harewood, Amanda Foreman as Ensign Brackett, Jay Scully at Lt. Chapin and Peter Weller as Marcus.  

TUBS OF POPCORN: I give STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS three tubs of popcorn out of five. No matter what I think the ‘new’ Trekkies will be happy with what they see. As for me, I’m over it and ready to move on to the next film Hollywood wants to rethink, retell, reexamine, re-what-the-hell-ever they call it these days.  

There’s CGI for everyone and, once again, the 3D is absolutely unnecessary. Just another way to get a few extra bucks and a few extra ahhhhh’s from the audience. Can’t wait to see how Abrams irritates me with Star Wars.   Now that I got that off my chest I wasn’t totally disappointed with the film. It is a fun adventure, always moving and shaking with effects and actors that have embraced their characters.

Pine, Quinto, Pegg, Urban, Yelton and Cho come to do the job and do it right – it shows and I like it. So grab some popcorn, embrace the difference and enjoy the show!  

In the end – beyond the darkness lies greatness!