2013: The Year in Film: "Star Trek Into Darkness"

There are two great universes in sci-fi. With all due respect to the myriad of contributions made by franchises like Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, Halo, Alien and The Matrix, but when you're talking spaceships and outer space, for the world at large you're talking Star Trek and Star Wars. By some insane accident of history (or the fact that Joss Whedon is tied up with Avengers), JJ Abrams managed to score the first post-Lucas Star Wars flick after successfully bringing Trek back to life after the Next Generation films ground to a screeching halt and we saw an extended period of time with no Star Trek anywhere. And his first Trek was, in a word, great. If it's more action-oriented and sillier than Trek usually is, I'll take those relative negatives if they go along with a great cast, outstanding production values and a spirit of fun and adventure that gets right at the heart of why people love Star Trek in the first place. 2009's "Star Trek" is on a short list of movies along with Iron Man and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade among movies that I just straight-up don't trust you if you don't at least acknowledge that those are really good, fun and entertaining movies.  It's been a long 4 years since Abrams' first Trek brought Kirk and Spock back to life for a new generation, hell, the last movie is on FX already, but let's check it out. It's unclear whether Abrams will be back for any future Trek flicks with this cast, I'm betting that given the demands likely to go along with the Star Wars gig, he'll probably be gone, but the important thing is that Trek has been brought back to the public consciousness... more Starfleet and the Federation is never a bad thing. 

*BONUS*
Ranking the Trek flicks:
12.) Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
11.) Star Trek: Insurrection
10.) Star Trek: The Motion Picture
9.) Star Trek: Nemesis
8.) Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
7.) Star Trek: Generations
6.) Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
5.) Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
4.) Star Trek Into Darkness
3.) Star Trek: First Contact
2.) Star Trek (2009)
1.) Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

- All of which brings me to a brief aside: take a look at that list. JJ Abrams' flicks are undoubtedly among the strongest that Star Trek has had in the 30+ years of the franchise - so why are we hearing so much complaining about them from the very people who should be the most thankful? Do we not remember the crap sandwich that was the end of the Next Generation movie run? Are Abrams' flicks more action-oriented and less overtly philosophical? Yes. Do they feature great effects, tight storytelling and strong acting from a great cast? YES. What do we care more about? Philosophical nit-picking or watchable movies? Stop complaining, nerds... this is why we can't have nice things.

After the last flick, which saw a time-traveling villain create a new, alternate timeline to the Star Trek we know and love and destroy Vulcan in the process, Kirk, Spock and the rest of the crew of the Enterprise (NCC-1701) are off on their voyage of discovery, exploring new worlds and boldly going. Kirk and crew get into a bit of trouble for disregarding Starfleet regulations around the same time that Starfleet finds itself under assault from a mysterious terrorist. As the Enterprise is tasked with hunting him down it becomes clear that all is not as it seems, either with the terrorist himself or with Starfleet, as Kirk, Spock and co. find themselves racing to save themselves and prevent catastrophe.

The Good: Abrams can direct action, no doubt about it. Lens flares aside, this is a flick that looks great and features some breathtaking action sequences. This cast is great top to bottom and the film really conveys the sense that the crew of the Enterprise has grown together in the time that's passed since the last installment. This is Kirk's film, and he makes serious steps forward as Chris Pine is given many moments to advance the character past the brash and often overeager captain of the last film into the more self-assured and heroic character so beloved by Trek fans. Quinto absolutely owns the role of Spock and is looking and sounding more like Leonard Nimoy than ever. Simon Pegg as Scottie is terrific and provides many memorable scenes. John Cho, Zoe Saldana and Karl Urban are all great as Sulu, Ohura and Bones as well. Along with Chekov, all of the primary members of the crew are given at least one moment to shine. Benedict Cumberbatch is compelling, chilling, and occasionally more than a little sympathetic as the primary villain, as always, he's outstanding. The plot, while not perfect, is tight and manages to call back to a classic Star Trek tale. Abrams has by and large waved goodbye to the more cerebral Trek of old in favor of more straightforward action fare, but when it's as fun and well-acted as this, one viewing of "Nemesis" convinces me that was the right move. If an action "Trek" is what we need to have a Trek worth watching, that's a sacrifice well made in my book. Oh, and there are Klingons, so that can never be a bad thing.



The Bad: The plot is, at points, full of holes and really shreds the "canonical" Trek timeline. Given that this is an alternate timeline, that's not all bad, but it really does leave the Trek we know and love far behind. Some of the moves and motivations don't seem to make a lot of sense except to drive the plot forward. In all, given how damn fun this film is to watch and the strength of the cast, I'm willing to overlook the film's shortcomings.   Some of the secrecy surrounding the identity of certain characters doesn't make a lot of sense in retrospect and the "reveal" served as more of a distraction than anything.

Ultimately, though, this is a fun, well-acted, beautifully shot summer film. It captures the spirit of Trek perfectly, if it leaves some of the traditional trappings of it behind as did its predecessor. Well worth seeing in the theater. Worth paying the IMAX upcharge as well. Do it, I liked this one better than Iron Man 3.

8.5/10