Right time for another new review of a new movie, as I went and saw Star Trek Into Darkness this week (twice, once in 2D and 3D!) which is the second film in the reboot of the classic series franchise, so let's take a butchers at it. WARNING PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!
So to have a quick look at the plot, the film begins with Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine again) who after an incident regarding a planetary survey, in which he violated his prime directive (non interfering with the planet's history, as they witness the Enterprise take off) is demoted and ordered back to the academy on Earth. Admiral Pike (Bruce Greenwood) however manages to persuade Starfleet to bring him onboard the Enterprise as his first officer. Kirk and Pike attend an emergency meeting regarding a bombing incident at one of Starfleet's installations in London. During the meeting however they are attacked by a man named John Harrison, who was a former Starfleet officer, and Pike is killed during the assault. Kirk is soon reinstated and he requests from Admiral Alexander Marcus (Peter Weller) to go after Harrison and hunt him down, which Marcus permits him to. The Enterprise is then supplied with 72 photon torpedos which Marcus has ordered Kirk to fire on Harrison when he finds him. The chief engineer Scotty (Simon Pegg) refuses to allow them to be used and he resigns his duties rather than carry on, but after this Kirk is convinced by Spock (Zachary Quinto) and commander Uhura (Zoe Saldana) to capture Harrison alive.
The Enterprise then travels to Kronos, the home planet of the Klingons, which is a forbidden zone for Starfleet, so Kirk with Spock and Uhura travel to the planet via a shuttle. On arriving at the planet, Uhura speaks with the Klingons in an attempt to negotiate to take Harrison, who launches a surprise attack and kills off the Klingons almost on his own. Harrison on hearing of the torpedos from Kirk surrenders at once and allows himself to be taken onboard the Enterprise. Harrison on the Enterprise reveals his true identity as Khan (who I will say now is played by Benedict Cumberbatch) and that he is a genetically enhanced human from the late 20th century. Khan tells Kirk that he was awakened from 300 years in suspended animation by Marcus to help him develop advanced weapons to protect Starfleet and use them against the Klingon empire, and that the torpedos actually contain inside his people (i.e. 72 people in one each) who were held hostage by Marcus. And its not long before Marcus shows up on the scene in an advanced new Federation starship, the USS Vengeance for a showdown which will leave Kirk an impossible choice ahead of him....
Star Trek Into Darkness is certainly a very entertaining sequel to the first film, and it sees the rebooted franchise continue on in fine style. And JJ Abrahams who is again at the directorial helm (sorry using so many cliches!) does an excellent job in continuing to develop the main characters and keep them in tune with the original series. Kirk even though he is now a Captain at the start of the film still shows that he is a reckless playboy who refuses to play by the rules and goes out of his way to make rash decisions until he is demoted and forced to buckle down. But as the film progress Kirk definitely matures in his attitude and we see him take full control of the situation once he confronts Khan and Marcus. Spock's character also progresses somewhat even though he is still stubbornly logical and remains emotionally detached, he does later on choose to feel when Kirk's life is later on in danger (don't worry I won't say anymore!) and he says himself that even if he choses not to feel it doesn't mean he doesn't care.
So getting onto the performances it has to be said they are all crap... no just kidding(!) they are actually all very good. Starting with Chris Pine, who returns as the young Kirk, he does an excellent job in the part as he did in the first film, as he continues to play Kirk as a bit of playboy and a charmer, but as the film progresses he becomes that bit more serious and mature, as he takes on the responsibility of the "chair". Zachary Quinto is also very good again as Spock, who bears quite a fair resemblance to Leonard Nimoy (most likely why he was cast in the first place!) and he continues to show Spock's stubborness and rather annoying habit at spouting out logic like a pretentious twat. But behind it all Quinto manages to succeed in showing that Spock cares not only for Uhura but also for his friend Kirk and the crew. Pine and Quinto also share a nice onscreen chemistry as Kirk and Spock and how they argue with one another, and they have a funny scene where they are due to part ways as they are reassigned, Kirk says to Spock "the truth is... I'll miss you" to which Spock gives a strange look, then they both walk away. Kirk has another funny scene where he speaks with Uhurar in a lift about how she is arguing with Spock, and he stands outside the elevator as it arrives and he looks enquiringly at them and Kirk walks up and says "ears burning??".
As for the other cast members Simon Pegg is once again funny as Scotty, the Enterprise's Scottish (surely not!) chief engineer, and he has some funny moments in the film, especially in the scene where he is drinking in a bar with his short wee alien friend, where Kirk calls him up to ask for a favour, and he silently give a "wanker" sign to his alien friend to let him know its Kirk. Pegg also get's one of the film's funniest lines where he tries to help out Kirk gain access to the USS Vengeance's airlock, and he says "Just give me a minute this is not easy ya mad bastard!". Karl Urban is also excellent as Dr McCoy, who also bears a small resemblance to DeForrest Kelley and he get's Kelley's voice and inflections spot on for the character. Urban also get's some funny lines, especially the scene where Sulu is the acting captain of the ship once Kirk has left and he delivers a stern message to the Klingons, and McCoy says "Sulu, reminder me never to piss you off!". Zoe Saldana does a fine job again as Nyota Uhura, the ship's communications officer and she shares a good scene with Spock when they travel to Kronos in the shuttle. And Alice Eve does well in her role as Dr Carol Marcus, and her best moment comes when she walks into a shuttle with Kirk and she asks him to turn around while she changes her clothes, and he turns around to see her in her underwear! (nice!). Anton Yelchin also does a good job again as the young Pavel Chekov, who later on Kirk puts in charge of the ship's engineering once Scotty resigns.
Peter Weller also provides a fine performance as Admiral Marcus as the Starfleet officer who soon turns out to have another agenda, and at first I didn't recongise as I thought it was Scott Glenn instead on screen. And finally I will mention Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan, who I have to say at first I wasn't so keen on his performance but on a second viewing I thought he was pretty good as the villain. While Cumberbatch plays Khan quite serious for the most part he still does exhibit a dark twisted charisma, that while his performance lacked the flair that Ricardo Montalban brought to the role back in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, its still a fine performance nonetheless. Cumberbatch's best scene comes when he has been captured and placed in a cell onboard the Enterprise where he reveals his true identity as Khan and admits to how he was used by Marcus in building the USS Vengeance weapons systems and how Marcus had threatened to destroy his people if he didn't co-operate. And his best line comes when onboard the USS Vengeance, he beams Kirk back onboard his ship and he says "no ship should go down without her captain!" just before he opens fire on the Enterprise.
J.J. Abrahams once again, getting onto the direction, does an excellent job here as he keeps the pace of the film moving along really well, and it never drags. Visually the film also looks spectacular as there are some great action sequences in the film particularly the scenes where the Enterprise comes under attack from the USS Vengeance, and also where Kirk is chased in a shuttle by the Klingons on Kronos. The film was also shot in IMAX and I've yet to see it at the Glasgow IMAX but as I've seen it twice already, I'm more than prepared to give it another go as I'm sure it will look stunning in it! And I'll say a quick word about the film's music score by Michael Giachinno which is acutally quite good, although I'm not very keen on his take on the Star Trek theme, as he always seemed to overuse it, and its nowhere near as good as Jerry Goldsmith or James Horner's variations of that theme. But the rest of his music score is fairly impressive, particularly in one of the film's poignant moments between Kirk and Spock (which I won't go into).
Getting onto the film's flaws well there are one or two niggles, first off I feel at times as I always do that franchise films that use dialogue from its previous ones is something that is a bit cringeworthy. And Into Darkness is guilty of this here as well, especially where they re-use the "ship out of danger" and "KHAN!!!" lines, as it feels again just a bit too self referential to Star Trek II. I also thought that there was something a bit silly about Kirk's continual sexual activity with beautiful alien women, last time she was a green lady, this time they have tails! Are they trying to tell us something about Kirk that he can't get it on with Earth girls??? (or perhaps he's just pissed them all off!). You could also argue that Khan's ability to regenerate his cells is a strange plot strand in the film as if he can regenerate his cell, then surely in the fight scene where he battles with Spock near the end, he scars will heal up, but they don't. Also in the scene where Khan is stunned by Scotty by a blaster shot and he goes down unconscious for a few minutes, Uhura later on blasts Khan with five or six shots before he even falls down! But I guess these films or anything film will always have some inconsistencies.
So that's it for my look at Star Trek Into Darkness, which sees the franchise continue on very well, with its new excellent cast members, great action sequences and splendid visuals, and here's hoping it continues on as well as it has so far.
So I shall leave it there......
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