Review of Star Trek Into Darkness Full Movie

Review of Star Trek Into Darkness Full Movie: First off, I am a Star Wars fan and have not seen any Star Trek TV show or movie except the 2009 reboot. I absolutely loved this movie. Cumberbatch plays a perfect villain. The plot is somewhat complex but is spaced out well to make a balanced film. I almost hate to admit it, but this is much better than all but Episode IV and V of the Star Wars movies.

Considering I'm not the biggest Star Trek fan (I've never even seen more than 4 episodes of next generation, and 1 episode of the original series.) Not that I don't dislike the franchise, in fact I love most of the films, and I love the 2009 film, I had high hopes for this film. The things I like about the Star Trek films is that it isn't required to see the series to get what's going on. It helps, but I think its great when they make so many films based off of a series and not requiring you to see the series. That being said, lets talk about the new film.

Each of the actors reprise their roles from the past film, Chris Pine as Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, Karl Urban as Bones, and so on, and each one of them are just as faithful to the original series, while adding new things to these characters as they were in the 2009 film. Both Kirk and Spock get further development in this film from the last film and it definitely shows. Pine is just as cocky as Kirk but is trying to learn to take responsibility for his actions due to him messing up at the beginning of the film, and Quinto as Spock is struggling with showing more compassion in situations and they both do fantastic, especially near the end of the film. Anton Yelchin, Karl Urban, and Simon Pegg are just as funny and entertaining as Chekov, Bones, and Scotty as they were in the first film. 

But the two people that are the biggest highlights about the film, that being Benedict Cumberbatch as John Harrison, and Peter Weller as Admiral Marcus, and both of these guys are just amazing. Benedict Cumberbatch of Sherlock fame is cold and calculating as Harrison and has a fantastic voice to boot for the character which makes him just sound all the more threatening, and there is a very good twist halfway through the film on who Harrison really is but I can't spoil it without ruining the rest of the film. Peter Weller from Robocop was an inclusion that I was very interested in because Weller is a very good actor IMO and seeing him listed in the upcoming cast got me very interested because, except for being in The Dark Knight Returns as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Weller hasn't acted all that much in the last 15 years, so I didn't really know what to expect from Weller, but thankfully he did a fantastic job. 

Weller plays Admiral Marcus who is out to get Harrison for a certain reason, and trying to start a war with the Klinghons and he is just absolutely hatable and horrible in this film, and you will really want the worse just to happen to this character, and Weller pulls it off so good at making him utterly despicable.

The effects as with the last Star Trek film look just fantastic, but this film has much more space related scenes and scenes on the enterprise than in the last film, and it seems cool to have this setting for once having the movie focus on two enterprises mainly. The movie also has several aliens that it focuses on for a few scenes in the Enterprise, and they look and sound fantastic, plus we finally get to see the Klingons in the film and they look fantastic (plus a Tribble which made me laugh). Also the film has much more emphasis on space battle and hand to hand fights than the last film really did and each one is extremely well done in either building suspense or just looking flat out awesome. The sets all are big and look very cool and the designs of the newer ships and backgrounds look just amazing especially in 3D.

Star Trek Into Darkness not only triumphs in being a fantastic installment in the Star Trek film Franchise, but a fantastic Sci-Fi film in general. The Acting is improved from the last film, the plottwists thrown throughout the film are very clever and some even being hard to expect, the action is just fantastic, the film builds fantastic amounts suspense, and the film throws in a lot of references to the original series and to the original series and 2nd and 3rd Star Trek film which are welcome and very clever. Overall J.J. Abrams has outdone himself again with the Star Trek franchise and not only improved on the last film, but shows that he is worthy of holding onto this franchise and able to pay tribute to the original series, but create something new and original. Let's hope he can do the same with Star Wars.

I think there are a lot of angry Trekkies out there who disapprove of the amount of action that Star Trek: Into Darkness has, while believing it's a dumbed-down version of Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan. The truth is I myself have yet to see The Wrath Of Khan, but as far as Into Darkness goes, I thought it was an amazing movie in its own right, as it blends old and new ideas to have a bit of everything for everybody (whether they know their Star Trek or not) to like, just like the predecessor. And in many ways, I consider Star Trek: Into Darkness an even better movie than its predecessor.

The movie starts off with action, which may not seem related to the actual plot. On the contrary, it was quite important to begin that way, because that's how it sets the characters feelings and actions for the real plot. In comes Benedict Cumberbatch, who I believe was the right choice for the reimagined antagonist, Khan. He and his character are what made the plot far more memorable than Eric Bana's Nero (though to be honest, starting off with a new antagonist like Nero was a good thing, rather than bringing up an existing foe so early in the new series).

Cumberbatch delivers in manipulative fashion, similarly to Tom Hiddleston's Loki. His character also has a strong emotional commitment to back up his motives, and in that aspect, Cumberbatch's effort pays off. And I can't believe I'm saying this, but Chris Pine deserves an award for his performance this time around. Unlike the past movie, his role as Kirk was MUCH more likeable and respectable here, as his character is more fleshed out with depth, adding to his more heartfelt performance. Zachary Quinto's Spock also has a lot more depth this time around, while also being just as goofy with his "logic" as before, only even funnier. In fact, the humor in this movie has doubled since Star Trek '09, with Karl Urban's Bones as worrywart as ever, and Simon Pegg's Scotty getting more screen time, therefore exponentially increasing the amazing goofiness one would expect from Pegg. Sure, there's a notable amount of arguing involved, but at least the drama is believable. It puts the crew's trust to the test, and it also brings them closer together like a family. My god, that sounded incredibly cheesy, but you know what I mean, right?

The visual effects are as phenomenal as they were since 2009, only this time, we get bigger panoramic views of futuristic skyscrapers and foreign lands that truly look like they're out of this world. A few subtle changes here and there as well, notably the Enterprise ship going into warp speed, now with a new starting sound and a shiny disappearance, similar to Serenity. Even the camera work resembles that of Joss Whedon, which possibly could've inspired it. The action sequences are tightly edited and are exciting to watch, thanks to J.J. Abrams' assured direction. Again, he does cut corners here and there as the director usually does, but the increased depth of characters here as opposed to Star Trek '09 makes up for the speed. A lot of people seem to complain about the director's fetish for lens flares, but I actually thought he toned it down in this entry, therefore not being nearly as distracting as in his first attempt at Trekking.

And last but not least, the musical score is just as epic and beautiful as it was previously, but now included are some beautiful piano ballads that are effectively used in certain areas of the movie, adding to the emotions undergone throughout those moments.

With all that said and done, any problems I may have had with the movie feel left behind hundreds of thousands of kilometers as Star Trek: Into Darkness has officially become my new favorite J.J. Abrams movie. Again, I'm positive that this movie doesn't intend to be better than The Wrath Of Khan, but merely a different take on it and featured in an alternate timeline, while also paying homage to the original timeline. Those who're angry about it must have overlooked the characters that drive this movie. But I can't argue any longer if they did take the performances into consideration. Either you'll love it like I did, or you'll refuse to accept the new events that don't necessarily replace the old ones.

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