Stars Chris Pine, Zachery Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Benedict Cumberbatch, Karl Urban, John Cho, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, Alice Eve with Peter Weller and Bruce Greenwood Directed by JJ Abrams Given the title, one could assume that the Star Trek sequel would go where many other sequels have gone before, tougher darker territory. (see the likes of The Empire Strikes Back or The Dark Knight). Well, for one, the intrepid crew of The Enterprise do face a tough and dark situation. Add to that the rather remarkable way the writers have managed to both cater to and subvert expectations. Director JJ Abrams and his crew did have the enviable task to match up with the most favoured of the Star Trek movies (The Wrath of Khan) and there was much speculation as to where the plot of Into Darkness would go. Although they did successfully revive the ailing franchise. Without going too much into the plot, most of the characters do get more to do this time around, each getting a moment to shine in the rather jam-packed story that is full of action and thrills and excitement. Much like with their previous attempt, there is a lot going on, racing along at a breakneck pace. Abrams directs with gusto, putting up some truly epic sequences moving about from the inside of a volcano to Earth (London and San Francisco) to the Klingon moon of Kronos. Yes, after being excised from the first movie, we finally get to check out the Klingons of this new version of Star Trek (and another fan-favourite creature as well).While it is definitely bigger, it has a hard time getting to better since what came before had already set a pretty high bar. It does get pretty close to that bar tho. I mentioned earlier about catering and subverting expectations, a part of that also lead to some bits that could seem hokey or over-cooked (certain knowing lines of dialogue for instance). And in trying to resolve a certain type of ending also leads to some very odd displacement, or dropping in, of plot devices. I'm trying not to spell some things out, but I'm sure you'll notice what Im referring to when you see it. I understand the need to drop in plot points to serve the story at later points, but it does seem odd when it's done in a 'sideways' bit that throws off the flow of dialogue or, at worst, a whole scene. While the main cast do well slipping back into their characters like a bunch of gloves, the focus would be on Benedict Cumberbatch being the newcomer and playing the 'villain' of the piece, as featured in the trailers. Cumberbatch, as expected, dominates all his scenes as much as he takes control of every situation within the movie. Also welcome is Peter Weller as a Starfleet Admiral who gives Kirk his mission this time around while Alice Eve fills out the eye-candy role as a significant character who really doesn't contribute much. (Said eye-candy scene being ridiculously snipped off - from a digital screening no less - for some weird reason, especially after an earlier scene that has Kirk being the typical womaniser he is. Several other bits of dialogue are also mysteriously snipped.) With the quality of the production up there, along with the still awesome score by Michael Giacchino, there is a feeling of this being like another episode of a TV series. At the same time, it also feels like an extension of the previous movie, so there's a sense of continuity. Everything that was great about the first movie continues here. Abrams does seem to be channeling his inner Spielberg at times tho (the opening chase in particular feels like it could very well be in an Indiana Jones movie). In all, it's still a romp of the highest order, shamelessly milking the emotions and catering to the die-hard fans (oh, the numerous references) while stomping about with some massive epic destruction going on. If anything else, it also sets up elements that can be picked up by following sequels down the line too.
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