(Movie Review) Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

Star Trek: Into Darkness is everything that Iron Man 3 tried to be…and then some

I was not a “Trekkie” growing up. I always thought that dressing up in silly outfits and playing pretend with your friends stopped in grade school or was reserved for Halloween. Still, I respect the commitment that some fans have had to the franchise. Why? Because they fell in love with a series that was low budget, had mixed reviews (at best) and was canceled after only three seasons on air. To most, that would be the end of the story. But fans wanted more, and the result has been one of the most successful franchises in the history of entertainment, spawning numerous spin of series and TWELVE motion pictures. So, was this movie up to snuff? Absolutely!

Storyline: After a mission is completed, the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise returns home. Upon arriving they find that they are being sabotaged from within. When Kirk (Pine) suffers a serious loss, he takes it upon himself to hunt down the terrorist that is responsible for the havoc. Battles with Klingons, genetically altered terrorists, and a great deal of loss await the crew of the Enterprise. 

Going back to my little intro paragraph, the problem with doing movies like this is that the fans of the source material are SO obsessive about things that some will never be happy. That’s sad to me, because I would think that after almost 50 years the fans would just be happy to see that their favorite franchise is still producing entertaining films. Sure, some of the things have changed. One person might be a different race than they were in the past, Zachary Quinto (Spock) might show a little more emotion than Leonard Nimoy did in the original series, blah blah blah. Who cares? What people should be focusing on is the fact that this is just a really good movie. It’s as simple as that. 

Worth the admission? Does Spock have pointy ears? YUP! This movie really is a great benchmark for what summer “blockbusters” should be. In all of the ways that I thought Iron Man 3 failed me, this movie succeeded. The humor was not excessive, but effective. The action was fantastic. The special effects were outstanding! And the entire cast, as well as director J.J. Abrams, were fantastic. 

*spoilers below*

The introduction of Khan is something that was being kept under wraps for a while, but I felt it to be an injustice not to point out how absolutely perfect Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance as Khan was. He was everything that a good villain should be. Superior in almost every way to those pursuing him, physically menacing, and performs every task with the knowledge that every person in the room with him is inferior. He is righteous in his quest and willing to do whatever it takes to succeed. A superb villain. The portrayal of Khan is possibly my favorite thing about this movie and I highly recommend that you go see it this weekend.