Star Trek Into Darkness review: Phasers set to stun!

Chris Pine as Captain Kirk and Bruce Greenwood as Captain Pike

It’s been 4 years since the first of J.J. Abrams Star Trek movies, a relatively long time between instalments for a film franchise so the wait, has been long. The first Star Trek did well reviving the well-loved 1960’s cult series so the second had a big mission on its hand; to be as good, if not better. Into Darkness does achieve this, but only just.

The action starts as soon as the production company credits stop rolling, with the best-known members of Starfleet trying to neutralise an erupting volcano to save an entire alien race. Audiences are soon brought up to speed with the character’s traits in this short scene, making it apparent that Abrams may have included this snippet before the opening titles just for new watchers to all that is Trek.

Kirk (Chris Pine) demonstrates his lack of regard for the rules, whereas Spock (Zachary Quinto) is quite the opposite. Bones (Karl Urban) doesn’t waste any time making quips and questioning Kirk’s judgement, whilst Uhura (Zoë Saldana) and Scotty (Simon Pegg), as always, display team-working skills.

Benedict Cumberbatch as villain, John Harrison/Khan

But whilst the team are busy working against natural disasters, in London, a new evil is walking forward in the form of leather-clad menacing, John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch).  After a violent attack on Starfleet HQ in San Francisco, Kirk vows to find and take-out Harrison before he can do more damage. A task that is revealed is much harder than it seems.

It is difficult not to feel like a massive sci-fi nerd when in the audience, this one feels a little more Trekky than its predecessor, which will please long-term fans of the series but the nods are not so obvious that they would alienate a completely fresh, young audience. There’s Klingons, fasers and even more Spirk making it much more reminiscent of the old televised episodes. Whilst comparing, its evident that Into Darkness is a little cheesier than Star Trek focussing, if possible, even more heavily on moral compasses and choosing between doing what’s right and doing what you’re ordered to.

Even though it’s inevitable to draw the two films together, Into Darkness doesn’t feel so much like a sequel than most follow-ups (emphasised even more by Abrams conscious decision not to label the film “Star Trek 2”). Whilst it helps to have seen the 2009 original, it is certainly not a necessity.

Despite it being a highly stylised film with out-of-this-world special effects, the need for 3D was questionable. 3D goes far beyond the delights of “things coming out of the screen” but it is hard to decipher when they really exploited the depth and clarity filmmakers can get with the medium. It is pretty clear that the film was converted into 3D, rather than filmed with a 3D platform, so its bonuses aren’t really present.

If anyone shines in this movie, it’s the star playing the bad guy, Benedict Cumberbatch. In his first main role in a blockbuster film, he effortlessly fit with a cast already so well meshed together since the first film. If there is any real noticeable fault with Into Darkness it’s undeniably that there is not enough Cumberbatch. His performance was not unlike Loki in last years Avengers, and it’s always the calm, sophisticated, well-spoken villains that are the most notorious. Why all villains have to be English nowadays however is in question!