Clueless Movie Reviews: “Star Trek Into Darkness”

While not as satisfying a cinematic experience as its predecessor, Star Trek Into Darkness is still a wildly entertaining ride that keeps the Star Trek franchise boldly going to new heights of fun and excitement, while still honoring its classic characters and iconic moments.

After Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) violates Starfleet’s General Order One, the “Prime Directive” — the regulation dictating non-interference in the natural development of non-Federation civilizations that have not discovered faster-than-light travel — to save the life of a valued crew member, he and the crew of the Enterprise are ordered home for disciplinary procedures. The time since Kirk, Spock (Zachary Quinto), and co. saved Earth in the last Star Trek adventure, 2009’s Star Trek, hasn’t changed the good captain very much. He’s still brash, impulsive, and possessed of the belief that the rules governing others don’t necessarily apply to him, which makes his punishment, delivered by his friend and mentor Admiral Pike (Bruce Greenwood), all the more of a shock. “You don’t respect the chair,” Pike scolds, referring to the center seat on the bridge of the Enterprise that Kirk regards as his by right of his brilliance, and its that arrogance that the Admiral fears will cost Kirk not only his life, but the lives of all who serve under him.

But before Kirk can undertake any punishment for his actions, Starfleet finds itself under attack seemingly by a rogue officer, John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch), who starts with a bombing in London and continues with a brazen assault on Starfleet Headquarters itself. After the devastating attack, Kirk receives new orders to hunt down Harrison and terminate the threat he poses with extreme prejudice, orders that don’t sit well with some members of the Enterprise’s crew. The mission and the dangers that follow push the ship and crew to its breaking point, as they discover that Harrison is far more than they were led to believe, and that he’s far from the only threat to Earth’s safety that they have to worry about.

When director J.J. Abrams first took the helm of the Star Trek franchise, he confessed publicly that he’d only been a casual fan of the series and its films, and had been more of a Star Wars fan as a child. Star Trek Into Darkness, like its predecessor, which Abrams also directed, draws a great deal from that other rival space-faring franchise (which Abrams is also now in charge of with the retirement of George Lucas) in terms of being more driven by action and thrills. Hardcore Trek fans at times object to this approach, claiming that it runs counter to creator Gene Roddenberry’s original vision, but even Roddenberry, were he with us today, couldn’t deny that it works in terms of making Trek accessible not just to more casual fans, but also to movie-going audiences in general. Abrams’ Star Trek films, while still being character-driven, are full of the kind of spectacle, humor, and breathless, dizzying, dazzling action that leaves summer movie audiences buzzing and buying tickets for repeat viewings. Say what you will, naysayers, but that’s good for the health of the franchise.

Specifics? Watch for the first appearance of the Klingons in Abrams’ Star Trek universe (it doesn’t go well), the Enterprise’s desperate fight to survive the onslaught of a dreadnought that dwarfs it in size and armaments, and what happens when a crippled starship without power plummets uncontrolled through an atmosphere. Don’t mind the Trekkers who say you’ve seen that before in Trek films — you’ve never seen it quite like this.

As for the characters, Abrams gives them plenty to do, as well, although they’re not all given as much as they were the first time around. As much of a Star Wars guy as he might claim to be, he and his screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman continue to honor the distinctive character-driven heart of Trek. In other words, they know that no matter how cool the ships, the phasers, and the alien makeup and effects might be, Trek is and always has been about the characters, their strengths and faults, their relationships to one another, and their devotion to the ideals and principles that put them out in space in the first place.

And so Abrams folds into his narrative Kirk’s discovery of what it really means to “respect the chair”, the complicated emotionality in Spock and Uhura’s (Zoe Saldana) relationship, Scotty’s (Simon Pegg) conscientious objections to the mission at hand, Sulu’s (John Cho) first foray into command, Chekov’s (Anton Yelchin) comical struggling under the weight of new responsibilities, and even the struggle of the villain himself, Harrison, whose goals, once clear, call into question just how much of a “bad guy” he is relative to what set him loose in the first place.

Cumberbatch, in particular, is a riveting presence whenever he’s on-screen. He positively seethes with a cold rage through his every carefully-measured word and piercing glance. His posture and bearing throughout is like a rubber band pulled taut, ready to snap at anyone or anything nearby. He contrasts well with Pine’s hotheaded Kirk and Quinto’s logic-driven Spock by being an unlikely combination of their most distinctive traits. He is both intellect and savagery in equal measure, capable of matching any challenge or adversary with either or both.

If the film has any faults, they lay in a predictability borne from necessity. After all, there are echoes of previous Trek films and Trek lore woven throughout the film that necessitate a certain amount of predictability, if for no other reason that the audience should have a sense of what’s coming in order to feel the proper sense of anticipation and dread. Also, Alice Eve (Men in Black 3, HBO’s Entourage), joining the cast as Dr. Carol Marcus (yes, Trekkers, THAT Carol Marcus. Don’t cry ‘Spoiler!’ — you probably already knew.), is woefully underused. She may play a greater role in future Trek films, but here by the end her appearance amounts to little more than a nod to the previous films … and an opportunity to show off the comely Eve in the equivalent of a 23rd Century bikini.

All in all, you might be able to see where things are going as the film plunges forward at warp speed toward its climactic moments, but its a safe bet that you’re going to have fun watching it all anyway, and come away eager for the voyages of the Starship Enterprise to boldly continue.

Such a response would be quite logical.

Score: 4 out of 5

Star Trek Into Darkness
Starring John Cho, Benedict Cumberbatch, Alice Eve, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Peter Weller, Anton Yelchin. Directed by J.J. Abrams
Running Time: 132 minutes
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence.