“Star Trek Into Darkness Is Action, Humor, Passion And It’s Non-Stop!”
Written by Lorenzo Marchessi
J.J. Abrams (Lost, Super 8) hit this one out of the park because Star Trek (2009) was an amazingly good character driven and origin story film filled with good drama, some comedy and some action, “Star Trek Into Darkness” is literally a visual roller coaster of action and fun. The 3D is effective in this film and more importantly the action and suspense does not stop at all. Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (both on Transformers and Fringe), along with Damon Lindelof (Prometheus, Lost) to the story to the next level and the stakes are much higher in this film –literally.
Watching this film was also an experience of audience participation with cheers, tears, fears, applause and even “oooo’s” and “ahhhhs” and tons of laughter, laughter and hysterics throughout most of movie! What I really liked about the movie is that once again it took the original series concepts and turned them upside down and twisted them and made them fresh. Some familiar and yet not familiar moments do occur and you have to see it to understand what I mean.
What also received a warm applause at the end of the film from the entire audience was a proud dedication the filmmakers give to the “…Post 9/11 Veterans…”,giving them thanks and praise for their past and present service at home and abroad.
Chris Pine (Rise of the Guardians, This Means War) does the comedy just as well as he does the drama and his passion for the role is clear with his wild James T. Kirk agenda, which often isn’t exactly what Starfleet would approve. Zachary Quinto (Heroes, Margin Call) does an incredible Spock once again. His passionless persona is passion-ful and his commitment to subtlety conveying meaning without saying a word is amazing. The chemistry between Chris and Zach is blissfully apparent on screen and their compassion for each other as Starfleet officers is fully developed in this film Karl Urban (Dred, Bourne Supremacy) is the cantankerous “Bones” McCoy and Karl is having an amazing time with this in this film. His charm is burning through his bitterness and sarcasm throughout the film. Zoe Saldana (Avatar, Columbiana) as Uhura really gets to shine in this film as her relationship with Spock is tested and it happens in some very funny scenes between their domestic arguments they have. (And they have them in front of Kirk!)
I waited till now to discuss the story and I don’t want to give any spoilers away, but the plot centers around why the film was dedicated to who it was dedicated to in the first place. Benedict Cumberbatch (Warhorse, Sherlock) plays a villain that would rival most villains. Mean, sadistic, relentless and extremely intelligent – all the elements you do not want a madman to have, and he has got them in spades! He is a terrorist who affects Kirk in a very personal way that causes Kirk to make his entire mission to get Benedicts’character. (And I am avoiding his name for a reason!) It’s a real terrorist story.
Did I mention that Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) playing Chief Engineer Scott is one of the funniest things you’ll ever see on screen in this film? Even when he resigns? (Oooops, tiny spoiler – or maybe not, you’ll see.) John Cho (American Beauty, Harold & Kumar) has an amazing moment of power when he gets an unexpected upgrade and John plays it to the hilt and even has a moment that impresses himself quite a bit! The one who has the least amount to do, yet some very funny moments and one truly heroic moment, is Anton Yelchin (Fright Night, Terminator Salvation) as Chekov. He literally fixes and saves and fixes and saves…you have to see it for yourself.
Another brilliant performance by the father-figure Bruce Greenwood (I,Robot, DejaVu) as Captain Pike, sole ‘cheerleader’ for Captain Kirk and all his troublesome antics. Bruce and Chris also have amazing chemistry as the surrogate father and son relationship that they have developed. And joining the cast this time around is Alice Eve (Men In Balck III, The Raven) as Carol Marcus, a specialist in a field that defiantly helps in the hunt for Benedict’s character, as well as unexpectedly helping Benedict as well.
Now ad an Admiral with a mission and a twist (or two or three) that will very much surprise you and you have you wondering at all times, is Peter Weller (Robocop, Buckaroo Bonzai) adding to the mix of extremely high energy and fast pace.
And there is a really big surprise too! Everyone is back and in full form and full force and this is definitely a candy film for the soul. Take the drama and passion of the first film, sprinkle in some suspense, plot twists, a double extra helping of humor and scene by scene action on top of action on top of action on top of action, and you have“Star Trek Into Darkness.” A film that will literally have something for everyone, of all ages, to enjoy and you will definitely ‘feel’ much better leaving the theatre then when you came in! As Spock always says, Live Long and Prosper!