Review: Star Trek Into Darkness

As Star Trek Into Darkness opens, we are thrown into a Starfleet operation where James Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) are actively disregarding the Prime Directive. The mission is ultimately a success, but there are consequences waiting for Kirk when he gets home. Captain Pike is livid, flying by the seat of your pants works when you're just some local farmboy, but Kirk is responsible for the lives of hundreds of officers and he can't be left in the captain's seat in good conscience.

The time for Kirk to reflect on his leadership is not a lengthy one though, an act of terrorism occurs that shocks Starfleet to its very core. With Starfleet brainstrust searching for a suspect, the harbinger of our downfall appears in the form of a renegade former officer, John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch). Considering the last villain had the ability to alter the future, it wouldn't have been a surprise if Star Trek suffered a little letdown, but Cumberbatch takes the dial and breaks it off at eleven. Even when safely contained behind a wall of glass (a blockbuster theme at this point after The Dark Knight, The Avengers and Skyfall), Cumberbatch can raise the hairs on the back of your neck.

Harrison's involvement lends a post 9/11 scope to Star Trek Into Darkness that sets the stage for the moral qualms that color the film.

“I thought we were explorers,” Scotty (Simon Pegg) interjects when Kirk accepts a command from on high to hunt for Harrison in Klingon airspace. All of the sudden, a crew focused on space exploration find themselves faced with a military operation. There are no shortage of moral shadows that the Enterprise crew find themselves in and bigger political and moral ramifications are aired here, despite what more vocal Trekkies would have you believe.

J.J. Abram's high-octane films of Gene Roddenberry's cerebral series has drawn criticism, but the moral stature than Star Trek is known for is still present in an increasingly magnetic Spock. Quinto's logical Vulcan verbally spars with Kirk about hunting Harrison across space, but the brotherly bond is there this time as the antagonism of the last film has worn off.

Though there is plenty of reason for Spock to question his fearless leader. Kirk has the requisite swagger, but there is always a glimmer behind his eyes that suggests he still doesn't know what he should do. Any chance for character growth in a summer blockbuster is appreciated, but it is handled in a devil-may-care fashion by the writers and, frankly, Kirk's perpetual combat with maturity should be resolved by now.

The action is of course there in spades: a human-missile sequence witnessed in 3D is a real treat and the scale of IMAX rewards the impressive world-building of this sequel, but there are a few qualms to be had with Into Darkness though, namely, it's been done before.

With the events of the 2009 film altering the timeline, the sequels zigs where other prominent Trek films have zagged and we can see the resolution coming. More disappointing is that the women of the U.S.S. Enterprise have been left with nothing more to do than pine for their male counterparts or (in a very curious scene) strip for no presumable reason. Given that Uhura was set-up to be a strong female character, Uhura's (Zoe Saldana) lack of depth stings more than it does for Carol Marcus (Alice Eve).

All accounted for these little flaws don't take away from the larger picture of Into Darkness. Riveting action scenes and the warmth and authenticity of the cast still leave plenty of enthusiasm for the next adventures of the Enterprise.

***/****