Star Trek Into Darkness

J.J. Abrams returns to the director’s chair for the long awaited follow-up to 2009’s reboot-sequel Star Trek. Given that the film’s promotional campaign has been bombarding us with trailers and images for the best part of a year, much of the film’s plot still remains shrouded in secrecy, with one question lingering on everyone’s lips: who exactly IS John Harrison?

Benedict Cumberbatch’s casting as steely gazed villain has been the talking point in the run up the films release. An ex-Starfleet officer with vengeance on his mind, he uses his manipulative cunning and supreme intelligence to attract the attention of his former employers before hot-footing it across the galaxy and hiding in the last place the Federation would think to look. Figuratively and literally, Cumberbatch stands head and shoulders above the rest of the cast, and could quite possibly be one of the best cinema baddies since Heath Ledger’s turn as the Joker.

Thankfully, the crew of the Enterprise are at hand to pursue this renegade into uncharted territory when Harrison’s path of destruction becomes a personal vendetta for Captain Kirk (Chris Pine), much to the distain of his first office, Spock (Zachary Quinto). The relationship between the two is warp core of the film, with Kirk’s adventurous schemes usually cut down by Spock’s logical thinking. This bromance even supersedes the series’ love story between Spock and Uhura, a plot point that is drastically underused and one that seriously diminishes Zoe Salanda’s role in this film.

As for the rest of the crew, Simon Pegg’s Scotty still can’t quite master the Scottish accent, but deservedly receives much more screen time to fire off his trademark one-liners and act as the film’s comic relief. On the other hand Karl Urban’s “Bones” McCoy continues to master his predecessor’s mannerisms and fondness for metaphors, only to leave you wishing he’d been given a tad more screen time.

From the explosive opening sequences to dogfights between starships, the pace of the film doesn’t let up for one second. Even the dialogue-centric scenes contain so many bluffs and double-bluffs from both the heroes and villain that these scenes are often more exciting than the film’s CGI heavy action sequences.

The film’s moral compass lies somewhere around the idea of being able to play god and the plot’s “big reveal” acts as both a blessing and a curse for Star Trek Into Darkness. On the one hand it continues J.J. Abrams deconstruction of the Star Trek universe and re-imagining it in his own way, whilst on the other it leaves you wishing the director and his team of writers had taken more of a gamble and lived up to the series’ mission statement: to boldly go where no one has gone before. Still, Star Trek Into Darkness is a fantastic sequel that perhaps doesn’t quite muster the same impact as it’s predecessor.

By Leigh Forgie

Star Trek Into Darkness is currently on show at the Movie House cinemas, check the link below for times…

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