Star Trek Into Darkness Review

If nerddom were a kingdom, it seems like we have two major contenders for the throne: Joss Whedon & JJ Abrams.  With their numerous adored TV shows and movies, they are two of the highest profile creators in genre entertainment today.  Last summer was huge for Whedon, directing the year’s biggest film—The Avengers—and acting as a huge creative force for the spin-off franchises for the foreseeable future.  This summer was Abrams’ turn, following up his Star Trek reboot with the highly anticipated Star Trek Into Darkness.  Although this film won’t put him over the top, it has me wondering if his Star Wars possibly could.

Not to say Into Darkness is a bad film, far from it.  However, I wound up feeling a little disappointed compared to the really enjoyable Star Trek from four years ago.  The story takes a little while to gel, but once it does, it brings the popcorn excitement Abrams is known for.  Then it takes a couple easy outs that lower the tension and stakes rather than raise them as a good sequel should.  It’s a little disappointing, but nowhere near my feelings towards Iron Man 3.

Unlike that film, Into Darkness doesn’t disappoint in its villain.  Benedict Cumberbatch of Sherlock fame is a lot of fun to watch as the mysterious John Harrison, who is out to get the federation for reasons I can’t say in the spoiler free space.  It’s no big surprise he’s so good as a bad guy: his Sherlock from the BBC series isn’t far off from being a bad guy.  If there’s only one reason to see this movie, he’s it.  This is going to be a hard act for Michael Shannon to follow up as far as break out villain in a blockbuster movie goes, not that he won’t be up for it.

At the heart of the film is the friendship between Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto).  It’s well-trodden territory from what I’ve heard—I must admit I’m not well read on Star Trek aside from whatever I’ve absorbed through cultural osmosis—but it’s fresh thanks to the chemistry between Pine and Quinto.  Spock’s relationship with Uhura (Zoe Saldana) also helps add dimension to his arc.  Really, Spock’s journey to understanding his human side is the more interesting of the two leads, and Quinto does a good job with the meatier role.

Unfortunately the same can’t be said for the female roles in this film.  There’s been some controversy over the role of women in this film, with a gratuitous shot of Alice Eve in her underwear being the most discussed.  It’s valid: Eve isn’t given a whole lot to do in this film, so it’s an understandable criticism that she’s just eye candy for the male audience.  Zoe Saldana doesn’t get much either, which is a shame since she can carry her weight in a big action movie like this one.  For a series that was pioneering in its diversity, it’s a bit disappointing to have them underserved.  Hopefully the inevitable third installment will give the women a more substantial role.

What bothered me towards the end was it ended up backing down on what could’ve been a really interesting ending.  That’s the downside to $200 million movies: the risks you can take are much lower.  For the sequel they needed to raise the stakes and create some lasting consequences, instead it felt more like a first movie in a series with the promise of what will be.  Going forward, I hope that whoever helms the third new Star Trek film takes it in a new direction.  The time travel from the first one gave them the freedom to go a different route with the mythology and characters, so why not take advantage of it instead of doing slightly different versions of the original?  This film, while it underperformed a little at the box office, establishes a pretty stable franchise for at least a couple more films.  I think it’s ready for some new creative blood, maybe someone more inclined for science fiction than fantasy.

As I’ve said, I’m unread on most Star Trek, but I know it’s a show that sides more with hard sci-fi.  This film is pretty far from hard sci-fi, which will certainly irritate some purists.  The science in this is pretty weak, but the fantasy stuff could be worked into a more fantastical story better.  His projects tend to focus more on fantasy elements with some sci-fi thrown in, which makes him a perfect fit for Star Wars.  While Star Trek Into Darkness has plenty of fun stuff throughout, it seems to confirm JJ Abrams and his brand may not be the best fit for the future of the franchise and that his quest for the throne of nerddom may be found in a galaxy far, far away.

Grade: B

SPOILER ALERT

Warning: Do not read further unless you want to read about key plot points in Star Trek Into Darkness

The centerpiece of Into Darkness’ ad campaign has been the lack of disclosure over Benedict Cumberbatch’s character.  “Is he Khan?” was one of the biggest questions going in.  Of course we now know he was, but they kept that from us as a mid-movie plot twist.  Only this twist feels at best forced.  The only reason they keep Khan’s identity a secret in the film is just for the sake of having a twist.  Why not have him be Khan the whole time, include that in the advertising campaign, which would help build hype?  Once they tell us he’s Khan the movie picks up speed and becomes a lot more fun to watch as things come to a head.

Not that I’d want to lose Chris Pine, but I really wish they would’ve ended the film with Kirk dead.  I guess they couldn’t because his death was too close to Spock’s from Wrath of Khan and he is the lead, but it would’ve made for a really memorable ending.  Of the weirdly specific deus ex machinas in TV and movies, magic blood is one of the weirdest.  It also usually gets quickly abandoned as it did on Battlestar Galactica and Heroes.  He gets a little blood transfusion and it’s almost like it never happened.  I’d really like to see something happen to Kirk as a result of this in the third one, because if not, then why not have magic blood on hand for everything?