Stealth remakes/reboots are a bit of an uncommon trend, but with the relaunched Star Trek films being firmly set in continuity to the original series, it’s not surprising that one or two of the more well known aspects would crop up (even when you’re not expecting it), and here a love letter to the past, and appealing to long term fans, works in continuing the franchise’s success with Into Darkness. Very much so.
After some daredevil escapades save his first officer Spock (Zachary Quinto, American Horror Story), Captain Kirk (Chris Pine, This Means War) of the Starship Enterprise is barely left in Starfleet and demoted. Unfortunately at the same time, a rogue Starfleet agent, John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock), put in place his plan to take down most of the higher ranking officers. On a revenge mission which some of his explorer crew don’t sit well with, Kirk has to step up into a mature Captain’s role to save his crew and stop a menace working behind the scenes.
What strikes you first about the crew is that it’s so balanced; there are no big egos here and for a modern representation and homage to the original Star Trek series, it’s perfectly cast; whilst Pine slims back from some of the original William Shatner mannerisms (in an otherwise fine performance), Quinto really nails Spock. In fact, Quinto puts in so much effort you’d be forgiven for saying he is a better Spock than Leonard Nimoy, absolutely nailing the tone, emotion and traits as the man from Vulcan.
Slightly disappointing is the big screen blockbuster debut of one Mr. Cumberbatch. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the performance or shift Benedict puts in here – he’s great. The problem here is John Harrison is underwritten to the point that, despite his epic amount of terrorism, he’s just another bad guy. Some squiffy motivations don’t really back up why he’s being a complete bastard to Starfleet, and he’s definitely lacking a few quality lines to punch his way onto any memorable villains list. Cumberbatch doesn’t half give it a go though.
Putting the above in perspective, Simon Pegg’s (A Fantastic Fear Of Everything) Scotty gets a weirdly massive amount of screentime, although admittedly that time is very entertaining and quite important too. The new Bones gives Karl Urban (Dredd) a chance to show off his surprisingly quality acting chops. Robocop himself, Peter Weller, is alright as the stern and proactive head of Starfleet Admiral Marcus.
Overall the great cast definitely brings the characters to life and, when you consider that all of them are pretty much from the ‘forgotten about’, ‘bit of a gamble’ and B-List piles, they put in so much effort with their pleasurable performances. Except for Anton Yelchin (Terminator: Salvation) as Chekov. His horrible comedy role would make you wish he was on the wrong end of a nuclear wessel. Oh and Alice Eve (Men In Black 3) is realistically pure eye candy for the boys in a unfulfilling role. Oh well. Still a couple of rotten eggs here haven’t spoilt this Into Darkness dozen.
You know what has though? The writing and dialogue; they are the biggest letdown, and completely collapse any clever ideas they were trying to go for in the second hour. In the first half, fine. There’s some moral confliction over a usually science based exploration ship in the Enterprise being used for military purposes. Sides are taken, stuff happens. A-to-B is clearly shown. But later, starting from exactly when they capture John Harrison, the complete bunk we get sprouted from anyone’s mouths for the next 60 minutes in motivations, reasons, plot mechanics etc. comes off as utter nonsense which you cannot believe. There’s contrasts in tone and emotions in the same scene from the same character which derails understanding and logic. It doesn’t even make sense why one of the ‘good guys’ turns rogue near the end!
Whilst that’s the biggest problem, the writing bogs down the characters too in places; for example, Kirk is meant to go on a story arc where his “screw the consequences” attitude changes and he becomes more responsible, but this doesn’t really happen – he’s still reckless when the runtime finishes. Plus that doesn’t seem as interesting as having twincest threesomes with Asian cat girls. Luckily it’s not essential, but you do need to turn the old brain off when they try making a really simple plot overly complicated.
Levelling the blame at writers Damon Lindelof (of Lost fame) and Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci may seem a bit harsh, but when you remember that between the three of them they have gifted us with Prometheus, and the first two of the Transformers trilogy, three of the most clumsily handled films released in the last few years. Separately they are admittedly worse but Star Trek – Into Darkness could be a lot tighter and more enjoyable if it weren’t for the poor standard set by these supposed “masters” of big blockbuster movies.
As well as the good cast he assembles, director J.J. Abrams (Super 8 and Lost) manages to capture the spirit and fun of the original Star Trek series and has the common sense to throw in enough tributes to various lines, creatures and memes to appease and excite. All the Trekkies who were worried when the first trailers were released will be relieved it’s not yet another dark and serious Dark Knight veined depature. Plus, if the big twist this time around wasn’t enough, we get ultimate versions of the Klingons introduced. All this whilst keeping the three idiots with pens in check as well – well done that man.
The action is superb all across the range. From a brilliant physical Spock/Harrison scrap (where the Vulcan Neck Grip gets COUNTERTED!) to the horrific but watchable scenes with Starships falling from the sky to Earth, forget logic and science and you will be appeased. No expense is spared in a glorious feast of visual delights. The highlight of Into Darkness is when Kirk and Harrison jump ship to ship in the middle of a space debris field; highly engaging, and undeniably marvellous.
As a sci-fi film it’s decent, with poignant and relative concepts. Being the whole point of Star Trek is the exploration angle, the opening sequence where the Enterprise crew save an otherwise doomed planet with a macguffin sums up everything about them – going to new worlds and seeking out new life and civilisations. This gets done. Their meaning of existence is challenged, which creates intriguing conflict between Scotty and Kirk for awhile, though it’s kept a little bit on the backburner compared to the guff sprouted about getting mad supermen out of cryosleep to build ultimate weapons.
Stupid but entertaining. Definitely check your brain at the door and Into Darkness is tonnes of fun. A worthy homage to probably the best known Star Trek film yet, and made easily accessible for newcomers. With not many complaints, Into Darkness made the various character performances and Technicolor sets far more entertaining than expected, and thanks to J.J. Abrams, the summer has started.
Terry Lewis – @thatterrylewis.
