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In 2009, Star Trek was "rebooted", successfully remixing aspects of the classic Trek universe and making it all fresh, new, and exciting again. At the same time, it remained true to the classic characters and the spirit of the franchise. In the film's first sequel, Into Darkness sets forth to do the same thing most other sequels do: introduce more characters, raise the stakes, and take the audience on a (hopefully bigger and "better") thrill ride.
This film definitely retains the thrill ride aspects—like its predecessor, it still has some great action scenes, some jaw-dropping special effects, and the occasional pieces of humor. The film definitely goes big--with chases and battles across space, on alien planets, and ultimately on Earth, there are plenty of huge action scenes. The film also tries its best to blow up the emotional stakes.
Therein lies the film's most interesting and redeeming values: where the characters stand at this point. The first film introduced the Enterprise crew in a fresh new light, using Kirk's flirtation with death as a thematic pillar. In this film, the theme is expanded tremendously, pitting Kirk against death in a twisting series of events that constantly calls for him to make the hard choices. At multiple moments, everybody is called upon to question the value of human life, the value of the mission, and the morality of self-sacrifice. Oh yes, fans of the classic films will recognize these same aspects from The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock, because Into Darkness takes the same aspects and remixes them.
Unfortunately, this becomes the film's biggest problem. After going through all the trouble to reset the Trek universe, filmmakers placed their bets on the safest of creative choices: they created a story where history repeats itself. The matter is made worse in the bizarre way they wrapped this rehashed story around a Federation conspiracy (which in itself seems to be inspired by the writers' own 9/11 conspiracy theories, which I always found hard to swallow, and it's equally hard as a Trek story). Juggling so many aspects and agendas, plot holes are patched in flimsy ways. Some scenes (and characters) pass without leaving any impact. It all adds up to a brisk climax that brings the action back to Earth (thus limiting the scope of the movie to disappointing levels), and fixing things up tidily so the Enterprise crew can sail once more. The only thing that holds this story up are the character arcs (and they're good enough, thankfully).
The film continues to exhibit some jittery camerawork and plenty of lens flares, which will irk many viewers. Some of the camera movements are pretty brilliant though. Acting is the same as before: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, and Simon Pegg all inhabit their characters comfortably, and are a joy to watch. Bruce Greenwood is still good, Alice Eve is quite appealing, and I felt that Peter Weller's role is appropriate. The biggest draw to this film will be Benedict Cumberbatch as the villain--the man definitely establishes the proper screen presence and gives his character plenty of nuance. Writing for this film could have been better. As before, the film uses some clever camera trickery and unique settings to give the film a unique and authentic-looking edge. All the sets, props, costumes, and special effects are good. The music score offers much of the same as from the first film, but with unique new variations.
It is disappointing that Star Trek: Into Darkness doesn't boldly go where no film has gone before. What the film lacks in good plotting, it makes up for in its energy, spirit, characterization, and quality, all of which carries over from the last film superbly. It's still an enjoyable thrill ride, but far from perfect.
4/5
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