Star Trek Into Darkness (Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho, Benedict Cumberbatch, Bruce Greenwood) – The first thing you notice about the new Star Trek movie is that the name is a play on words. Is it a “trek into darkness”? The last thing I thought of as I walked out of the theater was “Why is it called “Into Darkness?” It isn’t darker than any other Star Trek films; it is just the same. That is good enough for me. I like the franchise. I particularly like the way this prequel introduces characters we will see later (or is that in the past) in the Star Trek adventures like Nurse Chapel, Khan, and even tribbles (remember the TV episode, “The Trouble With Tribbles?”). Having now seen the great job the producers, directors and writers have done with casting — Chris Pine certainly has the cockiness of William Shatner; Zachary Quinto is an almost perfect younger Spock; Karl Urban is magnificent as Dr. Bones McCoy (damnit, Jim!); John Cho as George Takei (I mean Sulu); and Simon Pegg is a wonderful young, skinny Scotty (but how can Zoe Saldana pass for a young Uhura?) — they needed to move the story forward. With J.J. Abrams at the helm, no one doubted it would be action-packed, computer graphic-driven and fast-paced. That is the good news. The bad news: I almost fell asleep in the middle.
Typical J.J. Abrams. The plot is subservient to the action. The plot is simple enough. There’s a bad guy — Khan. Yes, we are introduced to the future (or past) villain of The Wrath of Khan. He is young, ambitious, and super strong. Seemingly an ally, he turns villain and threatens the galaxy, the original Enterprise, the young commander Kirk, the Earth, and the rest of the Federation. There is the usual Klingon rivalry. My most haunting question is: If they are going to introduce us to Khan, played famously by Ricardo Montalban in The Wrath, why make him British (Benedict Cumberbatch from War Horse)? Wasn’t there a Spanish-accented actor to play the role? Maybe in a future prequel, Khan will get an “accent transplant” before turning into Montalban.
Anyway, yes this is worth your money. I saw it in 3-D, which enhances the special effects. But this is not a triumph in any form. It is a mega-millions production of a sci-fi adventure to be followed by more. If the next installment isn’t better, box office will suffer and the franchise could be done (I think Abrams got a three-picture deal). Maybe that’s the warning about how Star Trek could go Into Darkness.