I don't know how they can call it "In Darkness" with all that lens flare. Har har.
Anyways, the sequel to the 2009 reboot-but-not-quite-a-reboot has arrived. This time the crew of the Enterprise face off against a threat much closer to Earth, in the form of legendary Star Trek villain Khan. With a one man war waged against the entirety of Starfleet, it's up to Kirk and his crew to track him down and stop him, even if it means infiltrating some volatile areas of space...
Everyone's back in this movie. Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, and all are on fine form. Since everyone has settled into their characters, the quite serious tone throughout let's everyone put on their best dramatic chops. There is much less comic relief this time around, and even when it's there it's subdued. Even Simon Pegg manages to pull off some great dramatic moments.
The star of the show is definitely Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan. He manages to be menacing, charismatic, devious, all at the same time. Khan is definitely a powerhouse of a villain, boasting superior intellect and magnificent strength. Despite this, he did weaken a bit in my eyes at about the halfway point, due to the many twists and turns that get thrown around in the plot. It gets a little bundled and confusing, but definitely pulls together for a magnificent final showdown.
J.J. Abrams has clearly settled Ito his director's chair after the success of the first movie. All the scenes are wonderfully shot, from full scale battles to more intimate moments, and no matter how much lens flare is thrown around, it's clear he put a lot of effort into making Into Darkness entertaining for new and old fans alike, keeping up the consistency of his new universe while making very nice references and reflections of the original Wrath Of Khan.
Star Trek: Into Darkness is a fantastic sequel. It's full of great action set pieces, a great cast and an entirely menacing villain. I may have had misgivings around the middle, but it seems they were entirely unfounded, and having seen the entirety I really don't have a bad thing to say about it. I'm looking forward to a continuation of the franchise, and am starting to get quite excited about how Abrams will handle Star Wars.
My rating: 5/5
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