Star Trek Into Darkness
- Director: J.J Abrams
- Genre: Sci-Fi
- Details: 132 mins / USA / 12a
In a cinema near you:
The 2009 reboot of Gene Roddenberry's seminal series took the once and future crew of the USS Enterprise into an alternate dimension, allowing for a whole new set of adventures that Kirk and co would enjoy and/or endure. With Into Darkness, we find director JJ Abrams veering even further from topical science fiction and deeper into the depths of an action blockbuster, one where despite the makings of a new timeline, is lacking in originality.
After saving an un-evolved civilization from a planet-destroying volcanic eruption, Kirk (Chris Pine) gets his wrist slapped for disobeying direct orders and subsequently has the captain's chair on the Enterprise taken away from him. Enter Commander John Harrison (a fairly buffed up Benedict Cumberbatch), who performs a vicious terrorist attack in downtown London. Soon becoming a top priority target, the Enterprise set off to take him down. We could tell you more, but that would spoil the many nice surprises that are in store, such as the re-introduction of a major Star Trek Universe species.
Whereas the previous movie seemed to focus more on Spock (Zachary Quinto) discovering and embracing his humanity, Into Darkness finds Kirk attempting to find reason while he's blinded by the need for revenge. Casting aside the presence of some heavily sombre plot points - including one of the most blatant 9/11 references in cinema - this movie does not skimp on fun: Kirk and Spock's burdgeoning bromance continues to develop beautifully - with the arrival of a new Science Officer hottie (Alice Eve) spurning on some jealousy between them - while Scotty (Simon Pegg) and his comedic antics also get some vastly increased screen-time. Then there's the breathless pace of the film, warping from one action scene to the next. It's huge, superbly created and choreographed sequences like this that IMAX was made for.
Despite all of the great performances, special effects and sense of fun, however, there's a slight feeling of weightlessness to the entire endeavour. After all of the build-up to Benedict Cumberbatch's villain, unfortunately there's not a lot of pay-off. Abrams has certainly made Star Trek fun and cool again, and he's made it a weapon of mass appeal to worldwide audiences. But with Into Darkness, he hasn't added much to what he recreated back in 2009, it's just more of the same. While that's no bad thing - it's still a bloody fantastic summer blockbuster, don't get us wrong - you can't help but come away feeling ever so slightly disappointed.
Review by Rory Cashin | 16:11 | Thursday 9th May 2013 | Movie Review
PreviousBeat GirlComments
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tones1983
Loved the reboot I can't wait for the sequel
Posted 23:17 | Thu 2nd May 2013 -
rich7
cant wait
Posted 17:58 | Tue 7th May 2013 -
Emily
Saw Into Darkness last night. So refreshing to walk out of a cinema feeling like you have just watched a very well made film ( they are so rare these days) JJ Abrams has been proving his skill for storytelling, character development since the wonderful TV series ALIAS, another favourite of mine. Star Trek Into Darkness I can happily report is an excellent sequel to Star Trek. There is action, drama, comedy. romance and a compelling storyline as well as excellent effects!! Cumberbatch is compelling as the baddie in this feature... outstanding performance!!! Looking forward to the next installment and I have every faith in Abrams venture into the next Star Wars film! Bring it on!
Posted 11:31 | Fri 10th May 2013 -
kev
just home from the new trecky movie,this is a must see in imax thanks entertainment .ie for the experience,ever gratefull kev,ps live long and prosper.
Posted 21:58 | Tue 7th May 2013 -
Bandee
I went to see this because I'm a huge Benedict Cumberbatch fan, so maybe I'm not the target audience. I don't know if it was the script or the direction but the over acting was horrific to watch. It was full of big emotional scenes charting the growing bromance between Kirk and Spock that had me yawning. But worst of all the storyline failed to follow the reality curve, ie you can mess with all sorts of things in a sci-fi/ fantasy movie but it has to have some bearing to reality to make it believable, for example in this movie Kirk gets a massive dose of radiation at one stage, radiation sickness makes your hair fall out, you bleed from your eyes and vomit blood. But chris pine has a very moving scene where his very pretty face is untouched. Very disappointed, all you Cumberb**ches out there, just wait for the next series of Sherlock.
Posted 01:45 | Fri 10th May 2013 -
Helen Conroy
Bring it on !
Posted 00:14 | Wed 8th May 2013 -
al
some serious plot holes at the end but overall very enjoyable.
Posted 17:24 | Mon 20th May 2013 -
Ash
I was really looking forward to this film but I came away a bit disappointed . seeing it in 3d is a must though as you really feel every explosion and punch . its well acted but a bit too long , also I felt that jj abrams tried too hard to cram too many storylines in to the film ,overall an enjoyable funny film but does not live up to the hype at all.
Posted 13:54 | Fri 10th May 2013 -
Tyler Durden
Brutal. The writers should be sued for plagiarism.
Posted 13:03 | Sat 11th May 2013 -
Tyler Durden
And JJ, enough of the lens flares. It's annoying.
Posted 13:04 | Sat 11th May 2013 -
jack brown
4 stars movie definitely , not 3 or 5 . Lots of action at parts was abit too much and over the top . I am glad that finally seat belts were invented in the future and crew are not thrown off their seats during battles as in all previous episodes and TV series . I found it ridiculous that on a ship with so many crew ,the captain has to constantly leave the ship with couple of his buddies to fight the baddies on a surface of the planet , also why not the leave the ship's shield up all the time during danger times instead of getting hit first and then putting up again .too much emphasizes on sacrificing yourself for others . good movie over all. why entertainment .ie has no moderator here and also allow thumb up or down for comments posted ?
Posted 14:19 | Sun 12th May 2013 -
FilmBuff76
As a Trekker, I quite enjoyed it. I loved the little nods like the tribble and Bones' classic "I'm a doctor..." line. It was a busy film though, with a lot of twists and turns. This parallel Trek universe does make me slightly concerned though. If the Klingons are in the next one, will we see the return of Kruge (Christopher Lloyd's character in The Search For Spock)?
Posted 09:29 | Sat 11th May 2013 -
mikecoughlan
This is a another block buster for sure. I really enjoyed it, as the story is great, and Benedict Cumberbatch as the baddy is outstanding. He has a great menacing voice, (something which has become almost a staple ingredient in recent films) as well as a real sense of purpose. The main Star Trek crew themselves have taken on more of the characteristics of the original members this time round, which adds a sense of continuity to the whole franchise. I think with this film, Star Trek is once again the front runner in space adventure films, and to say that there will be a sequel is a understatement , there will be a non ending line of them.
Posted 10:59 | Sun 12th May 2013 -
Catherine
Went to see this in the IMAX. Totally enjoyed it, though I might just go and see it again in 2d.looking forward to the next one.
Posted 08:34 | Sun 19th May 2013 -
tetsujin1979
excellent follow up to the reboot. highly recommended. with this and Iron Man 3, the summer season is off to a great start!!
Posted 22:55 | Wed 22nd May 2013 -
ShankillDublin
Enjoyable but I'm old, preferred Star Trek, The Wrath of Khan.
Posted 23:05 | Mon 20th May 2013 -
Zundervall
I loved the Wrath of Khan. It's been described as the best B-movie ever made, which isn't an unfair call. It was my favorite Star Trek movie from the day it came out in 1982 until today. Today we just saw Into Darkness. Wow - they definitely pulled out all the Trek stops here! And pulled them to very good effect. This is by far the best action movie I have seen in a very long time.The SFX are impressive and the camerawork (saw it in 3D) was great. The storyline is just chewy enough to keep you interested between chases and battles. And the characters are not left out (no "Hailing frequencies open" stuff for the bridge crew. JJ, ya did good. Some folks here have said that the movie is lacking, because it didn't look like real Trek. I actually DO know what that means. And to these folks I say, "we've been there for 3 years in 1966, 6 movies (which were mostly good), 17 years under Next Gen style, and their 4 movies, most of which were relative flops. Personally I think the mojo was lost after First Contact. Box office attendance at these movies proved this out." The mojo IS with JJ Abrams. Our problem may be that the mojo gets lost to Star Wars. Lets hope not.
Posted 23:54 | Wed 22nd May 2013
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