Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013) review

(8/10)

This new installment to the Star Trek franchise is action-packed, visually impressive, and a treat for most Trekkies out there.

PLOT:After an attack on Star Fleet killing off many innocent lives, Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) is sent on a mission, accompanied by his Spock (Zachary Quinto) and the rest of his crew, in the Enterprise to go destroy this madman in enemy territory known only as John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch). However, Kirk and the crew decide to bring this criminal back to Earth for a fair trial and eventfully take him from the planet. This move, however, sparks a rebellion against Star Fleet and an interesting story involving Kahn. It's a great plot executed greatly.



ACTING:The acting in this movie was very good. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto did a great job reprising the roles of Captain Kirk and Spock. Benedict Cumberbatch also did a fantastic job as (SPOILER) John Harrison/Kahn. There really wasn't a bad performance in the movie, but Quinto's Spock still doesn't hold a candle to the original. The other shiners were Karl Urban as Bones, Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Simon Pegg as Scotty, John Cho as Sulu, Anton Yelchin as Pavel, Alive Eve as Carol Marcus, Bruce Greenwood as Christopher Pike, and Leonard Nimoy as older Spock.

SCORE:The score was very well done by the great Michael Giacchino. Not only did the score match the mood, but it was very intense and intricate. I liked it.

EFFECTS:The visual effects of this movie were very stunning and impressive. From the first scene to the last frame of the movie, the effects were just brilliant. The effects for the foreign planets, big spaceships, eventful dogfights, and futuristic equipment were just sleek and impressive overall. I bet it took a long time just to get the effects right.



OTHER CONTENT:This movie was a really great modern adaptation. There's plenty of action and humor accompanying a familiar story. For the Trekkies who have seen it, you would notice the story is heavily inspired by (SPOILER) "The Wrath of Kahn". However, there are a few drastic changes that throw the movie off for them. Also, the new modernized look for Star Trek may not be agreeable to some of the hardcore Trekkies.

OVERALL,a great movie with a great plot, very good acting, intense score, impressive visual effects, lots of action, some humor, and a well adapted story, but some hardcore Trekkies may not appreciate it as much do to some drastic changes in story and time period.