Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Star Trek Into Darkness

Should you go see Star Trek Into Darkness? The staff of Double Down Trent says yes. Yes you should.

Cazalet's Review

Beam Me Up Abrams

When deciding which of the summer blockbusters we would see, my girlfriend and I came to a crossroads with Star Trek. She had no interest at all, I couldn't wait for it. She said "But I've never seen any of the movies or tv shows." I told her neither had I, I only saw J.J. Abrams reboot from 2009. So I made her watch that one and not surprisingly she was into it.


J.J. Abrams is slowly and impressively becoming one of the most bankable directors in the game. With only 4 feature length films under his belt he was able to successfully re-launch two dying franchises (Mission Impossible and Star Trek). I didn't see Super 8 so I will reserve judgement but based on his work on Star Trek its no wonder that Disney has tapped him to restore the glory of Star Wars as well.

Into Darkness is the definition of a summer blockbuster. While not quite as successful at the box office as some other summer hits (Iron Man), there's no denying the enjoyment that comes with seeing this movie. At two hours and twelve minutes, this movie is in warp speed from the opening credits with an exciting initial sequence that looks really cool but really has no bearing on the movie. Despite its randomness the opening scene is a warning to the audience; buckle up.

Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto are fantastic as Kirk and Spock and the two have developed a unique rapport that displays a sense of mutual respect and understanding. Each character has its high points but Spock in particular has found an ironic humor that I doubt even the famous Leonard Nimoy could have projected.


But the real star of this movie is Benedict Cumberbatch. It's no secret by now who he plays, (SPOILER ALERT) John Harrison, a terrorist that has been born from inside Star Fleet. Just kidding guys, John Harrison is spy name and he is of course Khan. His voice alone could steal this movie and if this whole acting thing doesn't work for Benedict then I am positive he will have a lengthy career as a narrator, cartoon actor or voice-over guy.


What was great about this movie, besides the story and characters, is the underlying message of this film. Abrams and his writers were able to take an concept that is set in the very distant future and make it feel very modern.

See if this sounds familiar. A superpower organization empowers a charismatic leader in an effort to defeat a common enemy only to have the leader and his followers turn against the very superpower that empowered them in the first place. The leader becomes a terrorist fugitive and seeks refuge in a hostile nation.

Its a genius idea by Abrams and his writers. Make Khan a bin Laden type figure and then see where the story can go from there.

And it goes in an excellent direction. While Khan is the main antagonist, at times he seems like a protagonist as he and Kirk actually team up to stop Robocop aka Admiral Marcus. The action that takes place almost from the start of the movie sets an unrelenting pace that doesn't stop until the end of the movie.

Even the supporting characters are very good. My personal favorite is Scotty (played by Simon Pegg) mostly because I am a huge fan of Pegg. But his dialogue with the little alien guy is hilarious even though technically its more like a monologue. Zoe Saldana is stellar as Uhura, as her character is allowed to grow and expand along with the boys, and let's not forget Alice Eve who brings some much needed sexuality to the movie.

If you like summer movies then you will most assuredly like Star Trek Into Darkness. If you saw the 2009 reboot you will definitely need to see this one. If you haven't seen the 2009 version, then you will still enjoy this movie, just some of the references will go over your head. If you've seen the old movies and TV shows then I think you will enjoy the new direction of the franchise.

Bottom line, go see this one. You won't be disappointed.

GRADE : A

Coulter's Review :


Star Trek Into Darkness: The Fast and Furious Style of J.J. Abrams

Star Trek Into Darkness is the summer movie that all summer movies should desire to be — a fast paced juggernaut that chokeholds its audience’s attention from the first frame and doesn’t loosen its grip until it crosses the finish line.

This doesn’t feel like a sequel and that’s in large part to director J.J. Abrams’ impeccable technique.

We know the characters and their respective backgrounds from the reboot series’ first installment, but we get to dive into them even deeper in this chapter and that’s why Star Trek Into Darkness is so refreshing — complacency can’t be found anywhere.

When Captain Jim Kirk and Dr. ‘Bones’ McCoy take a leap off a cliff in the film’s first sequence, it serves as a metaphor for the movie as a whole — Abrams is about to take us “where no man has gone before.”

What comes out of this unrelenting pace is a movie about the philosophies of warfare and, more appropriately, counterterrorism.

Summarizing the plot in the most condensed form: Kirk and Spock must hunt down a terrorist without starting a war.

The terrorist is revealed to be the infamous Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch), who is a type of superman destructive force that was created 300 years ago and awoken now to help the humans defeat the Klingons in an evitable war.

Cumberbatch plays Khan with an unmatched veracity, stealing each and every scene he’s in and creating an uneven field for the rest of the characters to play on.

”What would you do to save your crew” he asks Kirk midway through the movie from his prison cell and it’s a potent question that lingers throughout the rest of the story until the captain makes the ultimate sacrifice for his “family” to ensure their safety.

As evil as Khan is, he saves Kirk both spiritually and physically and renders him the morally strong commander his predecessor Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood) always imagined he could be.

What Abrams has learned in between the first and second installment of his Star Trek reboot (detouring along the way to film Super 8 and pay homage to his childhood filmmaking experience) is to create deep and relatable characters first and to pay attention to the magnificent special effects and parallel universes second. This lesson is evident in Star Trek Into Darkness and it’s what makes it such a successful movie, not just a summer blockbuster.

Even Star Trek fan boys can attest that Abrams’ Kirk and Spock are more layered and more dimensional than anything from the past. Kudos to Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto for expanding their respective characters even further and giving the audience resonating performances that are worth praising.

This isn’t casual lip service that moviegoers are quick to pay to the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Will Smith and Brad Pitt (the later two coming this summer, just wait and see); rather, it is genuine gratitude to the two leads for finding a quixotic equilibrium between man and Vulcan that magnifies their repertoire on screen and pulsates Robert Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof’s perfectly written script. 

Comparisons to Lost can and should be made here, because what Abrams benefited from that experience is a lesson in storytelling, casting and character development, even if he only stuck around for the pilot.

Diversity is key in the 21st century — not just in Hollywood — and here it doesn’t feel anywhere close to being a part of a tactical, political agenda. Instead, Abrams has rolled the dice on the entire cast ranging from his top-billed stars to his role players and it has paid dividends — the series looks different than anything else Hollywood is putting out.

Simon Pegg, the goofy creator of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, is an uncouth, yet perfect, choice as Scotty.


John Cho, the humble stoner Harold from the Harold & Kumar trilogy, defiantly and confidently barks orders as Kirk’s fill-in captain Sulu. He seems to be the only one on board who can keep his emotions in check when the starship’s fate is looking most grim.

And then there’s Peter Weller, aka RoboCop, who is the only actor who could make you root for a villain like Khan because he himself is so filthy and despicable looking. The minute he shows up in the second installment, you know he isn’t just some throwaway casting decision and he nails the role of Starfleet Admiral Marcus until (spoiler alert) his skull comes between Khan’s hands.


Ultimately, the cast spans across every continent on the planet, other than Antarctica, and they play as important, if not more important, role in the film than all the special effects, plot and costumes do. 

However, the praise comes back to Abrams, who almost fails to take a breath during this installment, yet creates a movie that plays in a harmonious full circle. His penchant for creating shows and movies in the science fiction genre is once again shown here, but his fondness for exploring the unknown has more of an impact than ever before.

Star Trek Into Darkness does more than just go “where no man has gone before,” it bridges the gap between the idealistic shine of Hollywood’s summer blockbusters and the movie industry’s most adaptable genre. 

GRADE: A-

No comments:

Post a Comment