by Brett Parker
When it comes to being a Star Trek fan, I’ve considered myself more on the casual side for most of my life. By that I mean whenever old Star Trek movies came on TV as a kid, I would watch attentively and enjoy them on a simple-minded level. But ever since I witnessed J.J. Abrams’ reboot of the franchise back in 2009, I’ve considered becoming a Trekkie full time. Abrams took the beloved original characters and their space adventures and pumped them up to new levels of slickness and emotion. Every ounce of likeability and excitement lurking beneath the cheesier and lumpier parts of the mythology were drummed up and punched to full throttle. That tight thrill ride made you willing to follow the crew of the Starship Enterprise anywhere they went and you couldn’t wait to get beamed up for another adventure.
Well Captain Kirk and his crew are back in action once again in Star Trek Into Darkness and there’s no denying that the sequel delivers the roller coaster goods we want from a sci-fi adventure. But I’m slightly disheartened to realize that this latest installment doesn’t do anything terribly original or provocative with the Star Trek universe. To be sure, this is one of the best-looking and most adrenaline-fueled films in the canon, but it’s still bound to overly-familiar elements from the series’ past. Lord knows my love for the newfound electricity Abrams jolted into the franchise hasn’t been diminished, but part of me wonders if this series can ever elevate from a fun pop ride towards transcendent science fiction.
The sequel continues the adventures of the USS Enterprise, a futuristic crew of space explorers who serve on an intergalactic peace-keeping federation known as Starfleet. At the head of the crew is the cocky Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) who is joined by the logic-minded Vulcan Mr. Spock (Zachary Quinto), the cynical Dr. McCoy (Karl Urban), the linguistics expert Uhura (Zoe Saldana), whiz kid Chekov (Anton Yelchin) and engineering expert Scotty (Simon Pegg) as they intervene in alien races across the galaxy to maintain a code of order. But that order is dangerously shaken up with the appearance of an evil terrorist who calls himself John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch). Harrison terrorizes Starfleet on Earth by bombing one of its buildings in London and then attempting to kill all its leaders in San Francisco. Escaping to an enemy planet in a forbidden section of the galaxy, Kirk wants to pursue Harrison with his ship and bring him to justice. But the Enterprise crew soon learn that Harrison is not all he appears to be, and may be more sadistic and deadly then they could possibly imagine. Their mission to stop this violent madmen will challenge everything they know and push their psychologies to dark places they haven’t gone before.
Screenwriters Robert Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof do an efficient job of pushing the crew of the Enterprise out of their comfort zone and into a relentless scenario of breakneck danger. Although most of the action sequences remind us of perils from past Star Trek flicks, Abrams films them with head-spinning velocity and spacious exuberance. Sequences that especially stick out is one where Kirk and Harrison are rocketing their way towards an enemy craft in speedy spacesuits and one where Kirk and Scotty race to keep their balance in a ship that’s crumbling under massive attack. You really do get lost in these action scenes and it really does provide the thrill of why seeing a space adventure on the big screen can be so much fun.
Devoted Trekkies and casual sci-fi fans will discover that the script is bound to a prominent chapter in the Star Trek universe that I suppose the new series had to acknowledge in the same way Christopher Nolan’s Batman had to acknowledge The Joker. Yet I wish Abrams had pushed the sequel towards new ideas and new challenges instead of more or less following a blueprint from the mythology’s past. This causes the best moments here to play out as homages instead of fresh drama that carves out its own identity. The best thing to come out of this development is Benedict Cumberbatch, the ace thespian who blasts an Old Vic grandeur into a cartoon villain (his predecessor here pulled off the same feat quite superbly).
If the “Darkness” in the title makes you frown at the idea of yet another beloved franchise being injected with today’s standards of solemn edge and raw grit, then blame the era we’re living in, not the filmmakers. Gene Roddenberry created the original characters in an era where people felt more optimistic about a future filled with hope, idealism, and prosperity. But in the present day, it’s hard to deny that such qualities have taken a serious blow in the real world arena. Brutal terrorism, government duplicity, and corruption among those we trust are flooding our headlines today, so I’m not the least bit surprised to see them show up in this movie’s plot. We certainly want a bright, shiny Star Trek world for ourselves, but like the crew of the Enterprise, we too have to overcome some very scary demons. It may be jarring to see a rage-filled Spock here slam a guy’s head into the backside of a metal ship, but let’s face it: pretty much everyone’s human side can relate to such anger these days. Yet the silver lining here is the same it’s been in perhaps every Star Trek movie ever made: that self-preserved resourcefulness combined with efficient teamwork can overcome any dark opposition.
We should consider ourselves lucky that we have such talented actors to bring such a winning intergalactic team to life. The remarkable thing about this reboot is how the mythic gravity of the character’s personalities have proven to be more exciting than the special effects. This is especially felt through Kirk and Spock, whose unlikely bromance energize the true heart and soul lying beneath the outer space talk. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto are given more room here to build on their pitch-perfect embodiments of the legendary figures, and their dance between reckless intuition and cool-headed logic brings a serious emotional charge to this popcorn ride. What’s especially impressive is the way the duo recreates the most touching moment in the entire Star Trek series (although re-imagined with a wicked, ingenious reversal) and completely own it.
Although there’s a stretch where you suspect the next installment in this series might be called The Search For Kirk, the film’s end finds our beloved heroes looking towards their next mission filled with hope, excitement, and confidence. And it’s a testament to this movie that you look forward to the next sequel with the same ideals. You just hope that next time the crew boldly goes where no Star Trek movie has gone before. And that Abrams stays focused. Of course the big news with him is that he’s been selected to direct the brand new Star Wars film planning to be rolled out around 2015. Although I feel indifferent about one man overseeing two opposing sci-fi franchises, a new Star Wars movie really should have extra doses of charisma and heart, and those are two things Abrams dishes out in his Star Trek films with expert glee.
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