Star Trek Into Darkness Is Another Great Addition To The Franchise

Star Trek Into Darkness was so worth the wait as fans alike were treated to the much anticipated sequel of 2009's Star Trek. Now I'm not a Trek fan by a long shot as I never watched the original series, nor do I plan to. The reason why I'm a fan is because of the first movie I'd never thought I would like, but came to love and become a fan of. So when I heard they were making a sequel I was over joyed, in addition to casting Benedict Cumberbatch as the villain who, for spoilers sake, call John. Star Trek Into Darkness was less about exploring worlds this time but rather developing their central characters with their own arcs inside the film (ie Kirk learning responsibility). In a way, Star Trek Into Darkness sets itself apart from it's predecessor by taking a different road. Don't worry though guys, there is plenty of lens flares for everyone.

So Star Trek Into Darkness picks up with the crew of the Enterprise on an a mission on a planet for observation that Kirk had decided to intervene on. While trying to conceal who they are, the team works to stop a volcano from erupting and wiping out a civilization, and during this, Spock gets trapped inside the volcano. Despite the rules, Kirk decides to save Spock and returns to Earth. This action does cost Kirk the Enterprise though as he was supposed to just observe. Things change though when a factory blows up and a man named John Harrison takes responsibility causing Starfleet to begin a hunt for him. During a meeting though, Harrison strikes and kills a bunch of high ranking officers and soon after Kirk demands for the return of his command to go after Harrison. So they gear up for a mission that seems simple, but is so much more than that as the crew of the Enterprise discover secrets they didn't think possible.

Star Trek Into Darkness is just a fantastic film as it was everything a great movie should have. I'm talking character development, surprises, adventure, action, and more. We see some development with our two leads of Kirk and Spock as each face their own demons and issues throughout the film. Kirk deals with the fact that he doesn't like the rules too much but this one day could costs his crew their lives. While Spock is still learning about emotions and this puts a strain on his relationships with Uhura and Kirk. Then theres the matter of John Harrison. For fans of the series you knew who he was and how he was going to turn out, while the rest of us had no idea who he was. With both kinds of fans, the ride Harrison's character took us was enjoyable as we were tossed back and forth in what we thought he was. So that was fun. Star Trek Into Darkness also had several nods towards 2009's Star Trek by remaking a couple scenes and altering them. One good example is the scene where Kirk is in a bar, drinking alone and takes a look at a girl when Pike pops his head in. This scene is similar to the scene where Uhura walks into a bar, and an alien looks at her when Kirk pops in. You'll know it when you see it. The visual effects have also been bumped up a bit for Star Trek Into Darkness, and one example of this is when ships go into warp as they now leave particles behind. Star Trek Into Darkness was well written, acted and directed, making it a film worthing waiting for.

There were somethings that weighed Star Trek Into Darkness down. Well not really, but they were just little things that seemed stupid. The whole taking the ship away from Kirk thing didn't last long. Some argue that the ending of Star Trek Into Darkness as deus machina. Then there was the random undressing scene with Alice Eve's character that has sparked debate across the internet. I also happened to notice something at the end of the movie, which is not that important but kind funny. I noticed that Chris Hemsworth was credited there, but yet we didn't see him (sorry you lot who saw that on IMDB), same as Jennifer Morrison. Makes you wonder why the names were there in the first place. Was it a goof, or on purpose? Or did they reuse the credits from the first movie? That was obviously not a good idea. I also found that Star Trek Into Darkness overused the theme a bit too much to a point where I found myself sighing "here we go again". Yes it is epic, and yes the movie is Star Trek, but is there a point to like embedding itself into our brains?

Star Trek Into Darkness though was overall a fantastic movie that fans of all kinds can enjoy. Both the characters and story are awesome. Where 2009's Star Trek brought the crew together and introducing everyone to the universe again, Star Trek Into Darkness was charged with bringing a sense of maturity to plot that attracts the audience. Also didn't hurt they threw Benedict Cumberbatch into the mix, who  was an excellent villain. So don't miss out on this summer movie. Our rating for Star Trek Into Darkness:

You can watch the trailer below.
What did you think of Star Trek Into Darkness?