And here we stand, at the end of the road at the present moment. We've talked about the magic that the original six movies could portray, we've talked about the new edge, and fun that the Next Generation films could pull, and last week, we talked about how I personally really like the first reboot film. Despite what others will continue to say, I rank it as my third favorite Star Trek film, and despite what others say, yes...I call it a Star Trek film. So you can imagine that I was very excited for the potential of the sequel. What was J.J. gonna do to keep this magic up? What sort of potential was he gonna unleash with this alternate universe now fully at his command?
Well...I'll admit that when I first saw it, I liked it. I liked it a lot. But I have to admit, having watched all the Star Trek films now, and having been getting in touch with a lot of the series lately...rewatching Into Darkness...I wasn't as impressed as I once was.
Last December, some of you may have read my review for The Force Awakens, which was also directed by J.J. Abrams. Some of you may remember that I took criticism to the movie mainly because there were times in the movie where it really literally felt like J.J. Had a checkbook of scenes from the first movie that were iconic enough to include in his film. From the Cantina scene, to the Trench Run Scene, to the info in a droid scene, to the hero getting killed scene, to...look you get the idea. There is a LOT of retreading in the Force Awakens, and it got to me. If I were to re-rate the film, I'd almost be tempted to rate it a three star rating instead of the original three and a half star rating, but I gave it that original rating because it was still a very fun movie. Watching it, I could say that this was Star Wars. Is it flawed? Yes. But it holds to that legacy of being just a fun fantasy space adventure, without needing to go into too much complexity that the prequels tried to do (though ironically, a little political explanation was kinda needed here). Well...enter Into Darkness, a film three years older than Force Awakens. And...you know...J.J. Abrams is a director I kinda like. I loved things like Cloverfield, and whatnot...but...with Force Awakens...and now Into Darkness...why am I seeing a troubling pattern here?
Now I can't exactly call this a retread of Wrath of Kahn, because...it's not. It does have a different plot. But it leans so much on Wrath of Kahn, holding to that checkbook of similar scenes, or exact lines from certain characters and other things that as much as I love Star Trek, I am gonna get even harsher on this film than I will Force Awakens, despite it being the older film. Why? Because at least with Star Wars? The legacy was upheld. Here? Yeah...I will sympathize with a few of you who call these films glorified action films. Because...that's what this is. It is the most action packed Star Trek movie out there...in all the wrong ways. And it absolutely breaks my heart to say that, because there are some scenes that I actually REALLY really like. And the first scene that ultimately comes to mind when I say this is that...absolutely wonderful to watch warp battle between the Vengeance and the Enterprise. That is a real treat to watch to this day. Just a monster ship tearing apart the Enterprise at warp...it's a wonderful scene, and has wonderful tension.
But...that's really the only action scene I really liked.
While the film is set up good with an attack at Starfleet in London, the film just quickly descends into this action packed mess that holds little to no honor to the Star Trek name. Starfleet officials are killed when Kahn attacks their exposed headquarters (because Kahn is in this movie), they ATTEMPT diplomacy with the Klingons, before Kahn just jumps in and it's a shootout all over the place, we have another space jump which honestly isn't as impressive as the jump in the previous movie, we have chase scenes, space battles, and brawls and it just doesn't stop. Heck! I'd say that the action keeps going until maybe...five minutes left of the movie. FIVE! WHY? And that's another thing, the ending of this movie feels like it's just getting shoved out the door. "Action's done, you guys can go home now, here's you half-assed ending." Just...WHY?
I'm not even focusing on the mirroring of Wrath of Kahn any more, we all know the problems there, from Kirk replacing Spock as the guy to save the ship, only to be brought back miraculously to life. Before this movie was even released, rumors were all over the place to the point where we could pretty much see Kahn coming in a mile away. And though the previous film had some genuinely funny moments, a lot of the comedy in this film falls flat. It revolves around Scotty running from one end of the ship to another, or Spock and Uhura uncomfortably arguing in front of everyone. And even smaller elements of this film...from a very forced and non-impressive cameo from Leonard Nimoy, to a cheap lowest common denominator shot of a woman in underwear, just feel unnecessary and add absolutely nothing to this film. And I hate highlighting all these problems, because the film does have some genuinely stong moments.
The story is easy to follow, and when Kirk and Pike argue, or share their final moments together, it does show some very decent character bonding. I love character development! But it's few and far between in this film. Kahn isn't portrayed. half-bad either, and I dare say that Benedict Cumberbatch portrays Kahn on a level very near that of Ricardo Montalbán. I'm not joking, he doesn't try to impersonate Ricardo's performance, he does his own, and he does have a very menacing feel in that performance. And despite what other say, I find that dark side of Starfleet to be rather interesting. You can say it doesn't fit the picture but...remember Undiscovered Country? There were people in Starfleet conspiring to keep the Klingon Empire as an enemy. Officers in Starfleet, a Romulan, Klingons, even a Vulcan. So I'm not gonna accept the argument that this doesn't fit Starfleet. Compared to Undiscovered Country, this little conspiracy in Starfleet is a walk in the park. But these few good things just failed to hold this movie up for my recent viewing. It makes me kinda happy that Abrams isn't exactly calling the shots anymore for the upcoming film, because as fun as the action can be...it's not at all very Trek-like.
Star Trek Into Darkness is another film that is hard to rate. But after hard consideration, I am giving this film a final rating of a two and a half star rating. It's not...bad. It holds more water than other stinkers like Final Frontier, The Motion Picture, and Insurrection. But compared to other mediocre films like Nemesis or Generations, this one just doesn't feel as Trek-like as the rest of the group. The constant action makes you forget that you're supposed to be watching Star Trek, and the fact that out of all the potential, Abrams decided to just experiment with Wrath of Kahn, I can't help but feel that one too many corners were cut here. And I hate saying that, because I feel it's this film that has made so many people question the quality of the reboot films, and with some warning signs already up for Star Trek Beyond, I have a feeling that a lot of them won't go see it...even if it's good. Speaking of which, I will be going to see that film, and it will get a review. I still hold hope to it, because despite what others think, I do know that Simon Pegg, the film's writer DOES in fact hold a high respect for the franchise, and he's not disappointed me before. Can he write a good film? I fully believe he can. Yeah, Justin Lin is a questionable director (and I've not even seen the Fast and Furious movies), but if anyone can give these reboot films a good name, I fully believe Simon can. Time will tell.
Please feel free to request any film you wish for me to look at. Leave a comment down below telling me your own personal thoughts on the film, and as always, thanks for reading.
Final Verdict: 2.5/4
Thank you all for reading through my Trek-a-then film reviews, but it's not done yet, and won't be done until July hits! Hopefully Star Trek Beyond will help ease some pain from Into Darkness, but we won't know for sure until we get that final product. But until then, I say that I am happy to be a Trekkie for the franchise's fiftieth anniversary, and only hope for the best to come up ahead. But now...I think I got another anniversary to uphold...I think I gotta review the Pokémon movies now...oh boy...
