Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

[Took two days off, and now I will post double tonight. Whee!]

I saw this movie again on the flight to Frankfurt, and as a bonus, I also saw Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan!

Wrath of Khan was actually the reason why I went to see STID. I didn't really buy into the reboot bandwagon, though I did appreciate the ingenuity of the timesplit.

As a recap, these young Starfleet officers are coexisting alongside the people from the original series, albeit in different realities, as affected by the events at the start of the first movie. This means that with the alternative continuity, the writers are allowed poetic license to use the source material, but add little twists and turns of their own (which I admit, made me enjoy this movie). The critics then can’t say that this is yet another attempt at outright blind copying, and the judgmental and fickle core audience can’t cry blasphemy because canon in fact is preserved.

Using science fiction against science fiction? Now that is brilliant.

*is spoiler warning necessary?* *plus, KHAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!*

STID, thankfully, is much faster-paced and action-packed than its predecessor. The movie makes plenty of nods to the original series, from the eventual fates of our heroes (Sulu on the Captain’s chair), to the infamous, “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few”, but sci-fi homages contribute only so much, and one thing I like about the new movies so far is that it's more 'ensemble' compared to the original and Next Generation movies; it kind of gives most (if not) of everyone their turn in the spotlight.

And this is where the movie shines, particularly when both Kirk and Spock are concerned, even though Kirk is still the stereotypical reckless-dick-who-endangers-everyone-with-recklessness (honestly, this shtick is currently so overused). Kirk gradually grows into responsibility, Spock gradually grows into emotionality (if that's actually a word), and I grew to like Benedict Cumberbatch (whom I've heard of, but not familiar with) by the end of this film.

Despite the very evident whitewashing (Khan looks even less Indian now than Ricardo Montalban ever did), Cumberbatch stole every scene he's in, even if he's just sitting back-ramrod straight in the background. His performance, coupled with the alternative continuity, also creates an ambiguity to the character: does he still want to take over the world at present time, or is he just majorly pissed that his crew is held ransom by RoboCopPeter Weller and doesn't mind killing other people while at it?

Cumberbatch aside, I thought the whole cast was fantastic, especially Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, who play Kirk and Spock respectively. The storyline was pretty good, too, although I don't see how did Bones and/or others arm 72 torpedoes simultaneously, and time it exactly to blow up when it beams onto Khan's ship. I know Spock is all logic, but wasn't the timer set to 40 seconds? What if Khan suspects something's amiss and delays beaming the torps up?

Boom.

The movie also plays it safe with the story, comparing the big sacrifice that Spock makes in the end of Wrath of Khan. Being the sap that I am, I'm all for happy endings, but it's a bit ridiculous how they don't even execute Khan for all the death he has caused.

Oh, no. They just put him back into cryogenic sleep.

[And as such, it would be totally neat to see him go against the Borg, however implausible. Mind you, in Wrath of Khan, Khan is seeking revenge against Kirk, whereas in this one, they’ve only met for the first time. Does this mean that we can expect to see Khan again in a future instalment?]

But nevermind. As a surface Trekkie, I completely enjoyed Star Trek Into Darkness, and I certainly wouldn't mind watching it a second time again, given the extremely strong cast. And if you haven't seen or heard of Honest Trailers, check out what they did for STID:



Fun fact: I saw the Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters trailer (which, I shudder to say, looked good to me), and thought I spotted Jason Bateman in it. It was actually Nathan Fillion.