Okay, so got a lot to talk about. A little over two hours' worth of things to talk about, actually. See, this morning I went to see Star Trek Into Darkness, and I expected something pretty spectacular. I mean, come on: Benedict Cumberbatch as the manipulative, highly-intelligent villain; the new Enterprise crew reprising their roles and getting along a whole lot better than the first movie (well, a little better); vast, exotic worlds, far more elaborate and beautiful than the 2009 movie; bigger fight scenes, more action, a faster pace. Four years might be a long time to wait in the movie world for a sequel, but Abrams and crew have certainly delivered. There's one thing I can say about Into Darkness: it's a step up.
I don't want to ruin the plot for you guys, so I'll explain it in brief: John Harrison (Cumberbatch) is one of Starfleet's top agent, taking revenge on the admiral for some mysterious past misgiving, and Kirk is sent to stop him. Travelling to the Klingon homeworld of Kronos - where Harrison has taken refuge in an abandoned city - they find more than they bargained for. Chris Pine is just as good in his role as Kirk, but Zachary Quinto's Spock is lighter than his previous outing nearly half a decade ago, throwing out witty ripostes almost as frequently as his captain.
Quinto's Spock may steal the show, but even he is overshadowed by Benedict's portrayal of mysterious villain John Harrison, the Starfleet agent turned terrorist who kickstarts the whole plot to begin with. At his calmest moments he is laconic, arrogant and intelligent, but it is the action scenes which really give Benedict a chance to shine; he has the opportunity to throw Quinto, Pine and Simon Pegg around like ragdolls, and the transformation between his previously calm exterior to the sort of monster he becomes in the battle scenes is startling. John Harrison dispatches redshirts with gleeful, head-crushing abandon, and can take a beating like nobody else.
There's not a lot within the characterization or casting I can fault - the only problem I have is with Alice Eve's underwear scene, fanservice to appeal to a wider audience which didn't seem to gel with the rest of the movie - and I think Chris Pine does an excellent job as Captain Kirk once more. Look especially towards the end of the film, as the action is wrapping up, when he brings to mind images of William Shatner's Kirk, recording his Captain's log.
The worlds Abrams and co. have created for Into Darkness are stunning, from the bright and exotic tribal planet at the beginning to the dark and jagged Klingon world of Kronos. The strangely metallic world of Kronos is dark and intense, hues of dark gold and forest green with a metal sheen to them; nothing feels organic, a stark contrast to the opening, where the Enterprise is visiting a planet of red plants and red ground. All of it is strange and intriguing, but it all feels believable.
That said, we never really get a chance to examine it closely. Once the action starts, it never stops, and it barely slows. There is a story running through the fighting and blasting, and an interesting one at that, but Cumberbatch's Harrison keeps the momentum going, his intensity drives the story as he manipulates the characters. There are very few moments when the tension drops, and there's a Joss Whedonesque, anyone-can-die feeling to Into Darkness. Every few minutes you'll be reminded of the Enterprise crew's mortality: when Spock is battling to stop an erupting volcano; when Kirk, out in space, experiences a spacesuit malfunction of sorts (that's all I'm saying, before it gets too spoiler-y); as soon as Harrison is on the scene, you feel that nobody is safe, expecting at any moment for one of the lead characters to die.
If there's one thing I really want to congratulate everyone who worked on this for, though, it's the 3D. For a start, J.J. Abrams knows exactly what 3D should be used for. There's none of this adding it to every movie because it's what's being done; no, he uses it properly. Right from the beginning things are getting thrown through the screen, straight for your head; sparks, stars, laser blasts, Abrams likes to chuck things at the audience occasionally. It's been so long since I last saw that done, I wasn't expecting it. 3D has been dead to me for quite some time, but now that the producers and directors are catching up and realising its potential, they're beginning to make movies which can fully utilise it. And it starts with Into Darkness.
So Into Darkness is totally great. If big action movies are your kinda thing, go see it. It's loud, it's proud, it's good fun.
Before I go, there's just one more thing: take those boots off out there, I won't have you tracking mud through the house...
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