Monday, May 20, 2013

Star Trek: Into Darkness - Haven't We Been Here Before


When Star Trek went into “re-boot” mode a few years ago, I was immediately skeptical.  After all, this was *my* Star Trek that I’d grown up with; that I’d wait to come on in re-runs every night at 6PM and spend months anxiously counting down to the next movie release.  My fears were mostly allayed as I liked the first film quite a bit.  Sure, it wasn’t *my* Trek, but it was good as re-imagined series go.

With the second film in the works, I was pleased that the series was being brought forward for a new generation of fans.  After viewing Star Trek: Into Darkness in IMAX 3D with my son yesterday, I have more of a feeling that this is a film for his generation of fans rather than mine.  I did enjoy the film, and there was much more that I liked over what made me tweak a bit, but those moments are enough for this long-time hardcore fan to take away a star.

The plot is simple enough.  Off of the victories in the first film, Captain James Kirk (portrayed by Chris Pine) is sure he’s about to be sent on the five year mission that’s dangling out there like a carrot.  What prevents that is the honest report of his first officer, Spock (portrayed by Zachary Quinto) that casts his actions in their most recent escapade in an unfavorable light.  The crew is about to be broken up among various ships of Starfleet when a new threat emerges in John Harrison (portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch).  He’s from sort of the CIA of Starfleet and now engaging in terrorist attacks on his former employer.  The rest of the film involves political intrigue and plenty of action as Kirk and crew try to figure out exactly what’s going on and who their enemy really is, in more ways than one.

The acting here is good. Pine and Quinto do a fine job as Kirk and Spock and really capture enough of the essence of who the characters have been through the years to please long-time fans.  Zoe Saldana as Uhura is a gem, and a much stronger character than she was originally although she was an important and iconic figure for women and minorities in her time.  She gets a few action sequences here and handles them as good as any of the male characters.  I felt Karl Urban as McCoy was a little under-used in this film, although Anton Yelchin (Chekov), John Cho (Sulu) and Simon Pegg (Scotty) do get to have good roles as supporting characters.  I suppose when you’re not catering to the egos that were involved with some of the actors in the original films, it really gives the cast a bit more of an ensemble feel and this is one of the reasons the film works so well.

The special effects are great, and the action sequences are awesome, but here’s where I have a bit less appreciation for the film.  In previous film and series, the action and fight scenes had a realistic feel to them.  Even in the last film he appeared in, Kirk fighting Soran in Star Trek: Generations had a realistic feel to it.  It may have been a stunt double, but the fights were believable.  Here in the name of action, there are many instances where it seemed to lose me.  I think that was part of the problem with the more recent Star Wars films as well.  Sure, it makes for great eye-candy at times, but it also leads to many moments of “no way.”  In IMAX 3D, though, it’s very enjoyable eye-candy.  The 3D aspect isn’t overdone and does add to the experience, even if I could count the pores on Chris Pine’s face at times.

The appeal of Star Trek: Into Darkness for me is that it does do a great job tying together the old universe and this new one.  It’s a film my son enjoyed with me, even though he groaned at first at the prospect of having to see it with me.  When I asked him what his favorite part was, he centered not on the action, but on several moments lifted from the plot of another Star Trek story that will be very familiar to those of us who grew up with it.  Yes, there are a lot of parts of the plot that are familiar, but that’s the way it should be in a universe that’s just a bit removed from another one.  I was skeptical of the explanations they would find for some things, but it worked for the most part.  It still successfully captures what endeared Star Trek to fans for so many years, although at times I still felt something was missing.  I can’t quite put my finger on it, and it’s definitely not enough for me to dislike the film.

If you’ve never thought yourself a fan of Star Trek, I do urge you to give this a try.  My other boy who’s in the Army saw it Saturday night and couldn’t wait to text me about it, and he’s another one I would have had to drag to a film.  It appeals quite well to a new generation while having enough going for it that those of us who did attend the conventions and kept the franchise going all these years will enjoy it as well.



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