Star Trek Into Darkness

After JJ Abrams rebooted the Star Trek franchise with a tale of time travel, splintered universes, and new approaches, it opened up a ton of possibilities. No longer constrained by the history of a TV series over 45 years old, the endless scope for new stories, new characters, and new direction was as limitless as the universe itself. Therefore, it is such a shame that this second film in the new franchise feels very much constrained by ideas of the past, and paying lip-service to fanboy desires.

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past few years, the basic premise should already be clear. A terrorist strikes against Starfleet, Enterprise heads out to stop it. Benedict Cumberbatch was cast in the role of the lead villain, an ‘agent’ named John Harrisson who, for the past couple of years, prompted debate as to whether he was or wasn’t really Khan, the iconic villain played expertly by Ricardo Montalban. Over recent weeks the confirmation came out that he was, which resulted in as much fanboy excitement as the confirmation of Venom in Spider-Man 3 did (and we all know how that turned out). Sadly, on this confirmation, I immediately put the puzzle together and formulated in my head what the plot would run like, and what ‘surprises’ would unfold. The shame is that it seems I was right, meaning that for me, as a lifelong Trek fan, there wasn’t anything to surprise me, and instead I simply found myself sat waiting for certain moments to occur. When you are watching a film for the first time and find yourself quoting lines of dialogue before they actually occur, then there is something inherently wrong with the script. When, as a fan, you find yourself cringing at moments that were shoe-horned in simply to nod to the fans, then there is definitely something wrong with the script.

Like I said, JJ’s reboot opened up so many possibilities. JJ himself, as a non-fan, reigned in the script of the last film, ensuring that fans Orci & Kurtzman didn’t make it too embedded in the lore and language. With this film it feels like he chose not to reign anything in, likely due to the vocal minority of fans who decried his take as being ‘too Star Wars and not enough Trek’. As referenced earlier, Spider-Man made this mistake in the third film by giving the fan minority what they demanded (Venom), resulting in a weak third film. Sad to say, this second Trek outing also is sullied by too many moments intended purely for the fans, which whilst it makes it more of a Trek film than the previous one, it also cheapens the experience.

It does still pack quite a punch though, and the action, design, and style of the film is a joy to behold. Abrams knows how to deliver a great looking film, and despite the odd overuse of his trademark lens flare it is quite a thrill ride from start to finish. The cast are starting to really gel as a team, and are as entertaining to watch as the previous film. Support cast and newcomers fit in well, with Cumberbatch on fine form as the villain of the piece. Simon Pegg gets a bit more to do this time around, as do many of the cast who were side-lined last time. The music cues of the first film are brought back, and the soundtrack score by Giacchino hits the right beats and notes at the right moments. Overall the film is an enjoyable slice of sci-fi action adventure, that is certain to please the general crowds.

But there are still those niggles. Slight issues created by trying to repeat the past, rather than create a new future. In a franchise opened up to endless possibilities, this second film suffers from clinging to past glories too much.