Part One: The no-spoiler review.
The thing about "second films" is that most all of them occur due to box office success, surprise hit or not. The challenge then becomes to not just continue the film but to build upon the lore established. This can be seen as well-executed, in some cases; Others fall under the "Temple of Doom" category where things slip somewhat.
For me, Star Trek Into Darkness (STID for short) falls under the "Empire Strikes Back" category of success, a little bit darker but far more engaging. The "new timeline" established in this particular version of Star Trek continues to grow, and it explains (sort of) the original ideas such as the Prime Directive, the early stages of the war with the Klingons, and even the first introduction of the "five year mission"; It also, in the face of terrorist villain John Harrison, pointedly discusses the aspect that sometimes got lost to viewers who never watched the very first series; Starfleet has always been about exploration, not militarization. And when something forces Earth's hand and creates a need for a more aggressive quality, how do our intrepid heroes react?
I will admit that this film has some fanservice given to previous films, but I would honestly say that I didn't see it as a detractor. Having thankfully not had the Benedict Cumberbatch villain spoiled for me, I was able to appreciate the film for its general homages, not just for the parallels to existing ST:TOS (original series) lore.
This film takes roughly the same amount of comedy as the one before it did--not too much, but enough to remind you that Space Operas are supposed to be a little campy. They're an escapist tool to turn introspect into our own society through laughs and dramatic tension. This film does it in spades, with Karl Urban and Simon Pegg raising the comedic standard but also providing two of the most accurate rebooted characters I've had the pleasure of geek-criticising (Gary Oldman's version of Commissioner Gordon being the closest to perfect I can think of, while writing this.) Chris Pine has grown wonderfully into the shoes of Jim Kirk (which almost makes me wonder if he was pulling punches in the first film so he could progress to this), John Cho gets better in everything I see him in---I can see why Sulu fans are clamoring for a spinoff of Captain Sulu's adventures---and Anton Yelchin is a delight as Chekov. Since the film series puts more heart into a Spock-with-attitude, I of course cannot sing enough praise for Zachary Quinto taking all the things that made Leonard Nimoy legendary and putting his own, emotional-turmoil-under-the-mask spin on it. I also love that he and Nimoy have a complete and utter bromance going on right now because it's adorable.
Introducing one Benedict Cumberbatch (or BC in this review) to the larger American population, however, is where this film really shines for me. Much as I'd hope that many of you are familiar with SHERLOCK (see my review here) or the fact that he is voicing Smaug in the Hobbit trilogy, I am willing to admit that some people aren't as obsessive about film or television as I am. Whoo boy, am I excited to see BC take on more villain roles. It's evident from this that he can revel in it, and he chews some serious scenery while elevating the idea of a villain to new heights compared to a lot of the summer flicks I've had the misery of sitting through in the past ten years;
(I feel that by having a more classic drive and motivation, Science Fiction villains walk the line between shakespeare and stagnant; But you have to go big or go home with this genre, so when it's done it's done right. Magneto, Sauron, Vader....and someone I'll talk about in the spoilers.)
Tl; dr; If you hadn't seen Star Trek before this? You could sit down and enjoy Into Darkness quite a bit. If you've ONLY seen the '09 Star Trek and never the originals, my younger readers? You'll be in for a better journey on the same road. And having attended a midnight showing with two bigger Trekkers than I, I think it's safe to say that unless you're an adamant die-hard who refuses to accept change, you will also be pleased with this film.
Four point Five out of Five Phasers.
NOTE: SPOILER REVIEW BELOW. IF YOU DON"T WANT THIS FILM SPOILED, STOP HERE AND GO SEE IT.
I MEAN IT.
HAVE AN OUNCE OF WILLPOWER!
...and here we go.
Cumberbatch, you silver tongued bastard. Well done. I have to give the entire JJ Abrams/ Bad Robot brain trust points for keeping the oft-referenced "mystery box" element in a JJA work alive. And he especially, in his interviews, adamantly not talking about the whom and keeping the secret going as long as possible.
But honestly? I think the development team would have raised more excitement if you had just come out and said "HEY! We won't lie to you. This is our version of Khan Noonen Singh. Come see what we've done to their rivalry!!!". The thing that hurt them was the moment in the trailer where Spock's blue shirted hand is on the glass, exactly like the end of "The Wrath of Khan", because it sent people into a tizzy once more about who BC was playing. and they had to deny rumors anew, "accidentally" release the image tagging him as John Harrison to raise suspicion, and to forcefully throw us off the trail, for our own good. Sadly, the internet is full of sadistic douchebags and if you're not careful you're equivalent to seeing your father dressed as Santa at 5am on Christmas, equally let down by the cruelty of internet trolls or your own burning desire to know all.
While I was one of those on board with the lies, mostly for fun speculation, I have three companions from my night out who will attest to the glee and triumphant hiss as I pieced it together a few minutes before Cumberbatch launched into his "I am Khan" speech.
That of course turned the second reel into a far more critical eye, because anyone who's a thoroughly-versed Trekker can spot the countless parallels and homages. Once again, I use the metaphor of the Road Not Taken; this reboot/alt-timeline clearly focuses a smidgen more on Spock, and this film almost makes Khan the nemesis of Spock, which I think was nicely done by building up Jim and Spock's relationship and then twisting all the familiar elements of "Wrath of Khan" they referenced here and stood on their head, watching Jim save the ship and Spock watch his friend die.
The reason I only give it 4.5 is threefold. One, because setting up the early foreshadowing of "Spock is willing to die" screams to well-read critics that things will go opposite of the suggestion. I therefore was able to tell early on that Kirk would be likely the one to be more imperiled over the course of the film, whereas usually Jim is the safer one and with the exception of "Generations" I never once feared for his life.
Which leads me to issue two. The use of Khan's blood to bring Jim back from the dead was so blatantly obvious to me (even if I didn't see the Reactor Scene coming quite so far in advance) that I felt just a tad disappointed in the Bad Robot production team. You've done so much to keep a breakneck pace and make the audience smarter by not spelling things out all the time, yet this one was a telegraphed punch. Perhaps I just see too much of your shows/movies, and I'm getting cynical as I grow a reviewer's eye . But it was a forgivable sin, in the end. Lots to do in two hours, but you lost the opportunity to try a REALLY new approach---an Enterprise without Kirk. Considering how much focus has been on the captivating performance of Zachary Quinto, I was almost hoping for it. That said, it's likely they didn't want to incur the Wrath of Fans with their second film...
Thirdly, I was hoping for a little more spaceship combat. You set up the Peter Weller character, a misguided hero-turned-villain because of his motives, and then cut to the Khan storyline basically screwing an opportunity to show off the CGI and the genius that can be spaceship warfare. You had two villains blowing the Enterprise to shreds and yet not once did you show off the grandeur of star combat. I will forgive you only if you compensate for this in film three since you're not going with the "Search For Spock" angle to parallel anymore.
Four-and-a-half well deserved KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN! out of five.
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