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With abundant action and adventure, ‘Into Darkness’ is approachable and enjoyable

With+abundant+action+and+adventure%2C+Into+Darkness+is+approachable+and+enjoyable

Price Zimmer ’14 | Arts & Entertainment Editor

Boldly going where Gene Roddenberry went before, J.J. Abram’s “Star Trek: Into Darkness” is a quality sequel to his 2009 reboot, “Star Trek”. While maybe not as smart as “Star Trek,” there is plenty of action and plenty of callbacks to make both die-hard “Trekies” and the general audience happy.

The story starts off on an unnamed planet as James T. Kirk played by Chris Pine and crew try to save a devolving sentient race, similar to tribal humans, and Spock played by Zachary Quinto is willing to sacrifice himself to follow protocol. Returning to Earth, the mysterious John Harrison played by Benedict Cumberbatch unleashes two separate terror attacks.

From there, the Enterprise and her intrepid crew venture forth to the Klingon home world in pursuit of Cumberbatch and face an expected foe along the way to capturing Cumberbatch. The action steadily increases throughout the back half of the movie, with big set pieces, intense fight scenes and dramatic challenges face the Enterprise at every turn.

Yet, the movie sputters at the wrong time, with a chase sequence as Spock hunts down Cumberbatch that lasts too long. It has some of the best visuals in the entire movies, but it feels shoehorned in by Abrams; it is never a good thing if the audience finds themselves questioning the motivations and logic of the characters at the height of the story.

The visuals and graphics are a real pleasure to watch, not only are they massive in scope and scale but they are vibrant, detailed and frequent. Abrams uses his big budget to full effect, truly dazzling from the first shot of an all-red planet, to the Enterprise going into Warp Drive, to a space battle above Earth and and the disastrous aftermath.

It is a credit to Abram’s for how well done this movie is, especially the interplay between the crew members of the Enterprise. There has been much criticism by long-time ‘Star Trek’ fans with how dark the series has gotten and despite some effort to correct this trend, “Into Darkness” is pretty dark.

“Into Darkness” focuses on the relationship between Kirk and Spock and how they developed as friends. This serves to drive the story forward and try explain how exactly Kirk and Spock became such great friends, a real treat for long-time fans. I find that at times the story focuses too much on this relationship and forces the other characters into the periphery.

However, it is somewhat justifiable because of the strong performances of Pine and Quinto, who play the iconic characters believably and are entertaining to watch as young Kirk and young Spock. This is a common theme among all the portrayals in the movie is that they are all believable,

Cumberbatch is magnetic as the main villain, who will go unnamed to prevent spoilers. The emotional depth is a surprising touch for a film that focuses so heavily on action sequences, and his actions range from almost noble to down-right evil.

Simon Pegg is a stand out as Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, if only because he brings a lot of genuine levity to this rather dark movie.  The rest of the cast is decent, though none of them really captures the feel of the original characters, but do well enough to not be problematic.

Overall, this is a good sequel. It is hampered by a less-than-smooth ending, but is an enjoyable ride for both the die-hard and uninitiated alike. An “A-.”

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