Star Trek – Into Darkness (3D) (2013, Dir. J.J Abrams, USA) (Cert: 12a) ****

 

Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch

 

When a mission causes a major violation of the Prime Directive, Captain James Tiberius Kirk (Pine) is demoted to First Officer aboard the Starship Enterprise but when London is attacked and Starfleet officer John Harrison (Cumberbatch) is believed to be responsible, Kirk finds himself back heading the bridge as he and the Enterprise crew, venture into territory belonging to the war-mongering Klingons to retrieve Harrison.

 

After hitting the right note with his 2009 reboot of the beloved Star Trek franchise, J.J Abrams takes the helm once more for Into Darkness; a fittingly darker and much more complex second instalment. There’s generally been a rule of thumb with Star Trek films that the odd numbered films (I, III, V etc.) are poor and the even numbered (II, IV, VI etc.) are good (a viewpoint popularised, coincidentally, by Simon Pegg in his days before playing chief engineer Montgomery ‘Scotty’ Scott in the Trek reboots) and if the first Abrams film bucked the trend for odd numbered films, with its strength, Into Darkness proves that the inverse is not true with the new films either. Into Darkness is, rest assured, a good film. There are some flaws in that the visuals, whilst impressive, are susceptible to the same Abrams follies (The lens flares, oh god, so many lens flares!) and it would’ve been nice for a more rounded ensemble piece this time around instead of it being lead largely by Chris Pine’s Kirk and Zachary Quinto’s Spock; however, it is their camaraderie and the great contrast in characters that helps make this film work as well as a brilliantly developed role for Benedict Cumberbatch (even if one moment in particular with his character plays out the same detained villain glaring in a transparent cell trope seen in both The Avengers (2012) and Skyfall (2012)) whilst the 3D isn’t a gratuitous distraction (save for some early spear throwing). All in all, a very entertaining follow-up, especially if you see Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan (1982) beforehand.