In fact, if it weren't for the aforementioned travesty, 2013 could be shaping up to be the year of spectacular sequels. Iron Man 3 was great, and there are several more sequels coming out later in the summer (The Hangover Part III, anyone?), but today was a day that will live forever. Because the new Star Trek movie is easily one of the best that the franchise has ever produced.
Paying epic homage to the best Trek film of all time (1982's The Wrath of Khan), Darkness introduces a new villain-- who is later revealed to be the younger version of Ricarado Montalban's Khan from the Original Series. In this film, Khan is once again trying to save the lives of his crew, who have remained frozen in capsules after the Eugenics War. Khan, of course, is a superman who has been genetically engineered to possess enhanced intelligence, strength, stamina, and healing powers.
An evil Starfleet captain finds Khan's pods, and revives only him, in order to orchestrate a war with the Klingons (who no longer look like the heavily makeup-clad humans of old) in order to try out some new fancy weapons. Khan, being the badass he is, had his own plans, and smuggled his crew away using the torpedoes that the captain had him build. Here's where Kirk, Spock, Bones, and the rest of the peeps come in: After several terrorist attacks are staged, they chase Khan to the Klingon homeworld, violating the Neutral Zone (and thereby laying the grounds for war). Unknowingly, Kirk captures Khan, and the two are forced to team up to defeat the evil captain.
As is with any science fiction movie, the visuals often run the risk of overshadowing the plot and characters, a little more so here than in 2009's Star Trek. I think there are about five climactic battles. But fortunately, the witty banter that has made this franchise endure is still there. Uhura and Spock have a few spats, which is fun to watch, seeing as he can't really get pissed off. Scotty resigns his post, but returns to save the day in spectacular fashion. And Kirk gets to live through the EXACT SAME sequence from The Wrath of Khan, but this time it's him behind the glass. I won't get into it, as it would spoil the entire film... but this is really required viewing.
Also, there's an epic tribble cameo in the film, just to appease the die-hard fanboys who would get all butthurt if it didn't make little nods of the head to the Original Series.
Of course, Benedict Cumerbatch isn't quite able to live up to the big shoes left behind by the original Khan, but that's to be expected. The rest of the cast performs admirably, but the finest moments of the movie are when the characters are experiencing their own little interpersonal crises, not battling atop flying forklifts or running around active volcanoes. And yes, there's a healthy amount of lens flare, as always.
So, where does Darkness rank in the Trek filmography? Well, nothing will ever topple Khan from its sacred position as the height of the saga, and it's certainly not as good as Star Trek, the fantastic reboot that, although featuring the same characters as Darkness, was a lot fresher and more exciting. But I would put Darkness in third place easily, perhaps tied with The Voyage Home. F**k The Next Generation, Jean-Luc Picard is a pain in the ass.
And the final score for Into Darkness? 9/10 stars. Sure, I could bitch and moan about how much it screwed with the timeline of the Original Series by killing of not one, not two, but THREE characters who were integral to the storyline. I won't spoil it. Just go see this movie now, before we're bogged down in the inevitable slog of unintelligent shoot-em-up summer blockbusters.
Bye!
