I’d love to pick the brain of a true Trekkie and get their take on this new era of the Star Trek franchise. Die-hard fans of the original series — I’m talking the William Shatner/Leonard Nimoy days — must have some pretty strong opinions one way or another. The campy and ultra-philosophical Star Trek of the 1960s, and even the more recent “Deep Space Nine” and “Voyager,” is all but forsaken, as pop culture icon J.J. Abrams has turned it into a flashy, adrenaline-pumping sci-fi adventure with plenty of action and sex appeal. Forget “Star Trek: The Next Generation” — Abrams’ sequel, “Stark Trek: Into Darkness,” is for us, the Facebook generation, delivering in the commercialized spectacle that we feed on.
NEW STAR TREK "EPIC AND SEXY"
The crew of the Enterprise is back with Jim Kirk (Chris Pine) in the captain’s chair. Their adventures have gotten more and more intrepid — and dangerous. Ever questioned by the ever logical Spock (Zachary Quinto), Kirk disregards basic Starfleet protocol in favor of his own gut intuition, which makes him an impressive hero but a reckless captain. Soon his confidence and resolve are tested when a formidable enemy paves a path of mass destruction against Starfleet. This is the mysterious John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch), a former agent of Starfleet who now harbors a vicious vendetta against it. Kirk volunteers to chase down this terrorist, a mission that leads him and his crew to the farthest — and deadliest — reaches of space, where they encounter a dark secret they had not anticipated.
“Into Darkness” and the first Star Trek reboot back in 2009 are interesting introductions for those of us unfamiliar with Star Trek lore. It was genius to dig up such a massive franchise and give it a makeover for a contemporary audience with particular contemporary tastes. You don’t have to be a Trekkie to enjoy Abrams’ Star Treks, and while that ensures accessibility to the masses, it arguably forsakes the sacredness previously established by the original series and its loyal spinoffs. This new Star Trek mentality is epic and sexy, two things Star Trek has really never been before.
"INTO DARKNESS" DOESN'T FULLY EMBRACE LEGACY
All of that being said, “Into Darkness” is a fun, exhilarating experience on many levels. Abrams and his team waste no time in getting the story off to an explosive start, with the Enterprise saving a primitive planet of humanoids from a massive, erupting volcano. Gigantic set pieces like this are what make the film exciting — sci-fi is meant to manipulate reality and enamor the audience with a sense of wonder. What I like about Abrams’ style and the Star Trek films in general is that, while CGI effects are essential to create the world of the story, they never border on excessive. The characters are always the focus, even with the elaborate backdrops of space and exotic planets.
With a title like “Into Darkness,” I’m sure many expected a sequel that inhabited grimmer territory than its predecessor. The villain embodied by Benedict Cumberbatch promised a real sense of danger from the trailers, and I was excited for that. The greatness of a hero is amplified by the contrast to their villainous counterpart. The worse the bad guy, the better the hero, if we are talking about a well-rounded script. Cumberbatch was as good as I could have hoped during his screen time, slow and antagonistic, yet I believe he was supremely undersold. His character was not explored like he should have been, lost in the shuffle of the bigger dimensions of the plot that should have been more heavily focused on him.
“Into Darkness” was a great ride. I liked it, but did I love it? Not as I should have or could have. The movie touched the hem of masterpiece status but never quite embraced it. In the second act, the plot became exceptionally thick with many twists and double-crossings, all of which furthered the story but could have featured more of Cumberbatch as well as a more linear exploration of good vs. evil. I do love origin stories, and 2009’s “Star Trek” as well as “Into Darkness” are most definitely explorations of the early days of the Enterprise. Yet to have such a flourishing legacy behind the franchise, this sequel was a phaser set to stun instead of firing right into the heart of greatness.
