Star Trek: Into Darkness [2013]
Directed by: J.J. Abrams
Written by: Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof
Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zoe Saldaña, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Bruce Greenwood, Peter Weller, Alice Eve, Noel Clarke, Leonard Nimoy
2009’s Star Trek introduced me to the world of the beloved sci-fi franchise, as I’m sure it did for millions of other young cinephiles. J.J. Abrams gave us a reason to become fans of a pop culture phenomenon that had been alive for 43 years, even if we hadn’t ever heard William Shatner yell “Khaaaan!” or watched Leonard Nimoy do the Vulcan salute.
2013’s sequel is a more than worthy follow-up to the thrilling blockbuster that came 4 years earlier.
After the crew of the Enterprise finds an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization, Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction: John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch).
Into Darkness goes bigger than its predecessor, planet-hopping and warp-speed traveling with ease. It’s up to par with its 2009 sister in terms of breathtaking action set-pieces and sleek costume and set design. The talented cast clearly looks comfortable in their second appearance in the iconic roles, now with the added bonus of one Benedict Cumberbatch, fantastic in the massively hyped villain role.
Cumberbatch occasionally overacts but, in a way, the over-the-top and over-enunciating nature of his performance fits the part. His role is not as prominent as the trailers might’ve led you to believe, though. Fascinating characters though they may be, a little less attention on Kirk and Spock (Zachary Quinto) couldn’t have hurt. Give us more Cumberbatch! I could maybe insert a bad pun here, but honestly I’m very tired. What I’m trying to say is, for a movie that’s 132 minutes long, this one just flies by. You know, like the Enterprise.
Yay! Glad you loved it too! I might actually get to watch it a second time. As you say it flies by and I’d like to pay more attention to some details. 🙂
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🙂 It was so fun, Jessica. It honestly didn’t feel longer than 90 minutes. I think I’ll watch it again too.
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Nice review mate. I really enjoyed this and I agree that it needed more Cumberbatch, I thought he was actually quite underused.
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Thanks, Chris. I’ll check oout your review soon. Glad you liked it as well, and that you agree with me in that it needed more Cumberbatch! lol
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Good review and I really like that poster 😀
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Thanks! It’s pretty cool, isn’t it?
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One of my favourite films of 2013 so far…
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Same here 🙂
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I’m excited to see this. Nice review.
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You should be. It’s pretty damn fun! Thanks.
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Glad you liked it too. My review went up a little while ago and let’s just say we probably share the same enthusiasm.
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I’ll read it as soon as I have the chance. Glad we’re in agreement!
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Nice review and all your criticisms are fair. Overall I think I liked it a little better than you. I don’t remember my exact score but I had fun with it. But you’re right it does have issues specifically with the villain (as you mentioned)
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Thanks. And yes, I felt the villain was really underused, but I still liked the movie a lot.
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Solid review. It had me on the edge of my seat the whole time, and never for a second lost me. Can’t go wrong with that.
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Thanks. Yeah, same here. Like I said, it flew by. It honestly didn’t feel longer than 90 minutes for me.
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Glad you liked this too Fernando! I think I like this better than the 2009 film which was also enjoyable. Cumberbatch seems to intentionally gave a theatrical performance but I think it worked. “Give us more Cumberbatch!” Amen 😀
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Glad we agree then, Ruth! This was such an enjoyable time at the movies, even with its little flaws, I had a lot of fun! I would consider this and the 2009 film tied in terms of pure blockbuster thrills!
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Awesome poster. Glad you liked it. Haven’t seen it yet but I hope I will!
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Thanks. Hope you see it soon!
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Nice one, Cumberbatch was a highlight for me too.
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Thanks. He was pretty good. I’m starting to like this guy a lot.
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I’m not a Star Trek nerd. I do love the 09 fil though. Instant classic. I’m excited to see this. Though I’m seeing Iron Man 3 and The Great Gatsby this weekend (on top of studying for finals), so technically, I’m too busy to see it when I want to.
Hopefully, the theater clears out a bit by next weekend, assuming I have time then. Thank god for all these prepaid movie tickets!
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Yeah, not a Trek nerd either but oh how I enjoy the new films by J.J. Abrams. So fun. Kinda makes me look forward to his upcoming Star Wars movies. Have fun at Iron Man 3 (loved that one; I think it’s my favorite of 2013 so far) and Great Gatsby (my most anticipated of the year; still two weeks before we get that one here).
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I actually ended up seeing Star Trek Into Darkness, not Iron Man 3. We were going to the IMAX theater, and since Iron Man wasn’t playing in IMAX 3-D anymore, we just went ahead and saw Star Trek. By far the most crowded showing I’d ever been to! We thought we’d land in the front row (sucks for those who did HA!) but we found a door over to the side, by pure luck. Lol.
I didn’t enjoy it as much as you did, and I thought it was a significant step down from the 2009 flick, but oh, what a good time I had.
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Well, I’m glad you had fun 🙂
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Thanks 🙂
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Loved loved loved this film. Not my favorite film of the year, but probably going to be my favorite blockbuster of the summer. Entertaining in every way. Great review! I just posted mine.
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Thanks, Mark! And I actually just came from your blog 😉
Very entertaining, you’re right. Not my favorite of the year so far (that’s Iron Man 3) but certainly very close. This is how you do summer blockbusters!
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Nice take on it, Fernando, I’m with you. 4 out of 5 is just about right. 😉 Definitely a worthy follow up to the first. It wasn’t without its flaws, but it was still a really good time at the theatre! 😀
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Thanks, Fogs. Glad you agree 🙂 And yes, a fantastic time at the theatre. I want to ride it again, lol!
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man that’s funny, i had the same impression — 132 minutes long that absolutely flew by!! wow. i was mixed about it myself, but great review on it. i’m going to at some point have to go back and rewatch for sure
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Thanks! It really went by so fast. When it was about to end, I couldn’t believe it. I thought 40 minutes had gone by, tops.
I think a rewatch is in order for me as well. This is one I wouldn’t mind owning on Blu.
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