Review of Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) by Arqum F — 26 Jun 2016

The cast has great chemistry, the characters are well defined and the action, as well as the special effects, are top-notch. In addition, Benedict Cumberbatch hands in an awesomely cool while utterly threatening performance despite being severely miscast in his role.

However, story-wise this movie is pretty poor, as it just feels like a random collection of rehashed pivotal moments from other parts of Star Trek lore. As a result, Star Trek Into Darkness creates major plot holes in its own continuity, focusing on getting fans of the original series (most of which are probably going to be even more displeased) excited, rather than weaving an original tale like in Abrams' first Star Trek movie (which I loved btw).

Thus, the movie has a strong identity crisis because it is both trying to please old school Trekkies with its constant references, while trying to maintain the 2009 Star Trek's the fast paced and high energy action movie tone, which greatly contrasts Gene Roddenberry's vision for the series, in order to please general audiences.

Still, Into Darkness delivers as a very good science fiction action film with extremely charismatic characters, sharp dialogue and a level action and scope that outdoes its predecessor.