Review of Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) by Chantal B — 02 Aug 2016

I loved the beginning. That was Star Trek: strange world, fun hijinks and adventure gone wrong. I couldn't wait to see other worlds and lands - but instead we got a lot of space. Do you know what space is? 99% lot of nothing. That said, we did get to see plenty of land of the female crew, who wear 99% less than their male counterparts.

Thankfully Kirk has charisma that could outshine a third-world dictator, and kept me interested throughout. Other characters felt less fleshed out, often appearing for brief vaudevillian flashes amidst already flashy destruction/peril scenes. I love the international flavour, but why are the aliens, aside from "Pointy" , given only enough screen time to make us raise an eyebrow? You see a few in shot that are more like a freak show on a speeding conveyor belt than characters you come to know and love. Star Trek's strengths came from the humanity of its treatment of alien culture, no matter how many pounds of make up the actors worked under.

But when it came to gratuitous underwear scenes and a female-male ratio that implies humanity may be experiencing some fertility problems, Star Trek feels like a futuristic 60s, complete with casual misogyny and whitewashing of coloured characters. Only two women are of consequence, both defined by other male characters - Urhura as a girlfriend, and Blondy Bra Girl as a daughter of one of the 'villains' as well as this movie's only iconic image.

Star Trek into Darkness indeed. One of the greatest merits of the show was showing how great the future could be, rather than endless science fiction cautionary tales about the power of technology. But the future is a grim mix of sexist uniforms, speciesism, and explosions.

That said, they were pretty explosions. And Khan was a barrel of tribbles. And the opening was still one of the best all year. And the action sequences were pretty fun, if also kind of like having your head stuck in a sliding door.

Next time, though, let's trek somewhere nice...I hear the REST of Kronos is lovely this time of year...