A
few years ago we were met with an interesting surprise, there would be a new
Star Trek film released in 2009. Star Trek had long since been dead, with the
last film being released seven years earlier and the show's best days coming almost two decades ago. But upon its release it was met with near universal praise
from critics and audiences as well as making almost 400 million
dollars at the box office. A sequel was immediately demanded, and it couldn't
come soon enough. Well ladies and gentlemen, that time has come. Directed by
J.J. Abrams, Into Darkness is the twelfth installment in the
Star Trek franchise and easily the most anticipated. Into Darkness takes place
a couple years after the events of the original. At this point Kirk
has thoroughly established himself as the captain of the USS
Enterprise. The film opens up on a foreign planet where the crew of the
Enterprise is trying to save the lives of a primitive race. After
narrowly escaping death the crew returns to earth only to have Kirk stripped of
his title for disobeying orders not to interact with the native people. On the
other side of the planet an attack has occurred on a Star Fleet
building killing dozens. It is learned that the attack was carried out by a
member of Star Fleet named John Harrison. While in a meeting to discuss their
options, the high ranking officers are attacked be Harrison who kills several
of them. Outraged, Kirk volunteers to go after Harrison to seek
revenge for killing a friend; after some thought by the Admiral he agrees. Now
the crew of the Enterprise has been tasked with capturing the single
most dangerous individual to ever plague the galaxy. I have been
waiting four years to see this movie; going into 2013 it was easily my most
anticipated of the year. So I was worried that it couldn't live up to its
predecessor. Well not only did it match the original film; in my opinion it is
even better. I loved everything about the first film, and Into Darkness
improves upon it in just about every way. All the actors from the first one
reprise their roles and they play out their characters perfectly. The addition
to the cast that had everyone talking was highly acclaimed actor Benedict
Cumberbatch as John Harrison. Benedict is most well known for the award winning
series Sherlock, and he absolutely kills it in this movie. The biggest problem
with the first movie was the villain, he just wasn't special. He was
there just for the sake of having a villain. But Benedict's character is
on a whole different level. I would say his performance as a villain is comparable to Heath Ledger (the Dark Knight), Javier
Bardem (Skyfall, No Country for Old Men), and Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds). He
gives an Oscar worthy performance and really does steal every scene he's in.
One thing I really want to commend the film on is its incredible
visuals. The movie really does look stunning, and I saw it in 3D and in a wide
screen format ant it looks incredible. This is a movie that is best watched in
theaters. I also felt the writing was actually given a boost as well,
especially when it comes to humor. There are a couple scenes where you'll bust
a gut. The story is actually more complex than the first one. The movie has layers;
it's really not like what you thought it would be. There are some
really touching moments through out. This is a fantastic and epic sci-fi
adventure. I have been criticized for being overly harsh on huge blockbuster movies, most recently Iron Man 3, and that I only give good reviews to very serious movies like Zero Dark Thirty and Argo. The reason I don't kiss the ass of every big movie is because I have standards. Studio executives think that if there's a movie with lots of actions and explosions people will like it, they don't think it has to be good. But it's movies like Into Darkness that show you can have a blockbuster that isn't just all flash, it really can be great. This is a
movie that I would recommend to every man, woman, and child that are
interested. Even if you’re not a fan of Star Trek there is a good chance you'd
enjoy this movie. Its movies like these that make me love film; it shows that
not only artsy tour de force's can be great, but big summer movies as well. Just short of true greatness, this has been one of the best movies of the year and has quickly become one of
my favorite movies of all time. And I really hope they decide to make this into a trilogy.
4.5/5 Stars
No comments:
Post a Comment