With the audacity of an outsider brought in to revive a once great project, J.J. Abrams has swept in to stamp his brand of relentless energy on the Star Trek franchise. Its second instalment, Into Darkness, shows just how unafraid he and his team are of defying the laws of movie physics, zipping along with a purpose more akin to great action films such as Die Hard than the pedestrian pace of other big screen Trek outings.
The film opens with Spock (the excellent Zachary Quinto) facing incineration at the centre of an exploding volcano, from which he narrowly escapes with the help of Captain Kirk (Chris Pine, far outstripping his performance in the first film) electing to disobey orders to save his friend. Whilst this sequence does feel a bit like a deleted scene from Galaxy Quest, it is characteristic of the tremendous pace that the film sets that, by the end, it seems relatively sedate by comparison.
No further time is wasted in introducing the antagonist of the piece, John Harrison, a super villain with strength and intelligence to match his sense of purpose, played with the same intensity that Benedict Cumberbatch has brought to Sherlock on the small screen. When his character is not speaking, which seems to be most of his screen time, Cumberbatch wears the expression of a man delicately poised on the verge of rage.
This anger drives him to attack the very foundations of Starfleet, as Earth once again becomes the target of a psychopath, something which is becoming a theme of Abrams' take on Trek. The scenes on Earth are well made with the help of some excellent CGI. They look far more convincing than previous efforts, which had to rely on lower tech methods to show us glimpses of life in the 23rd Century.
By contrast, the space battles seem a bit overblown and feel more like a very advanced computer game than cinema. Nonetheless, the sequences on the bridges of both of the ships involved (Enterprise and Vengeance) are a particular highlight. Fine performances from John Cho (Sulu), Simon Pegg (Scotty) and Anton Yelchin (Chekov) add colour to these sequences, a particular highlight being Sulu's repartee with Dr McCoy (Karl Urban) about his poker skills. Karl Urban is once again excellent as Bones, providing an altogether more serious presence than in the first film.
Although Uhura (the excellent Zoe Saldana) is perhaps a little underused in Into Darkness, she continues to be a challenging and intriguing presence, saving the lives of the rest of the crew on several occasions. A confrontation with a particularly nasty Klingon is an interesting scene, which alludes to the theme of cultural misunderstanding that is present in much of the best Trek.
By contrast, Carol Marcus (Alice Eve) is more prominent as Kirk's latest love interest, an English physicist whose true agenda is kept entirely secret from the rest of the crew, including Kirk. Alice Eve does an excellent job as a well intentioned but misguided scientist whose loyalties shift rapidly throughout the story.
On the whole, Into Darkness is an effective and interesting addition to the Star Trek franchise. It is fast paced, well produced and exceptionally well acted. Whisper it quietly, but it is, in the opinion of this minor Trekkie, probably the best edition of the twelve produced so far.
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the image used in this review and will remove it at the request of the rights holder.
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