More style than substance again

Rating: Null/10 (20 May 2013)

In 2009, director J J Abrams very successfully rebooted the "Star Trek" franchise. Four years later (not exactly warp speed), he's back with the sequel as he prepares to reboot another sci-fi franchise in the form of "Star Wars". So what's the same and what's new and how does it all work out?
Of course, the "USS Enterprise" has the same crew with the continuation of the bromance between Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) and Simon Pegg (Scotty) and Anton Yelchin (Chekov) still struggling to affect a Scottish and a Russian accent respectively. Again Abrams makes sure that the movie begins with great pace and that the whole thing zips along with lots of action, some good special effects, and dashes of humour, so again it's excellent entertainment.
What's new is mainly the villain - British actor Benedict Cumberbatch in a delightfully chilling performance as the mysterious John Harrison - although another British thespian, Alice Eve, pops up as Dr Carol Marcus whom we may see again. And we have a new format with a version of the film - the one I saw - in 3D which is not a technique of which I am a particular fan and which apparently was pressed upon the director by the studio.
Overall, one has to record that "Into Darkness", like its predecessor, has more style than substance. The plotting is terribly derivative with the main theme borrowed from an earlier "Star Trek" movie which in turn picked up a character from the television series. If the franchise is really going to fly, it needs some original scripts.