Different sort of Trek, but worthy of the brand.

Rating: 8/10 (15 September 2013)

Into Darkness shares a lot with the original, after all, it is a re-make, or better yet, a re-imagination of Wrath of Khan. When I first saw Into Darkness, I was a bit miffed at the fact that it felt smaller than Star Trek 2009. Less extras, no cool looking aliens, less sets, BUT, it had more CGI. That doesn't make the film feel...Epic! Nevertheless, Into Darkness was well directed, acted, and scripted...yes, scripted. The plot was simple, no different than the plot in Wrath of Khan. Both films were very different than the previous ones. The Motion Picture (1979) cannot be compared to Wrath of Khan...and Into Darkness cannot be compared to most Trek films either.
With that said, I really enjoyed the character driven elements. Loved the Spock/Uhura relationship, the psycho-analysis of Spock and his logic, his conflicting feelings, due to being a human/alien hybrid. It was deep stuff and after the 2nd viewing, I said to myself--it's action heavy, and CGI heavy! So what!? The CGI was fantastic, seeing the enterprise zip around in brand new ILM fashion was a joy. At least the story was engaging enough not to consider it a CGI crap-fest! Overall, worthy of the Star Trek name, even without the Techno-babble, and philosophy.