Enjoyable but ultimately misguided

Rating: 6/10 (18 May 2013)

Star Trek Into Darkness The second installment of J.J. Abrams' alternate universe Star Trek series is the most action-packed in the history of the franchise but it may also turn out to be one of the most divisive. While "Star Trek Into Darkness" is well made, well acted, well written and enjoyable, it is also ultimately misguided.
As the film opens, the young James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) is still experiencing growing pains when it comes to commanding a starship. Kirk will do anything to protect his space-faring family, even if it means sometimes violating sacred Starfleet rules and lying on official reports. He's proud of the fact he hasn't lost a single member of his crew. But what Kirk doesn't understand is, he can't truly become the leader he needs to be until he's ready to face death.
The plot kicks into motion when a terrorist (the terrific Benedict Cumberbatch) attacks Starfleet installations in London and San Francisco (this episode spends so much time on the home planet that it could almost be called "Earth Trek"). Kirk and the rest of the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise are sent to track down the terrorist and take him out with long range, unmanned weapons. (Sound familiar?) But these drones, uh, I mean torpedoes, are not what they seem – nor is the terrorist they are aimed at. It is difficult to say much more about the plot without giving too much away, but the story leads to a showdown with one of the greatest enemies the Enterprise ever faced. While the events of Abrams' Trek movies occur in an alternate time-line, it seems certain events are predetermined to occur – certain foes are destined to be faced – though not in the same way, and not with the same outcomes.
The movie is visually dazzling and has many fun moments. A sequence involving a high-speed spacewalk through a debris field looks amazing in IMAX 3D. But in the end, the movie is too derivative. The last film satisfied a thirst by returning the characters we loved, but at the same time, sent them on a new adventure. This movie takes the characters we are very familiar with and runs them through a plot we've mostly seen before, albeit with some clever twists. If we want to see the old characters in an old story – we can pop in an old DVD and watch the original cast do it better. Next time, I hope the new versions of old crew boldly go somewhere their characters haven't been before.