An entertaining sequel that falls a hair short.

Rating: 8/10 (20 May 2013)

Kirk is given the task of tracking down John Harrison, the man responsible for the death of hundreds of Starfleet Commanders, but upon capturing him, the crew of the enterprise learns of more sinister evils lurking in the darkness.
The film starts off Kirk disobeying direct orders from Starfleet in order to save the life of a crew member. The result of this action has him demoted from captain, yet this subplot only lasts 5 minutes as he is thrust back into the role after a devastating hit from the new villain, played by Benedict Cumberbatch. So the film starts off pretty shaky, having something important happen that ultimate goes nowhere for the story. Once Cumberbatch comes on the screen, the film becomes stronger and more focused.
This new Star Trek film dances around revenge, sacrifice and friendship. The relationship between Spock and Kirk is stronger, almost a complete 180 from what we saw in the original film. Despite this new strong friendship, Spock still has trouble conveying emotions and thinks more logically than emotionally. This film tries to be bigger and pose a more dangerous threat to our crew than the original, as most sequels do, but in order for that to happen, a lot of the characters are given the short straw. Zoe Saldana, John Cho and Anton Yelchin get the worst of it.
Saldana is belittled to a girlfriend role, Cho only drives the ship and Yelchin is thrown into the back and literally does nothing. Pegg, Quinto and Pine take the front roles and of course Cumberbatch steals the show whenever he's on the screen. I can't help be feel a tad disappointed that most of the crew is given little to do, whereas everyone in the original had a moment to shine.
Into Darkness is a good entertaining film, that falls a tad bit short of its predecessor. It's still a great film, but there are too many telegraphed scenes that leave the emotion empty because you know where they writers are going to go with it. Big reveals are not shocking and the predictable ending leaves a bad taste in my mouth. They had a chance to throw a big curveball and make us salivate for the next film, but instead we are treated with the "Spielberg" ending, something that I think Abrams is becoming more and more guilty of.
Those detractors are not enough to make the film a disappointment. It is highly enjoyable popcorn flair. Those worried about lens flare? He tones it down this time!!! YAY!!!!