"Why is there a man in that torpedo?"

Rating: 7/10 (19 May 2013)

I suppose the problem seasoned citizens like myself (some would call us old farts) have with re-boots like "Star Trek Into Darkness", is that we retain a sense of history and continuity with the original TV series or movies upon which the sequels are based. This wouldn't be a concern for the casual movie-goer or Trek fan, but I have an issue when a canonical character like Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood) from the original series chapters "The Menagerie, Parts I and II", winds up dying in this film instead of peacefully living out his cerebral life on Talos IV the last time Kirk and Spock left him. And that would have been AFTER the events of this movie. I really wish screen writers wouldn't take it upon themselves to destroy continuity like that, but I know I'm barking up the wrong tree on this.
There are other things too that don't blend well with Star Trek lore and history. Admiral Marcus (Peter Weller) going rogue the way he did to force a Klingon war would have been way out of bounds for Starfleet Command, and they would certainly have gotten involved before this movie was over. Kirk (Chris Pine) being de-commissioned and promoted again in the space of I don't know, maybe twenty minutes or so felt almost ludicrous to me. Yeah I know, he's the Captain and all, but how about developing that story line a bit if that's the way we're going.
Now there were other things one might expect would have bothered me but didn't, so I'd like to touch on those as well. The young Spock (Zachary Quinto) actually crying real tears would be totally out of character for Leonard Nimoy, but I think the film set that up pretty well with remarks about Spock balancing his Vulcan and Earthly origins. Same thing with Uhura's (Zoe Saldana) flirtations with the First Officer; harking back to the first two episodes of the Sixties series ('The Man Trap' and 'Charlie X'), Nichelle Nichols behaved in a similar manner before the Spock character morphed into a being of pure logic. So I thought those precursors to the original Star Trek was a neat way of bringing ST history right in line with the TV show's stated mission of boldly going where no man had gone before.
Besides that, most of the rest was simply action, relentless and galaxy defying destructive action on a grand scale. Personally I would forego some of that for the sake of more character and story line development, but alas, this is apparently a different era. I understand that, and for that reason I refrain from skewering the film too badly. I guess there's a place for it for modern day film fans who want over the top excitement and action in every flick, but I wonder what the reaction would be if a they made a film with as much thought and creativity that went into making 'The Menagerie' or 'Space Seed'. I could just hear Spock giving it his single word movie review - 'Fascinating'.