Star Trek Into Darkness: Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan 2

Rating: 6/10 (12 May 2013)

A longtime fan of Star Trek in most of its incarnations, I loved the reboot, the visual style and even the crew and cast. The ship was beautiful, the story could have been better but it ticked all the boxes and introduced a new timeline (even though I can't escape the feeling that most of it was contrived and slapped together), overall an excellent foundation for new stories. So what do they do for the sequel? Rehash a legendary story arc from the original cast.
It's really been long since I've seen such a derivative and uninspired movie. The first half is unremarkable while the other half is a cringe-worthy reimagining of the best and most memorable original movie, from the villain to the climactic scene across the glass, only with characters reversed. For a team that made such a radical departure, they seem to be so firmly stuck in the original mythology that you have to wonder, what was the point of the reboot? Other than Khan for the next generations, the movie itself is entertaining, far from it. However, the characters seem to be less likable than in the first installment. Everyone says Kirk has grown, and he has, but not into the charming, self-confident and mischievous character we all know and love. He's more of a juvenile delinquent in over his head. The Spock-Uhura affair provides nothing other than a supposedly humorous moment using the lovers-fight-amidst-danger-with-neutral-observer-present trope. The supporting cast is just that, and Bones is excellent as always (I'm not objective here, I admit).
Making this a bi-villained movie brings its own set of problems. Cumberbatch is menacing and convincingly dangerous, but because Weller needs his own screen time, the entire Khan mythology is cut short in order to introduce the future Marcus story arc (I'm guessing the makers will go with the Kirk-Marcus romance in upcoming movies). This leaves me feeling Khan could have done more damage than just crashing an airliner into the...no, wait, a starship into Starfleet HQ.
A big thumbs down for the costume department. This is Star Trek, not Star Wars, and Starfleet is not the Imperial military. The new uniforms are not so much a problem per se, but just add to the derivative feel of the movie and the story, with the notable exception of the admirals' uniforms hearkening back to ST:TMP.
Thank goodness Enterprise is starting her five-year mission. Maybe now we'll see some Star Trek and not whatever this is – a lazy rehashing and cashing in on effects and a young sexy cast on the one hand, and on the sentiment of longtime fans of the franchise on the other. And an honest piece of advice for Leonard Nimoy: stay retired. You don't need this.