Wow

Rating: 9/10 (17 May 2013)

WOW! J.J. Abrams does it again! Ten years ago who would have thought that somebody could completely revamp the Star Trek franchise? And not only revamp but REVIVE a franchise that had seemed to have long since seen its hayday. Sure, Star Trek fans were still in the millions and their passion was strong. Yet, here we are after the second installment in the new Star Trek series and it feels as though the original shine, shimmer and intrigue never left.
Abrams gives us his follow up to his amazing re-imagination of Star Trek. Leaning more towards the kind of recipe that often leads to disaster in action films these days, he blew our minds with something truly new. Fans of the original Star Trek went crazy, and non-fans went crazy. Like me, I had ALWAYS been a Star Wars fan through and through. After seeing Abrams Star Trek I put away my saber and hood and adopted a phaser and Starfleet garb.
It had all the right ingredients (despite what I said before about the recipe), furious action, the wild expanse and intrigue of space, a cast of actors/actresses who feel as at home in the Enterprise as Shatner and Nemoy did so many years ago. It included a villain in an insane Romulan (played the unrecognizable Eric Bana) that not only you could hate but one you could fear. It opened with one of the most powerful scenes in a film from recent memory, one that altered the normal recipe to make your viewers cry at the end, Star Trek made you cry at the beginning. You saw the relationship and development of Pine and Quinto as they embraced Kirk and Spock, fulfilling every footstep set down by their predecessors, and creating a few of their own.
This presented one HUGE problem for Abrams. How could he possibly top it? Like many before him, Coppola, Nolan, Lucas, Spielberg etc, he now joins that elite group of filmmakers who can best their first attempts.
Into Darkness stays true to its name, emerging you headfirst into a much darker realm of Star Trek than we have seen before. Despite the darkness, the film maintains a light mood and some good comic relief from time to time. Like Bones always says "Dammit man I'm a doctor not a....*insert tag here*". This is STILL funny. It also helps that Abrams starts this movie off AGAIN with another powerful scene. Not as emotional as the first films intro but this one was lighter, including lush greenery (reddery?) that is in complete contrast to the darkness of the rest of the film. Yet when the Enterprise departs and we hear the new Star Trek score an overwhelming feeling of "OH YES! HERE WE GO AGAIN!" cheers and swells inside of you like a child waiting for the ice cream truck.
I won't give much away because surprisingly this film had a couple unexpected twists and turns. I will suffice to say that you are in for quite a treat once you go to see this film. The acting again, is superb. Another problem I felt that Abrams faced was how to make another iconic villain like Nero. Benedict Cumberbatch to the rescue anyone? By deepening his voice to a rumble usually only found in the minds of those reading The Hobbit (Cumberbatch will be voicing Smaug in the upcoming film this December) he can fill you with chills as you stare into his icy, inhuman eyes.
This film surpassed all expectations. If anyone had doubted Abrams talent before, he has hushed the naysayers. Be prepared to be plunged Into Darkness....