Star Trek: Into Darkness: Live Long and Resurrect

Rating: 5/10 (13 June 2013)

It was a couple of years back when director J.J Abrams assumed the burden of creating an entirely renewed and fresh Star Trek. The result was a reboot: Star Trek (2009) was set in an alternate reality, and essentially featured the same characters from 'Gene Roddenberry's original series performed by a newly established cast. After three years, we finally get to see more adventures from the crew of the Enterprise, but the question arises: has Abrams managed to live up to the expectations generated by the first installment, or has he led his legacy into darkness?
We quickly reconnect with the characters doing a 'suicide mission' on a vivid planet, inhabited by aliens, with only a couple of minutes to neutralize an active volcano. After a hell of an intro, we jump to Earth just to learn that Kirk had been demoted, and his former mentor, Admiral Pike, assumed control of the Enterprise. It's doesn't take much until he regains his rank, as a rogue Starfleet commander, John Harrison, executes a bombing in Section 31, a defense organization in London. Now it's up to Kirk and his fellow crew to face and stop the menace.
The confrontation of the evil happens many times: in space, on a Klingon planet, at the Starfleet Command, on the streets of London. Thanks to this we can truly understand the sense of danger and peril caused by the villain. Although battles scenes mostly consist gunfights, spaceship battles and hand-to-hand combat, there are plenty of chase scenes well beyond the realms of plausibility. Many of these are accompanied by mind-blowing visuals and scenery. The vast, colorful planet from the intro looks absolutely amazing, but so does the wastelands of Kronos (Klingon planet), and the futuristic London. The soundtrack shouldn't go unnoticed, as it's a huge pillar of the movie's structure. The epic orchestral music always kicks in at the right time: mostly at huge clashes and chase parts. Old notes intertwined with new sounds eventuate something really goosebump-worthy and awe-inspiring. It sent a shiver down my spine when the Enterprise emerged from the sea for the first time.
Into Darkness never ceased to amaze me, although on a bigger note it's no revolutionary either. As much as I wanted to like the story, I would rather list it as a weakness of the film. Planet exploration, philosophical questions, alien interactions are all sacrificed for the sake of the action and the explosions. It, in fact, reminded me a lot more of Mass Effect than Star Trek mostly because of that.
To be fair, it's not always action. Although it's a pretty lighthearted movie, the plot deals with a lot of emotions such as developing relationships, or caring for lost ones. Thankfully the chemistry between the characters (primarily Spock and Kirk) works, and is pulled off by many talented actors. What really stood out for me was the exceptional performance of Benedict Cumberbatch for portraying such an iconic character. Admittedly the crew of Enterprise did a great job in their respective roles, Kirk reminded me a lot more of Capt. Archer than (previous, William Shatner) Kirk, which doesn't necessarily counts as a shortcoming.
All things considered though, Star Trek: Into Darkness is everything that a summer blockbuster should be, or possibly more than that. With JJ Abrams on the deck, I truly believe that the new Star Wars is going to deliver.