Saturday matinée action movie 75+

Rating: 8/10 (28 May 2013)

A visceral follow up to the reboot of a few years back (it actually does seem too long a break for a franchise like this), this is an action packed movie well suited to gourmet popcorn. There is a plot...but only having walked out of the theatre just over two hours ago, I'm stuffed if I can coherently describe what the drama is all about. In other words, I suspect that Mr. Spock would have a field day with the logic of this movie. In any case, the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise must travel to enemy territory in order to capture a human villain responsible for the destruction of a Starfleet building in London. Things do not go to plan, as the saying goes. No doubt the seeds of subsequent sequels are sown in this movie.
As far as Star Trek movies go, this one is entertaining but I'm not sure how much repeat viewing it has due to its confusing narrative...or at least I don't think it would be repeated viewing in a small space of time. Of the original cast Star Trek movies, I most enjoyed the one about saving whales (whatever that one was called). I'm guessing this movie will also serve as the grounds for a reboot of a critically acclaimed original cast Star Trek movie. However, that one seemed to presuppose knowledge of the original cast TV series (which was before my time and I've yet to see)...and that won't be the case for the reboot...which is good.
Any criticisms of this movie I have are minor...it's boy's own adventure material...absurd action scenes where you really could imagine Mr. Spock saying "That's not safe!"...if he wasn't doing such derring do himself...which he does! For the reboot, I do remember Leonard Nimoy making an appearance in that...as he does in this sequel...which makes me wonder about the mechanics of his character's appearances and interaction with the rebooted crew. The villain of this movie also seems fancifully overpowered. And I worked out how an unfortunate outcome could be reversed before you got the visual clue. Lastly, Chris Pine's Captain Kirk seems a bit too young for mind, given his brashness and swagger.
Be interesting to see if the sequel to this movie will be so long in coming out. The events of this movie make me wonder if consequences will follow for actions taken in this movie by the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise.