The posh of Khan

Rating: 9/10 (3 February 2015)

Star Trek: Into Darkness pretty much continues where the 2009 reboot took off. It's hard to imagine there are too many people watching Into Darkness who don't know what to expect. This film is very 'JJ Abrams,' i.e. it's full of flashy computer special effects and even more flashy lens flares.
However, if you can look past the polish then you'll find that there's actually a pretty involving story behind it. The actors - once again - put in excellent performances, imitating their 'older' incarnations perfectly (some even getting better the second time around - Simon Pegg as 'Scotty' being the main improvement). There's plenty of room for character development as the film is over two hours long as Kirk and co take on John Harrison (aka a new British (?) 'Khan') who has sworn to destroy the Federation.
You don't actually need to have seen the last big screen outing where Kirk and Khan squared off. However, if you have seen 'Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan' then you'll probably enjoy watching how the 'tangent universe' we're now watching, mirrors the old Star Trek universe.
The best thing about both new Star Trek films is that they both retain their 'Star Trek feel,' even with updated special effects. You would probably never confuse these movies with any from the Star Wars franchise. The new Trek movies play to their strengths, rather than try to imitate Star Wars.
Perhaps the only criticism may be that 'we've seen this all before.' But that would most likely be from those of us who watched the Star Trek films the first time round. Yes, some bits feel a little too recycled, but there's definitely enough that's original here to make this an excellent, high-budget action movie which should - hopefully - appeal to long-standing and new fans alike.