A nearly perfect sequel to an already great film.

Rating: 10/10 (3 December 2016)

After seeing the first Star Trek film and loving it, I was excited to see Star Trek: Into Darkness and after watching it, I can say that while it does have problems, I still loved this film just as much as the first one due to the tone, visual effects, acting, and action.
The film opens with Captain Kirk and Dr. Bones escaping hostile natives on the planet Nibiru, but they give away their presence to the natives and as a result, Kirk is removed from command of the Enterprise and Admiral Pike is put in command instead with Kirk being reduced to a commander and Spock is relocated to another ship. Afterwards, a Starfleet turncoat named John Harrison attacks the Section 31 building in London and soon after attacks Starfleet headquarters, killing Pike and several high-ranking officers. Admiral Alexander Marcus recalls Kirk and Spock to the Enterprise with orders to find and kill Harrison only to find out that Harrison is more than what he seems.
When it comes to making a tentpole summer blockbuster like this, it doesn't need to have a lot of mind-numbing, grating trash; something Abrams, the writers and everyone else involved strived to give us a film that much like the first film feels renewed and persistently thrilling, but doesn't deviate from the story and characters. The Star Trek series has a wonderful legacy for the past 50 years and as a result, has had a massive impact on the science fiction genre and to just throw all that history and legacy away for something with all flash and no soul would be seen as a crime of sorts, but with Star Trek: Into Darkness; that is clearly not the case. Sure, once the film starts, there seems to be hardly any time to stop and slow down, but when it does take time to slow down just enough time for us to dig deeper into the characters' personas and what is happening aboard the Enterprise, making it easy to remain invested throughout the 2-hour run time which moves so much more quicker.
The story does allow time for emotional things like the relationships between the characters such as Spock and Uhura, and the willingness to sacrifice one's life in order to save others. As with the first film, there is a fair amount of character development especially with Kirk learning to be more humble and what being a hero is all about and Spock is still battling with his human and Vulcan sides, but as the film progresses, he learns to be more in touch with his emotions and he and Kirk grow to appreciate each other better with Kirk learning how to obey and follow orders and Spock learns how to be expressive and reckless.
The film also delves into the topic of the perils of a military leader with too much power, the dishonesty and clandestineness used by said leader, the extent he is willing to go, giving raise to the likelihood of a military dictator. The similarities between the state of the world today and what is presented in this movie makes for an interesting study such as the scene where Harrison is awakened or when Scotty protests the usage of unapproved torpedoes and accused of defying orders and although the viewer can concur that Scotty is right in his actions to provide aid in deterring the events of the film as they progress, even though he is aware that he will be arrested for disloyalty for his actions which raises the question of is there ever a time when betrayal is appropriate? Much like the first one, the visual and sound effects are fantastic with the same sounds the original 60s show used like the beaming effect and the sound of the warp drive while the visual effects give a far greater scoop to the world of Star Trek and showcases a variety of different planets that all differ in technology and culture and the effects really show that here. JJ adds more lens flares which add a nice dash of style to the final film.
Of course, this film would be nothing without its actors and they all deliver here. Chris Pine once again nails it as Captain Kirk by coming into his own as a leader and yet retraining the womanizing, hot-headed, arrogant attitude that we have come to expect and love and has made the role of Captain Kirk his own. Zachary Quinto continues to knock it out of the park as Spock by being the ground for Kirk to stand upon and the interactions between Pine and Quinto is just perfect. Karl Urban is once again fantastic as Bones, channeling DeForest Kelly's habits and persona so perfectly as well as having some great one-liners. Anton Yelchin is wonderful as Chekov, John Cho continues to impress as Sulu, Zoe Saldana rocks it as Uhura and Simon Pegg has never been better as Scotty. Peter Weller puts in a great performance as Admiral Marcus and Alice Eve plays Carol Marcus very well. Of course, the true star of the movie is Benedict Cumberbatch as John Harrison/Khan and it goes without saying that he delivers in this movie. Cumberbatch is such an enthralling actor who recognizes how much screen time to chew up without coming across as silly and his cleverness and physical power make him more than a match for the Enterprise crew and his performance of vacant expressions and motionless eyes make for a truly chilling performance.
Now, the movie does have its share of problems like at times, it does rip off Wrath of Khan in a few scenes and it really didn't make sense to just kill Kirk off and bring him back a scene later, but in spite of all that, I really did love this movie. It's certainly worth watching even you're not a fan of Star Trek.