Not as good as first film, it's still pretty decent

Rating: 7/10 (24 June 2013)

This review has been deleted 2 times, so i'm just going to start my review with the dang negatives, and say this film has been a slight disappointment based on the fact that it is one of my highly anticipated list of the year and my most anticipated film of the summer. Now i most say the negatives include, lack of tension, poor opening, lack of screen time for villain, and the length. Now to start this review off by saying that the film began with action, instead of starting off the same way the first film started, and starting off slow and building momentum leading up to action then starting over again. By starting with action, i was still trying to comprehend what the hell was going on, and when spock almost got killed, i should have been at the edge of my seat. Was i? No, i still was trying to understand what was happening. And the action never stopped, for a long enough chunk of time for me to feel tension, and emotion at what was happening, this film just didn't build up. I just was never able to feel anything during the spectacular action sequences. There was just to dang much. Thats why i criticize the opening, which featured Kirk running threw a forest of red trees. That scene should have been cut out of the film, or shortened, so we could include more story development, and more screen time for our villain,, which leads me into my next argument which is of the amount of screen presence of our villain. Our villain should have had a lot more time on screen then he received he should have caused a lot more destruction before fleeing to another planet and being captured by Kirk. I felt he was well enough characterized but he should have received more time to do his evil stunts, and to add to why he is a bad ass villain. As well as more screen time for Kirk and Spock interacting before space. This film should have been hobbit sized, and 3 Hours. That leads me into my complaint of the length. This film just had too short of a length too accommodate all of it's needed materials, as i have already explained to you all. I suggest cutting, or trimming the opening which featured Spock in a volcano, and Kirk running from wild animal creatures. This scene to me felt un - necessary. Now that we have discussed the issues of the film, lets move onto the positive side of the film. That includes the acting, casting of the villain, special effects, humor, screen- play, costumes, and direction. The acting in this film, is spot on. It's all very realistic and well toned. Zachary Quinto as Spock is once again excellently acted, and performed, i believe his seriousness and he is an emotional draw. Benedict Cumberbatch, is another splendid actor, who gave his soul to this film, he played a believable villain, and seemed very much sinister and scary. He is a very impressive villain, and one of the best actors of the now. Other actors to mention include newbie Alice Eve, and Chris Pine who both perform a bit above standards. The special effects of the film are spot on, and realistic too the point of believing they are really there. They make this film glimmer, and shine, and polish this beautiful film. This film is very humorous, which plays very well to this mostly serious film. This lightens the story and makes it less dark, and more fun to watch, which has worked very well with this particular film i must say. Now as for the screen play other then the lack of more screen time for the villain and some un necessary scenes, the script is pretty good ta making suitable lines for the film, this was pretty good, and was not cheesy at all. The costumes in this film are very original, and very well detailed to the point where they seem like they had come off of the actual t.v show. They were well designed , and pretty cool to look at for me, i want one. And finally, we close this with a dedicated thank you to the director, for bringing us another winner in the end- J.J Abrams. He has accomplished himself, as a very excellent director of science fiction films, and has earned a place with James Cameron and Steven Spielberg among my favorite directors. Without him helming this film, i think this film would have fell over and died just like that 2003 Hulk movie, which failed because of choosing the wrong director for the job, Ang Lee, while he is a fantastic director super hero films are not his thing and it shows in the film. Well All an All, Star Trek Into Darkness may not be anywhere close to being as good as the first film, it does make it into the fresh list, with the help of a solid addition to the cast, Benedict Cumberbatch, excellent visuals, and great direction this Star Trek sequel holds up to expectations. B