Riffing on the Classic Chemistry

Rating: 8/10 (19 May 2013)

Face it, the great strength of Star Trek has always been the ensemble of characters. Yes, the show and movies in its many incarnations have taken on many social and political themes, and seen many popular culture firsts. But we're here to see Kirk and Spock, aided and abetted by the rest of Team Enterprise, tackle the universe head on wielding their main weapons of raised eyebrows and galactic overacting.
From that perspective, ST:Into Darkness does not disappoint. Pine and Quinto have relaxed more into their roles and are much more believable in the 2nd installment of the rebooted franchise. After you see it, you may wish there was more to do for McCoy (Karl Urban) and especially Chekov (Anton Yelchin) who pretty much spends the film staring perplexedly at a non-functional warp core. Zoe Saldana as Uhura gets a good slice of screen-time, but let's just say her knowledge of Klingon psychology needs improvement.
As for Benedict Cumberbatch and the plot ... well, let's not over think things. JJ Abrams clearly didn't -- he focused on the interplay of character and action, with a hint of heavy handed but real-American social consciousness. And that's the Star Trek formula, right? Plus, the numerous quotations from TOS and the classic films, while a bit predictable, are just great to see. You will cry and you will laugh.
Wrap up: If you are already a fan, Into Darkness gives you A+ classic character chemistry and a B+ plot -- it's a must-see. If you are not a fan, see it: I guarantee your next stop will be NetFlix or Hulu to see what the source material was like.