Star Trek The Rip Off Of Khan

Rating: 5/10 (1 January 2014)

Entertaining? Yes, certainly. Brainless popcorn fodder? Yep. Anything to do with the philosophy of the classic Trek? You got to be kidding.
Like it's reboot predecessor Into Darkness is basically just another loud, cgi-infested Hollywood action movie. These films are becoming very generic indeed. In both The Avengers and Skyfall the master villain gives himself up to further his master plan, and yep, that's exactly what Khan does here. The writers, including Damon Lindeloff - he who helped to turn Prometheus into a total travesty - steal countless stuff from the earlier franchise movies. It's not original to substitute Kirk for Spock in the radiation chamber. Nor is it original to pinch from the Star Wars prequel trilogy, either.
Into Darkness is like about 90% of Hollywood summer blockbusters these days - aimed at 11 year-olds, with minimal story logic, little character development, and headache-inducing editing in case someone gets bored in row 35 of the multiplex. I avoided this till blue ray - the only Star Trek film I've ever missed at the cinema. I knew from the original reboot what to expect, so felt I'd better appreciate it at home.
Don't get me wrong; this is not a terrible film, far from it. It's fun and often exciting. So is shooting aliens in Space Invaders. At least for a while. What about character? It's hard to care about Spock, McCoy and Kirk after only two films with these actors. When Nimoy died in Wrath of Khan it was shattering. When Pine dies here it has no emotional impact because at the end of the day it's just an enjoyable forgettable action movie. Still, compared to Lindeloff's script for Prometheus it's like 2001 in comparison. At least he and the other writers have stolen effectively here.
If you don't know anything about Trek as it was in the past you can add 2 stars to this review. If you do just be like me, enjoy it for what it is, and don't treat it as canon.