Trek-commened, another entertaining adventure

Rating: Null/10 (25 August 2013)

After a terrorist attack the crew of the Enterprise set out on unorthodox assassination mission.
The time travel-alternate reality concept used in first film allows an old adversary to be awoken early allowing the writers to come up with an intriguing story. Although Kirk is played excellently once again by Chris Pine the writers Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof frustratingly portray him as indecisive, nevertheless, it gives Kirk a chance to walk some unfamiliar territory allowing him time to develop which gives fans something new.
The closing act suffers from a predictable MacGuffin for Kirk's return, this hiccup aside the showdown with Spock is staged brilliantly as with the action setups throughout. The action coupled with the fantastic special-effects, music score by Michael Giacchino and J.J. Abrams slick direction delivers on expectations and entertainment value.
There's a star studded cast including Bruce Greenwood and Peter Weller who is excellently cast as Marcus. Anton Yelchin's Chekov is given more to do while Karl Urban (Bones), John Cho (Sulu) and the exquisite Zoe Saldana as Uhura are given less to do in this outing. Nevertheless, it is still a real pleasure to watch them in character. Alice Eve is a notable addition especially for old school trek fans as Carol. Funny man Simon Pegg is Scotty once again and has some of the best moments with his silent alien sidekick returning as a welcomed addition. Without drawing comparisons with other incarnation's outings Benedict Cumberbatch is perfectly cast as the intellectual, superior, genetically enhanced foe of Kirk.
Like it predecessor if you've never seen Star Trek it doesn't matter as the story can be viewed as a stand alone sci-fi adventure film. However, die-hard fans should love the references to earlier Star Trek stories and characters. Highly Trek-commened.