Hailing Frequencies Open

Rating: Null/10 (26 September 2013)

I sadly missed this on the big screen but thankfully it still looked fantastic on the small screen. I got the DVD on the day of release and I had avoided all message boards revealing who Benedict Cumberbatch was playing. Then I read the back cover of the DVD and it reveals exactly who he was! I didn't really like the first five minutes but I understand it was essential to the plot. The USS Enterprise, underwater! Really? Due to breaking the Prime Directive and lying in a log entry, Kirk loses his Captaincy to Pike who soon after gets killed. This is a shame as i felt Pike was a strong connection to the Pre Kirk Star Trek pilot 'The Cage'. It was interesting to hear 'Section 31' be mentioned from Deep Space Nine. Also there were some models on Admiral Marcus's (Peter Weller) table: Including the Phoenix from Star Trek: First Contact and the NX01 Enterprise from Star Trek Enterprise.
Other things of note that happened differently on the Prime Universe: Praxus, the moon of the Klingon home-world, Kronos, is seen having exploded within the film. This, interestingly didn't happen until Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Also great to see Dr Carol Marcus, played by the gorgeous Alice Eve) The film, which of course, is the second movie in the reboot/continuation of Trek (12th in all), is pretty much a sort of remake of Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan. Cumberbatch is evil as Khan. There are lots of nods to II and the surprising juxtaposition of what happens with Kirk and Spock near the end is both wonderful, a surprise and yet obvious! In fact one wonders if they couldn't have ended it there and made Star Trek (XIII): The Search For Kirk! That really would be a copy to far! I do like the fact that they can tap into established stories from Classic Trek but lets move it on now.
The ending set everything up for a new dawn for Star Trek. In fact you could have made a new TV series right from the end, where they start their 'Five Year Mission'. Hopefully we can have a good space story next film. Which there will be of course. There was already a third to be made but considering Into Darkness Made the most money of all Star Trek films, there is a long way to go yet.
One point to mention is the crashing of the USS Vengeance into San Fransico Harbour and the panic of the people looking up at the destruction caused did remind me of 9/11, Possibly those scenes may have been shot if this was ten years ago.
Peter Weller gives a great performance as Admiral Marcus. Bones seems to have lost something he had in the first film. Pegg's 'Scotty' isn't quite on the mark yet. This maybe due to me being a fan of Pegg in other films. Spock, of course, shines played by the brilliant Zachary Quinto. Also great to see Leonard Nimoy make another cameo as Spock Prime. This came as a pleasant surprise. We didn't see as much of the Enterprise as last time but she still looked gorgeous.
All in all, this is a great film. Better than the first I would say and I am very much looking forward to the next one. Though I would also call for a new Star Trek TV series to start now. Trek has never been more popular and even if it's set with cadets or a distant starship, now is the time to boldly go there!
Equally, what should the next film be about? I would like to see 'The Borg' involved. Controversial decision maybe but I would love to see modern day technologies take on them. Hopefully they can be as scary as they were wehn first introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation's 'Q-Who' where they were genuinely frightening.
Exciting times, indeed, if you are a Trek fan.