Entertaining and fun but doesn't rise above its predecessor.

Rating: 7/10 (13 July 2013)

Star Trek (J.J. Abrams, 2009) serves as a prime example of a reboot done right. With a younger cast full with both rising and established stars, Abrams et. al managed to bring Star Trek to a wider audience, encouraging both old and new fans along for the ride. It was fun and it was smart and it opened up a wide door of possibilities for this rejuvenated franchise. So now that the sequel has been released, did the momentum carry over? The answer is yes, for the most part.
Star Trek Into Darkness opens up on some of our favorite Enterprise crew members running for their lives on a beautiful, exotic world. Already our attention is firmly grasped. One thing I appreciate about this series thus far is its humor is often established before or shortly after the action. It pleases to entertain and not just in the Michael Bay sense. These films have the pleasure of such rich characters and the talent of the actors who portray them that really allow the viewer to becomes lost in their world. And that's really something to admire.
In this film, the Enterprise are chasing after one man named John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) who is labeled a terrorist who wishes to incite war. Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) signs up to catch him after not only losing his status as Captain, but gaining it back quickly in a short period of time. He and his crew, such as Spock (Zachary Quinto), Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Sulu (John Cho), Bones (Karl Urban) and Chekhov (Anton Yelchin) team up once again for this adventure that we know will not go uncomplicated. And although he opts out of the crew early on, we all know that a film won't have somebody as pleasing as Simon Pegg and not do anything with him.
The action doesn't fail to please and the film hasn't lost the series' humor, which are good things I suppose. But one thing Star Trek Into Darkess does not do is it does not attempt to me any more ambitious than its predecessor, nor does it attempt to break any new ground. It recycles a major plot line we have seen before (the villain purposefully gets caught and tries to destroy the good guys from inside) and in the end, appears a little less epic than the first film. And while it may seem comfortable for the writers to go this route, it can also go unappreciated by the viewer.
Cumberbatch steals the show and commands the screen as Harrison. He transcends any sort of cliché' because he's just so badass and that's hard to deny. As unoriginal as the film is (and unfortunately that's the case) Cumberbatch still makes for a compelling villain and he brings his cards to the table. Chris Pine steps up his leading man game and delivers even better work this time around, bringing charisma and charm and effective comedic timing to James Kirk.
So while the film contains a lot of good elements, such as a talented cast and a large and creative fictional universe, it fails to attempt to rise above the viewer's expectations and delivers a merely serviceable, albeit entertaining ride. Perhaps next time around the writers should raise the stakes a little bit. And not only that, they should provide their female characters with more depth and action. Alice Eve is easy on the eyes, but why include a full view of her body in her underwear for the sake of pleasing the film's male audience? The crew behind this film are smarter than that, and hopefully they learn from this.