The Enterprise Strikes Back

Star Trek Into Darkness

***½  out of ****

Directed by: J.J. Abrams

Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zoe Saldana and Simon Pegg

Running time: 133 minutes

Star Trek Into Darkness boldly goes where few sequels have gone before – to a higher level than its predecessor. J.J. Abrams’ follow-up to his 2009 reboot is this summer’s Dark Knight, a thrilling and superbly acted ensemble vehicle that doubles as a spectacular sci-fi odyssey and morality play, buoyed by a imperious villain turn from Benedict Cumberbatch.

While Cumberbatch mesmerizes, he does not steal attention from co-stars Pine (who plays Kirk) and Quinto (Spock). Their characters’ wavering friendship, sharply realized by screenwriters Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof, lays the ground for the film’s emotional pull.

As if the title did not state it clearly, the first shot of the film is a descent into volcanic ash, billowing from a red planet system, Nibiru. After a close call there, Starfleet dethrones the USS Enterprise's instinctual captain, James Kirk. Although the renegade lacks humility to his superiors, he is called back after assassins attack Starfleet Command, killing Kirk’s ally and new captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood).

Kirk reassumes command of the Enterprise, as does the stern and analytical Spock, embracing the technicalities of life-death scenarios with more precision than his playboy captain.

The Enterprise’s first big-screen foray since declaring their credo to seek out new civilizations and explore strange new worlds is more archetypal of big-screen sequels: hunt down the villainous John Harrison (Cumberbatch) and return him to Earth. Harrison is a brilliant and powerful assassin, but a black-hooded enigma. All that is known is that he used to be a student of Starfleet but fled to the Klingon home of Kronos after launching a terrorist threat on Earth.

Watching Star Trek Into Darkness makes one a bit less weary of J.J. Abrams’ work on the upcoming Star Wars sequel. The film zips by, balancing deep emotion and levity with some dashing although not flashy or overused computer-generated spectacle. There will also likely be less green screen in the untitled Episode 7, which means the amount of lens flare will probably be sublime.

Abrams is not just a masterful generator of spectacle – the first liftoff of the USS Enterprise is awe-inspiring, recalling a more Spielbergian level of wonder than nearly anything in Super 8 – but he is also a gifted actor’s director. (If Abrams is aping Spielberg, then composer Michael Giacchino’s triumphant score is reminiscent of tip-top John Williams.)

He guides a widely multicultural ensemble to delivering strong supporting work, including underused actors like Zoe Saldana (who returns as Uhura), Peter Weller, who plays a grimacing Starfleet commander, and Simon Pegg with his sharp comic timing as Scotty.

Star Trek Into Darkness is the first major big-screen voyage for character and television actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who is set for a colossal year, where he is set to play both a dragon (Smaug in The Hobbit sequel) and an iconoclast (as Julian Assange in The Fifth Estate). Here, his Harrison is a bit of both, theatrically fiery and commanding but with a playful sneer that suggests he can be a dead ringer for Jeremy Irons at his most sinister.

It is a star-making turn but Cumberbatch does not hog the spotlight from co-stars Pine and Quinto, completely comfortable in their characters’ skin. There is room for development in the relationship between Kirk and Spock, as the two cling to each other within the omnipresent sense of peril. Their frosty banter at the start cumulates in a brotherhood when Harrison summons greater power and the two must depend on each other to bring him to justice.

Star Trek fans may be less elated that Abrams does not stick to the mission plan of exploring new frontiers of space by sticking with a universe and villain they already know well. However, moviegoers should be ecstatic that the mission, as it stands, is an exhilarating experience where the characters face bold emotional territory.

Fear, death and loneliness are among some of the film’s heavy themes, but Into Darkness is not overburdened with seriousness. With deft attention to character, plotting and stimulating action sequences, let us hope Abrams can fill that galaxy far, far away with the same rich emotions and visuals.