Star Trek Into Darkness: Movie Review... I saw J.J. Abrams' second installment in the long-running sci-fi franchise today (in IMAX 3-D), and what's there to be said except that the film was totally amazing. Despite being a huge Star Wars fan, I'm somewhat disappointed that Abrams won't be directing a third Star Trek film anytime soon [unless it comes out in theaters four years from now (in 2017...whereas Abrams' Star Wars: Episode VII is currently scheduled for release in 2015)—much as how Star Trek Into Darkness made its debut four years after that of the 2009 sleeper hit]. Didn't notice any lens-flare issue this time around, but what I did notice was that Captain Kirk (Chris Pine), Mr. Spock (Zachary Quinto), Nyota Uhura (Zoe Saldana) and company were still as awesome as ever as they take on Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch)...who I'm sure was just as lethal as he was when he first wrought havoc on William Shatner's crew of the USS Enterprise in The Wrath of Khan. According to one of my friends (who's a die-hard Trekkie) that I saw this film with, Into Darkness actually pulls a nice twist on the story of the 1982 flick. Won't go into details, but the events in the Abrams movies further proves that this is indeed an alternate universe from the flicks that die-hard Trek fans all know and love. In case you still didn't know yet.
Special effects-wise, Star Trek Into Darkness was awesome. As with the case with all Trek films, this one was worked on by none other than Industrial Light & Magic (ILM)...which, of course, worked on all of the Star Wars flicks as well. Into Darkness showed that Star Wars fans will at least be in for a visual treat considering all of the cool scenes (in outer space and otherwise) that Abrams conveyed in his new movie. That opening sequence where Kirk and Dr. Leonard 'Bones' McCoy (Karl Urban) flee from those extraterrestrial natives while Spock tries to prevent that volcano from erupting was simply amazing...while that later scene where Kirk and Khan have to dodge space debris while floating towards another Federation starship near the Moon looked spectacular (especially in 3-D). And, in another preview to what we'll see in the next Star Wars film, the vehicles—whether they're Klingon Bird-of-Preys (or a variant of these craft) or a flying car that Spock and Khan have a fistfight on later in Into Darkness—had very realistic and rugged-looking designs that ILM successfully gave to ships in the original Star Wars trilogy. And music-wise, I seemed to gain a greater appreciation for the orchestral score composed by Michael Giacchino (who also worked on the 2009 film)...especially with his classic piano theme for Khan when he's first introduced at the beginning of this movie.
Not to spoil how Into Darkness ends, but it definitely makes me look forward to the "5-year mission" that Kirk and his crew will embark on following their epic encounter with Khan. Even with Abrams not directing (but hopefully co-producing), the next person to helm Star Trek should have a lot of exciting options to work with come the third installment in the franchise reboot. The war with the Klingons is one exciting option, and considering what happened to him at the climax of this movie, we haven't seen the last of Khan. Star Trek Into Darkness was exciting, funny, emotional (Pike's fate. 'Nuff said.) and visually amazing. The creation of the late Gene Roddenberry is in good hands if Paramount Pictures select the right filmmakers for future installments, and the brainchild of George Lucas is in great hands considering what Abrams did with this weekend's newest cinematic release. One wonders when Abrams will begin pre-production on 2015's adventure in that galaxy far, far away...if he hasn't done so already. Since this review is about Star Trek, I'll end it predictably: The needs of the many outweighs the needs of the few. Oh, and live long and prosper.
No comments:
Post a Comment