by Jon Partridge
I tried to write a spoiler-free review with our traditional ‘reveal’ box, but my opinions of the film were so intrinsically wrapped up in the plot that I was unable to do so. The film is out in general release in a few days and is already out in a number of foreign territories, plus I know we Trekkies like to debate, so have at it in the comments section.
IMDB Synopsis
After the crew of the Enterprise find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction.
This weekend, a large contingent of Austinites was treated to an advance IMAX screening of Star Trek Into Darkness courtesy of the Head Geek himself, Harry Knowles (Ain’t It Cool News). If it wasn’t enough we were getting so see the film several days before it’s US premiere, we had in attendance the legend that is Peter Weller (Naked Lunch, Robocop). He spoke at length both before and after the film about his role and thoughts on JJ Abrams, and also introduced a screening of Robocop after Into Darkness. Essentially, it was an afternoon of epic proportions. I will reflect on his words (of which there were many) at the end of this review.
Into Darkness opens in a thrilling fashion on an alien planet with Kirk and McCoy running away from an alien tribe. They have stolen a sacred artifact in an attempt to lure them away from their temple, which lies in the shadow of a volcano that is about to explode. This ‘distraction’ will allow Spock to reach the crater and deploy a device to nullify the volcano. Due to an accident, Spock is left stranded with only minutes to live; his only chance is if the Enterprise (hidden in the ocean depths) comes to his rescue. Kirk violates the Starfleet Prime Directive (not to interfere with the development of alien civilizations) and takes the Enterprise up and over the astonished aliens to save his friend. When challenged by Spock about the ramifications of what he has done, Kirk responds that he caused no harm, leading to the first of many comedic moments in the film as we see the aliens sketching the outline of the Enterprise into the dirt and bowing to it.
It really is a breathless opener — literally, as we see Kirk and McCoy running for their lives though a vibrant jungle filled with red vegetation and teeming with weird life forms. The Enterprise rising from the deep and cruising through the atmosphere was a beautiful sight. I always felt the Enterprise was a piece of art in its design, but its portrayal here and throughout the movie is amazing, and a real tip of the hat has to go out to the effects and art department on this. What this sequence really did was to remind us of how Spock and Kirk differ in their characters and how that causes conflict. While Kirk files a mission report essentially stating ‘nothing important happened,’ Spock filed a detailed account of all the rules broken by his Captain. As a result, both are removed from command of the Enterprise. This opener and its ramifications set up the overriding theme of the movie, love versus duty and loyalty.
From here on out, Into Darkness deals with a series of events forged in response to and in retaliation for certain acts committed at the highest level of Starfleet. A shocking terrorist bombing at a facility in London results in all high-ranking fleet personnel in the San Francisco area convening to discuss the attack (including Kirk and Spock in their new reassigned roles as First Officers). The person responsible is identified as one ‘John Harrison’, played with a chilling malice by Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy). Upon meeting, the council is attacked by Harrison and many are killed, including Admiral Pike (Bruce Greenwood). Harrison escapes and seeks refuge on the Klingon homeworld. Senior Admiral Marcus (Peter Weller, Robocop, Naked Lunch) reinstates Kirk and Spock, charging them to enter Klingon space and eliminating Harrison using new long range weaponry. What follows is a conflict for Kirk, newly sore from his demotion and perceived betrayal by Spock; he is driven by rage over the loss of a father figure in Admiral Pike, the need to adhere to his duty, and the need to do the right thing.
Let’s get it over with: Harrison is Khan. In the wake of the first movie, Admiral Marcus spearheads a campaign to be better prepared for the next assault upon the Federation. Expeditions sent out prematurely (in the context of the original series, at least) find the SS Botany Bay, a prison ship containing cryotubes of survivors from World War 3. These people were genetically engineered to be better than us in every way and tried to take over, leading to their imprisonment and expulsion from Earth. Marcus in this scenario is directly responsible for unleashing Khan and attempting to harness his intellect and savagery to design and build new weapons and starships, with the goal of molding Starfleet into an entity more capable of surviving what he believes is an impending onslaught from the Klingon Empire.
The mission Marcus sends Kirk on to wipe out Harrison/Khan is an attempt to clean up the mess he caused. Unfortunately, Kirk does the ‘right thing’ and captures Khan during a dramatic showdown on the Klingon home world, leading to him uncovering the truth behind what has been going on. The final act has Marcus trying to destroy the Enterprise using the new battleship built by Khan, the badass ‘murdered-out’ USS Vengeance. Khan promises to help Kirk take down the Admiral in return for freeing his crew, who are hidden in cryotubes within the torpedoes given to Kirk. This cumulates in a raw and violent encounter in space, the space hop to get onboard the Vengeance, and the out of control starships plummeting to Earth that we have all see in the promotional material. The movie wraps up with a familiar act of sacrifice to save the day, which is something I will return to later in the review.
Effects wise, this film was just a delight. IMAX was impressive and the 3D handled with restraint, only enhancing the effects. The space sequences were just beautiful and showed off the Enterprise as if it were a piece of art, whether it was rising from the ocean, gliding through space, or tumbling through the Earth’s atmosphere. The Enterprise-Vengeance jump was thrilling and paced nicely with some comedy from Scotty, but when Kirk lost his targeting computer I couldn’t help but wonder if he would ‘use the Force.’ (Abrams’ love for Star Wars does rear its head at times.) There was a lot of innovation in some of the action scenes with the aforementioned opening, a mid-warp firefight with some disturbing imagery of the Enterprise being blown apart and bodies flying into space, and an impressive Inception-esque sequence near the end with the Enterprise tumbling out of control towards Earth.
Sure, the movie occasionally looks like a solar flare went off in an Apple store, but overall it is impressively done. Cinematographer Dan Mindel presents a sleek futuristic look, but still imbues the film with warmth and charm. There is flair, but it is often tempered with a practicality. We get fascinating representations of a futuristic London and San Francisco that teem with life, subtle touches, and a sense of realism, which I really appreciated. It added so much quality to the backdrop of the movie to see such attention paid to creating real, thought-out worlds rather than just populating shots with nifty technology and a variety of extras with prosthetics and CGI. In addition, the score was both rousing and restrained, bringing old themes together with new ones to really add to the overall ambiance of the film.
“…THE MOVIE OCCASIONALLY LOOKS LIKE A SOLAR FLARE WENT OFF IN AN APPLE STORE, BUT OVERALL IT IS IMPRESSIVELY DONE…”
As amazing as the visuals and set pieces are, it is the characters and their interplay that really shine. As a fan, you can connect with the characters because of the history and familiarity with them, but this cast really have bedded in better than I thought possible and it is a joy to watch them play off each other. The snappy banter and character interplay is better than ever; they really have grown together as a crew. Kirk and Spock play off each other very well, and it is interesting to see a divergence from the original series where McCoy was typically the third member of this group. Here, Uhura (Zoe Saldana) seems to take on more of that role. Kirk at one point confides his conflict and trouble to her in a turbo lift, rather than Bones as you might expect. I guess this is due to Saldana’s growing fame and popularity. Karl Urban (McCoy) continues to amaze me with his dead-on take of Bones. I really appreciate the grit and bluntness he brings to the ensemble, and my only complaint is we don’t see enough of him. The relationship between Spock and Uhura caused some fan complaints in the first movie, but it continues nicely here and provided an opportunity for Zachary Quinto to push the character further, especially with him still dealing with the loss of his home world.
Simon Pegg (Scotty) does a great job and is the prime source of comedic relief, which is achieved without losing any dignity in the role. (Although, to my chagrin, we do see the return of his little sidekick.) Anton Yelchin (Chekov) plays more of a fall guy/comedy role as he runs around the ship, clearly out of his depth running engineering in Scotty’s absence. The expression on his face when told “you’re my new chief, now put on a red shirt” brought the house down. Of the main crew, Sulu seems to draw the shortest straw, with his scenes generally serving as fan service nods to ‘how good a Captain he could make.’
I love the joviality, but at times there is still an overriding sense of “WTF” regarding Starfleet handing command of its flagship to this young, inexperienced bunch. This is never painfully more realized than the scene where they get a dressing down from Admiral Pike. While Pine does a great job, at times he comes across as a bit sleazy in his demeanor. Yes, the original series portrayed him as a ladies man, but there was always a romantic quality to it, and I think a bit more of the smooth Kirk needs to come through instead of the player. Also, Kirk openly brags at the beginning about having ‘never lost a crew member,’ a fact he cannot claim at the end of the movie. I hope this tempers some of his of his bravado and is reflected appropriately in the next film.
“…THIS CAST REALLY HAVE BEDDED IN BETTER THAN I THOUGHT POSSIBLE AND IT IS A JOY TO WATCH THEM PLAY OFF EACH OTHER…”
With the supporting cast, Bruce Greenwood delivers yet again as the father figure to Kirk, and his loss, while necessary to driving the arc of the movie, will be felt for sure. Alice Eve (Starter for Ten, She’s Out of my League) does an adequate job in her portrayal of Carol Marcus. My issue with her character is its use, not necessarily her portrayal — she’s included as a bit of fan service rather than as an integral part of the plot. As to the man himself, Peter Weller, his portrayal of the ‘patriot’ Admiral Marcus is very much in line with his own straight talking character. He offers a more gruff counterpoint to Admiral Pike, with both portrayed as mentors to the young Captain Kirk. Indeed, both men use the term ‘son’ when addressing Kirk at certain points in the movie, although Marcus does so more to condescend to and control Kirk (as opposed to the affection conveyed by Pike). He is a man driven by conviction and does a great job exuding authority and a passion for his beliefs (although he does have some Pacino-esque levels of delivery during the film). And Cumberbatch? He did a good job playing a more composed counterpoint to Kirk for the majority of the film, and his delivery of lines was chilling, but I just felt a little underwhelmed. Knowing his talents, the role could have been shaped into something more iconic, but fell closer to being your typical movie villain.
Fan service is a delicate line to tread. As a fan, I admit I got satisfaction out of hearing references to the Daystrom Institute, Section 31, Harry Mudd, and about some ‘incident’ between Kirk and a certain Nurse Chapel. I think it gave some depth and substance to proceedings. But with Abrams destroying Vulcan in the first film, he showed he was unafraid to shake up Trek and potentially alienate a core crowd to bring it to a new generation. I admire that, but there are choices that will be debated, such as the return of Carol Marcus. It wasn’t overly necessary to the plot, but I do appreciate the irony in her presence. She serves as a fitting mirror to the original timeline where she created the ultimate device to create life (the Genesis device). In this timeline, forged out of the vicious attack on Vulcan, she is now a weapons specialist.
So, what didn’t I like? Well, how about the long distance transporter? WTF? It’s Kirk era, and people can already travel from Earth to the Klingon homeworld and also come back from the dead. This shakeup of the timeline needs reigning in and less cheap usage of tricks/technology to fill plotline holes. Plot-wise, Star Trek Into Darkness is certainly a movie of our time, but that isn’t always appropriate for science fiction. Sci-fi is meant to be more about escapism and aspiration, and in this day and age we have sufficient reminders of how dangerous the world can be. We see movies portraying recent events and terrorist acts and the ‘patriotic’ responses right now — do we need to see it still continues several hundred years into our future? That said, sci-fi can look at something from a different angle, or bring attention to a situation very effectively. I think the most recent and successful example is District 9 drawing upon the apartheid issue in South Africa. Into Darkness it is a touch more heavy-handed here, with the makers even going so far as to add a 9/11 veterans tribute to the credits.
My real issue is with the last act. I have no issues with Khan returning. We see roles recast and films remade, so it was just a matter of time. The logic and story behind Khan’s return and eventual employment by Starfleet makes sense, is pretty clever, and further cements the establishment and effects of the timeline split in the first movie. Cumberbatch does a fair enough job; every time Khan is on screen you feel like a snake is just waiting to strike. I wish he’d cut loose a bit more and had been made the main villain of the piece, as sharing the stage with Marcus and assisting Kirk somewhat lessened his impact. My main issue with this movie is not that it reuses Khan but that it essentially replicates the finale of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. There is usually talk in Trek of timelines reasserting themselves, this could be a conscious instance of that. But no reasoning or excuse is sufficient for what unfolds.
“…EVERY TIME KHAN IS ON SCREEN YOU FEEL LIKE A SNAKE IS JUST WAITING TO STRIKE…”
With the Enterprise out of control about to crash onto Earth, the reactor is out of alignment and somebody needs to go in there and fix it, where they will be exposed to lethal amounts of radiation. Sound familiar?
This time it is Kirk that steps in, responding to his lessons learned about duty and the ‘needs of the many.’ Yes, Kirk dies. However, with the seeds of Kirks ‘revival’ being laid out long before his life was in peril, there is no dramatic sense of finality here. Khan’s regenerative blood, which McCoy has been playing with, saves the day. It just didn’t carry the weight of Spock’s demise in the original Khan; it felt cheap, and tacking on a “Khaaaaan!” scream for Spock just cemented what a terrible turn this was. We have a new youthful universe here, and there certainly is no bond between Kirk and Spock yet like we had during Star Trek II. It felt forced, and too soon to put such an emotional twist on their relationship, which the rest of the movie took pains to show was still starting out. The simple fact is that in revisiting certain themes and events you open it up to direct comparison. In doing that, the scenes and sense of loss were far more convincing and heartbreaking in the original. If you’re going to lift so blatantly from the original movie, you have to do it better, and they weren’t even close.
“IF YOU’RE GOING TO LIFT SO BLATANTLY FROM THE ORIGINAL WRATH OF KHAN, YOU HAVE TO DO IT BETTER AND THEY WEREN’T EVEN CLOSE.”
I felt it was a real shame to enter the final acts of the movie with that, though I am sure there were some people who will be fine with it, notably those who haven’t seen Star Trek II. The film gets back on track with a spectacular crash sequence and chase through San Francisco to capture Khan to use his blood to save Kirk (why not just use the blood from another revived cryo-tube guy, you may ask? I don’t know either). We finally wrap up with the newly repaired and rechristened Enterprise heading out on her 5 year voyage of exploration. Do not misunderstand me, I recommend people see this film and am sure many will enjoy it. I think it speaks highly of the rest of the film that this unnecessary and offensive reappropriation of one of the most iconic and moving moments in sci-fi history did not spoil things that much for me. I was more disappointed that the man who had the balls to destroy Vulcan couldn’t come up with something more original for us.
“I WAS MORE DISAPPOINTED THAT THE MAN WHO HAD THE BALLS TO DESTROY VULCAN COULDN’T COME UP WITH SOMETHING MORE ORIGINAL FOR US.”
Q&A with Peter Weller.
Weller spoke at length at many times during the screenings, pointing out in his initial address he was not your “typical orange head from Malibu.” Indeed, he is about to receive his PhD in Italian Renaissance art history from UCLA. Rocking a badass one-of-a-kind leather jacket (that Dennis Hopper forced him to buy), he reflected on how genuinely happy he was to be there, with many friends and family from the area in attendance (he grew up in San Antonio). He fit this screening in between doing the publicity circuit for Into Darkness, defending his PhD thesis, and directing for the TV series Longmire in New Mexico. From venting about $200 million dollars being wasted on “bullshit movies” rather than helping combat hunger to ranting about shopping at Neiman Marcus, the man entertained and enlightened. Above all, he clearly possessed of a great love and knowledge of cinema.
He summed up Into Darkness as a love story, perhaps alluding to his own character, which he labeled as ‘a patriot’, and the lengths he went to to protect his beliefs and way of life in the best way he saw fit. He also shared with us, amongst other things, how he ended up being part of the movie. He was meeting with Kathy Lingg, a producer at Bad Robot, to discuss some directing work. He was complemented on his contribution to Fringe, having played a part in the episode White Tulip. (If you have not seen this show, I urge you to do so. Weller’s performance was incredibly moving and evidence we need to see him in front of the camera more.) Weller was unaware of Fringe being an Abrams production, and upon leaving was accosted in the parking lot by a young man in a baseball cap who identified himself as JJ Abrams. The two had never met before. Weller told Abrams a story about why he took the Fringe role, the plot of the episode having parallels with an incident in his past where he argued with his wife on a trip to sort out their wedding registry. She read the script, was moved to tears, and urged him to do it. Abrams thanked him for doing it, told him he wanted to work with him again, and four hours later his agent got a call offering him the Trek role. Weller accepted on the spot, being taken aback by the sincerity of the man and his actions in sprinting across a parking lot to accost him and offer his thanks. In fact, he called the filming experience and atmosphere on set one of the most joyous experiences of his career, pointing the finger at JJ Abrams as the man responsible for that.
I will add a small note about the Robocop viewing Q&A to highlight a disturbing trend growing in Hollywood. Harry mentioned how difficult it was to make the screening happen, as the studio wanted to put screenings of the film on hold for 4 years+ due to the soon-to-be-released remake needing time to ‘stand alone’ and make an impact. Harry managed to make it happen, but it is disconcerting to think cinema screenings of some films may stop. It is not right and should not be tolerated. Suppressing an original is not only an insult to what has come before and the people that crafted it, but in my view suggests a lack of faith in your new product that it cannot stand alone. If done right, both can be viewed separately and indeed complement each other. I hope this doesn’t become the approach taken by studios in the future and hope our readers can voice their concerns if given the opportunity.
Review Overview: While the film lacks originality and will provoke more invested Trek fans into deep debate and criticism, Abrams has produced a snappy, fun, and well-polished film. The cast sparkles and really seems to enjoy their roles and rapport with each other. The visuals are astounding, and set pieces are innovative and gripping. It was fun to watch and substance enough to raise it above your average summer blockbuster. I enjoyed it despite its flaws, and feel it really leaves the crew and franchise in a great position. I left excited with the Enterprise now on its 5 year mission, with hopes they will deliver something truly special for the next installment.