Star Trek Into Darkness - a podcast by The DMI Review

Boldly going? Kind of.

by Hunter Isham

     J.J. Abrams'Star Trek Into Darknessis a film that's often at odds with itself. Abrams and his team of writer/producers aim to create aTrek that is faithful to what has come before yet broad enough to attract a wide audience. A "Star Wars Audience," if you will. 2009'sStar Trek was successful in doing this, creating an action-packed adventure that told the story of how Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the crew wound up on the bridge of the Enterprise. It found the balance between the character-driven, cerebral formula that is the basis for the best of theTrek films and the awe-inspiring set pieces that can quicken one's pace and put a crowd in the seats. I remember telling people that the 2009Trek was "smart entertainment," and it still is, but it's sequel strains to go in both of the aforementioned directions, leaving a final product that is very entertaining at first glance, but lacks the logic that makesStar Trek tick.
     The last film, which established these new adventures as taking place in a separate timeline than those of the original Shatner/Nimoy films*, brought Kirk and co. through the academy and gave them the Enterprise. This film is purportedly about them truly earning the right to serve on that ship, and sure enough, the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise is put to the test by facing a very powerful nemesis (noTrek punintended).Into Darkness opens with a rousing opening that would feel at home in anIndiana Jones adventure before introducing us to John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch, pictured above), a rogue member of Starfleet whom Kirk must track down. From that point on the story gets into spoiler territory, including the big reveal of Harrison's actual identity (or is he just John Harrison?).
     Did I say big reveal? Well, for someone like myself who's followed every stage of production for this film, I can honestly say that Harrison's identity did not need to be a secret. Trekkers figured that he was probably who he turned out to be (if you really want to know,click here), and for those who've never seenStar Trek (or at least no more than the 2009 outing), the reveal held no weight. Abrams and co. have taken a legendary Trek villain and made his identity the central mystery to a film that is supposed to appeal to the masses. I'm not angry about it, but their marketing campaign could probably have drawn even more of that broad audience on the villain's name recognition alone. The mystery wrapped inside of an enigma here is luckily not the film's only surprise, and the other twists work in a more classically story-driven manner.
     What continues to work well in this rebootedTrek universe is the excellent cast that populates this film. Chris Pine takes Captain Kirk to a new emotional depth while Zachary Quinto brings more humanity to the inherently logical Mr. Spock. Scotty, one of my favorite characters from the previous film, thankfully gets quite a bit to do here, and Simon Pegg makes a great comic foil for the serious toneInto Darkness takes as it progresses. Zoë Saldana, though not given as much to do as in the last film, is still good as Uhura, giving more depth to a previously (in the original films) somewhat underwritten character. John Cho and Anton Yelchin, though also not terribly active this time around, are still fine as Sulu and Chekhov, respectively. Cumberbatch is excellent as the villain, even if the part could have been better written, and I hope he is given the opportunity to return toStar Trek someday. Bruce Greenwood returns as Admiral Pike, while Peter Weller effectively imposes fear as Admiral Marcus. Last, and unfortunately kind of least, is Alice Eve, who has little to do as Dr. Carol Marcus (a love interest for Kirk from the originalStar Trek II), and who will hopefully be a fine addition with a fleshed out role in the inevitable sequel.
     The cast, though given lopsided attention, is uniformly great, and they can only be let down by their script. Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Damon Lindelof have crafted a script that has plenty of fun action and some funny one-liners, but ultimately it cannot decide how to handle its villain. Cumberbatch is given a great scene to play where he explains his true identity and how he came to be a fugitive of Starfleet. This moment, and some interesting beats involving Weller's Admiral Marcus, are quite intriguing, but they get muddled with a sort of two-villian scenario the film paints that ultimately hinders the power of Cumberbatch as a true antagonist. That's a basic problem of how the story is constructed, but another issue for which I can't quite land on an opinion is how this film not only borrows elements from pastTreks (which is perfectly acceptable), but it outright pulls scenes from them and tweaks the way they play out. This may not bother those who have no connection to theStar Trek of old, and it didn't entirely bother me, but after leaving the theater it felt like Abrams and the writers were just pandering to the fans too much (themselves included as fans). For example, someone gets to shout the villain's name in a way that evokes an original Shatnerian scene, and I liked it in the moment, but afterwards I wondered why it had to happen.
     These flaws are very specific to franchise films, and even more specific toStar Trek, and if I had not seen any of the older films, my initial reaction of, "that was pretty darn good," would have stuck with me. Don't get me wrong, this film is still a thrilling action-packed, popcorn movie that doesn't insult the audience's intelligence, but that reliance on spectacle isn't so inline with Gene Roddenberry's vision ofStar Trek, and aping the previous films is not the best way to hold onto some of what makesStar Trekthe smart space-bound series that it is. This film ends (after a lackluster bit of final action), however, with something that everyone can appreciate. The Original Series' five year mission to boldly go where no one has gone before is about to begin, and here's hoping that next time,Star Trek takes its own advice and forges a new path that reminds us why we love it and demonstrates how it can still surprise us. 8/10


*Check out the 2009Star Trek if you want to understand this dynamic (which explains an appearance by Nimoy inInto Darkness).

Further episodes of The Darke, McPhaul, and Isham Review

Further podcasts by The DMI Review

Website of The DMI Review