Star Trek Into Darkness film review from West Coast Midnight Run

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS
Paramount Pictures
MPAA Rating PG-13
(sci-fi fantasy/adventure)

Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Benedict Cumberbatch, Peter Weller

Directed by: J.J. Abrams

By Anne Liebenson

The Enterprise becomes entangled in a web of precipitous moves as a danger from the past threatens the existence of the Federation. Captain Kirk and his First Officer Spock along with Doctor Bones and crew are tested to the limit as they take new friends onboard for this action spectacular.

Running Time: 2 hr. 9 min.
Score: A-/B+ or C+

Original source photo © Andrea Crisante

Star Trek is once more in theaters and this year’s installment, Into Darkness, by some counts number 12 in the series since Star Trek the Motion Picture of 1979 brought back William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley (RIP) and the original crew of the much beloved television series.

This year’s adventure has the new faces onboard, Chris Pine as Kirk, Zachary Quinto as the Vulcan Spock, Karl Urban as the always cursing doctor Bones, Saldana as the smitten on the Vulcan communications chief, and Pegg as the no-nonsense chief of engineering and self titled “miracle worker”. And there is now a much

older Spock (Leonrard Nimoy) who lives in the same world as his younger self due to a time travel accident that creates a new alternate universe.

Confusing? Just watch the 2009 debut of the new film series or read our own review in the 2009 edition of West Coast Midnight Run.

The JJ Abrams sequel has all of the skills in storytelling as the incredible debut adventure of 2009 but something is very much missing this time out.

The element of surprise.

Some moviegoers have given up on the

notion of watching an original film after the unprecedented evolution of the sequels a couple
of decades ago.

However in
recycling the
most popular
Star Trek film
ever into the
sequel for this
new series truly
was a killer deal for some that have
seen the previous Star Trek film (which itself was a rehash of a highly popular episode of the 1960s TV series) and is part of their favorite video collection. After the first half hour of the movie, I

was still in the theater, watching, stunned, but the movie by then was just a noise making thing with pretty and spectacular images as I knew a great deal of the story outline from memory.

The element of surprise was almost nonexistent - nill and I had not one reason really to stay beyond an obligation to the publication and Paramount for a fair review.

It is true that Abrams does allow some variation from the previous film and TV episode but it’s pretty much the same.

It is possible that Paramount factored

in that none of its audience are familiar with the adventures portrayed by the Shatner-led crew but come on, the content used as the basis for Into Darkness is one of the most popular Star Trek episodes ever and any fan of the series would have been familiar with it even if from the current Y and Z generation demographics.

I myself am from Generation X and I spotted even older individuals in the theater and many were milling in their seats or walked out early on the movie.

I told myself I should review this film as if I was seeing this adventure for the first time - with no connection whatsoever to

the earlier Star Trek films. And I will do so however I also realized I owe it to any readers that are not Gen Y or Z that are familiar with Star Trek the little bit of warning.

If you are planning on watching Into Darkness without any clue or plot spoilers revealed to you in advance, you are now out of darkness on a very serious film spoiler deal.