The sequel four years in the making is finally here!
When Star Trek hit theaters in 2009 we were highly skeptical that a reboot of such classic characters played by such iconic actors could be successfully pulled off. But we’ll be damned if director J.J. Abrams didn’t succeed wonderfully. Star Trek remains a favorite around the iFanboy offices and one of the top re-watch movies in our Blu-ray player.
Now we’re back with a sequel we’ve been eagerly anticipating with a villain played by an actor in Benedict Cumberbatch that we’ve all come to love via BBC’s sublime Sherlock.
We’re excited!
Want to read Paul Montgomery’s spoiler-free review of Star Trek Into Darkness? You can read soon!
Want to hear a podcast discussion about Star Trek Into Darkness? You’ll find it this weekend!
Are you going to see it? Of course you are! So let’s talk about it!
If you haven’t seen the movie yet be forewarned – there be SPOILERS ahoy! So don’t scroll down any further if you are sensitive to that kind of thing.
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I saw it last night! I’ll keep my comment spoiler free until more users have seen it.
I really enjoyed it. I like the first Abrams film a great deal and in many ways this topped it. There were things that bothered me, some of them major, but the pros outweigh the cons. There are some brilliant character interactions, some truly funny moments, the stakes are sky high, and the action is insane. A few elements are bound to divide audiences, but that’s to be expected. If you sit back and let the movie take your for a ride, I don’t see how you can be disappointed.
If you live near a true dome screen 15/70mm IMAX theater and not a lieMax, do not hesitate to see it that way first. I’ve seen a ton of movies this way, but this is the first that honestly had me gripping my seat. It was bonkers.
Just got back from it, This is the year of the misleading Trailers it seems and I am not sad for it, in fact that makes me happy. There are some great little easter eggs for fans and some great twists on some old stories. I wanted this to be a show when the first one came out in 2009, that feeling is quadrupled at the end of this film.
Someone should give an award to the whoever cut the trailers for Into Darkness. I went into the film thinking I had seen too many key moments, only to realize, with one exception, that without context the teasers had been non-reveals . . .
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Spoilers, Spoilers, Spoilers, Spoilers, etc . . .
As soon as I saw the tease of hands on glass, I guessed who would be making that sacrifice.
Leave your brain at the door and you will have a fun time. This movie is action packed! If you think about it for any extended time it falls apart.
It’s been out a while in the UK – we saw it last weekend.
It’s a fine summer blockbuster, plenty of good effects and action. The digitally superimposed lens flare that irritated me last time is still present, but not as obvious.
I left feeling a bit cross that the fanboy pleasing in-jokes were so badly placed. There’s a powerfully emotional beat towards the end of the film that was spoilt for me by heavy-handed placement of well known quotes from old Trek movies.
For the first time that I can remember it felt like being a fan of the franchise was actually detrimental to my enjoyment of the movie, rather than enhancing it.
big star trek fan. didn’t like the first one.
this was a big jump up really liked it, wasn’t great but none of the trek films are that good.
What about Wrath of Khan and First Contact? You didn’t like those two?
We’re branching off here, but in my opinion Next Gen never got the movie they deserved. Which saddens me, because it’s my favorite series. Personally, I think First Contact was only the least bad one of theirs. Wrath of Khan and Undiscovered Country are my favorites. Nicholas Meyer is the best director the franchise has ever seen.
After having enjoyed the first part quite a bit I was disappointed by this one. Maybe I just expected too much. A solid buddy movie, nothing else. The dialogue was too silly for my taste. Cumberbatch the Great didn’t really get to show his greatness. And this scene between Kirk and Spock at the end, with them being separated by this glass door, was just a bit too much bromance. Reminded me of Frodo and Samwell during this “bed scene” at the end of LotR. Corny. The klingons were nice, though.
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You get that it directly mirrored the scene in Wrath of Khan, right? That group of scenes was basically a giant role-reversal for Kirk and Spock. Spock was doing Kirk-like things to outwit Khan, and Kirk was doing the logical in sacrificing himself to save the ship. Hell, even down to Spock screaming the iconic “Khaaaaaaaannnn!”
As soon as Kirk died though, I was all “They’re gonna use Khan’s blood. It cured the little girl in the beginning. It’s gonna resurrect the Tribble, Bones is gonna get the idea to use it on Kirk and everything will be fine.”
Also, one thing bugged me about the blood and needing to take Khan alive. If his blood could bring Jim back, wouldn’t it stand to reason that the blood of another member of his crew would do the same? My best guess about this is either the writers weren’t thinking, or it would take too long to wake up a crewperson from cryo-sleep to take their blood.
I admit, I didn’t get that. I like Star Trek a lot, but my knowledge of the mythology would never earn a Trekkie’s respect. So, there was an element of irony there. That’s good.
About the blood: Even if only Khan’s blood has this special quality: With this man’s fluid the crew had (and still has) the opportunity to give eternal life to A LOT of people, but they didn’t even spend a thought about that! To make him “donate” a significant number of liters shouldn’t be the problem.)
My problem with the hand-on-glass scene was that it immediately yank me out of the movie. It was just to in my face.
Blood: Also, if they only need Khan’s blood why the necessity to take him alive? Just kill him and beam his corpse up to the ship and get his blood.
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That “KHAAAANNN!!!” bit actually made me cringe. I dig the parallels, but that was a bit too much.
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These were my two biggest problems with the film.
The solution to Kirk’s “death” was telegraphed far too early, thus rendering it completely without impact for anyone with half a brain. Even if that weren’t the case, the decision to reverse the roles and shoot a watered-down, modern version of the same scene was a bad move. And the “Khan scream” was completely unnecessary bordering on cringe-worthy. While it does nothing to tarnish the original in WOK (my personal all-time favorite Trek moment), it really hurts this movie if you’ve seen WOK. I’d be interested to hear a reaction from someone who hasn’t seen the original. For me, it was a serious mistep.
I saw the original and loved that moment. In fact, I enjoyed the shit out of the whole movie.
My girlfriend is a life-long Trekkie and she loved that moment . . .
one of the best films i ever seen. iron man 3 was ok, can wait for StarWars
I enjoyed the film a lot, but that “KHAAAANNN” bit actually DID make me cringe. The nods & parallels to Wrath Of Khan were mostly handled perfectly, but that moment was a little over the top in my opinion.
Still, most of the movie was pretty incredible. The film succeeded in being an awesome action-flick, while also managing to establish some genuine character development. The Kirk we get at the end of this flick feels a lot more seasoned and mature than the guy we saw at the end of 2009 Star Trek. In fact, the whole crew feels a lot more like the Enterprise crew we’re introduced to in the original series than they did in the last film.
@wraith: I agree. Part of the fun of the ’09 film was watching the crew come together and observe their differences, but it was much more rewarding to see them performing as a team. Each character felt more comfortable in their own skin, and each actor seemed to have a more firm grip on their role. The ending left me really excited to watch this version of the five year mission.
Could’ve used more Bones, though.
Saw it today and was not disappointed. Yeah, some of the plot twists I was not the most fond of but I had fun while watching the movie. I even cried during the Kirk death scene, like I do every time I watch Spock’s death in The Wrath of Khan. I think it would have been better if instead of Khan he was just a different Super Augment. Seemed to be pandering by using Khan. I plan to see it again and take may boys with me and even my daughters, if they want.
I loved it. Cumberpatch’s performance gave me chills. His rumbling baritone conveyed pure menace. That being said Hollywood needs to stop casting white actors as obviously ethnic characters.
I thought this was excellent. I enjoyed the character development, the death scenes, the action sequences, and the dialogue. If I had only one complaint it would be that I didn’t get as much of the supporting roles as I would like.
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Kahn Noonien Singh is a Sikh Indian superman. Benedict Cumberpatch is one of my favorite actors and delivered an incredible performance but it shook me right out of the movie when he was revealed as KNS. I loved the movie but the reveal felt like casting Nick Cage as Luke Cage. I think it would be even cooler if Cumberpatch was John Harrison, ethnically British superman of the Botany Bay crew who brought the ruckus but was stopped by Kirk & Co. That would foreshadow KNS appearing in a later movie making him seem even more fearsome. The only thing I think would have been lost was the gimmick of Spock’s primal scream and the glass touching scene.
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Fully agreed. As I suggested in my review, why not open another pod?
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Except, that Montalban wasn’t exactly from anywhere near Asia either. Heck, at least India was part of the British Empire, which means that somewhere in this Khan’s ancestry the Sikh side could have mixed with the English, assimilated into Britain culture while the family name hung around. Yeah, it’s a little tenuous, but in a way makes more sense than a Mexican playing a Sikh (“all you dark skinned foreigners look alike, right?”). Naturally, I’m not ragging on Montalban’s performance itself, only the oddity of the casting from this perspective . . .
As a non-Trekkie like myself I would say this was an average film. It had its moments and it can be a fun, popcorn flick at times. But for the most part this was a repetitive, dull, and had way too much fan service for me to fully love it. That and the writing was just mediocre at best with some truly ‘by the numbers’ plotting and easy to telegraph sequences. Again the fan service moments, mostly the Kahn stuff, was really unnecessary and hurt the film. Even as a non-fan the moment it turns into the iconic scene in ‘Wrath of Kahn’ but flips it around it was really cringe worthy. It was not earned and it came across more as a joke then anything else.
But shout out to the real heroes of the film: Simon Pegg and Karl Urban. Anytime those two were on screen they were a riot for separate reasons. For Urban he just played up as Bones so well and his gruff, ‘I don’t wanna be here’ attitude was great. Pegg was just everywhere in this and it’s a shame he didn’t get higher billing in this. He had more to do then the majority of the cast! (Which was another problem with the movie) Also, Christ this was a gorgeous looking movie and the CGI was seamless. Shame that the original issues of the film; lens flares, dutch angles, and shaky camerawork; hampers the film when it isn’t a CGI-lovefest.
A C+ is what I would rate it and that is an improvement over the first Abrams movie. These are just initial thoughts coming out of the movie though. I’ll post a real, more thought out review in a couple of days.
Shameless self plug…..But here’s a review I did that encompasses my thoughts more clearly.
http://a-collection-of-ramblings.tumblr.com/post/50768207352/review-startrekintodarkness
I’m a fan of Star Trek, but a more recent convert; my girlfriend on the other hand is a life long Trekkie. We saw the film last night, and we both loved it. (We both also enjoyed the first reboot). The ensemble acting was first-rate with pretty much every character getting a standout moment (though could have used just a touch more Sulu). As before, Urban’s Bones was one of the highlights for me; Pegg really got to shine this time around as well. I for one like the Spock/Uhura relationship and how it is handled here. The mix of humor was good. Visually, the movie was beautiful with great design work. Unlike Iron Man, this is a movie I’m glad I saw in 3D.
The narrative worked for me. Yes there are moments where if you think about it too much the logic doesn’t hold too together, but for me, those moments did not ruin the film. Their alternate explanation of how Khan awoke worked me too. Personally, I liked Cumberbatch’s take on Khan. I do think that they should have played up the despot side of his character more — that was the one moment of the film, where I thought that they were assuming fans would fill in between the lines. I went into the film actually hoping that it would not be Khan, because I was skeptical of how that would work, but was pleasantly surprised. I definitely found him more compelling an adversary than Nero in the previous film. For this reason, and the continued tightening of the ensemble, I would say that this film was stronger than the previous. 4 stars (out of 5).
Oh, the direct references to Wrath of Khan worked for me. I felt that the screenwriters incorporated them organically into the story. Yes, they could have let Kirk’s death linger longer, but the emotional beats of it rang true. But, damn, I’m going to miss Greenwood’s Pike . . .
Finally, can I just say how much I loved the redesign of the Warbirds? More Klingons in 3 please . . .
Closing scene: They shoot Kirk’s body out in a giant flash drive after saying he was the most Vulcan man they’ve known.
After credits scene: Unseen alien race, “sensors are picking up small, unknown vessel on planet’s surface.” They go in to investigate…pan out…Borg cube.
Longtime Trekkie…I thought the movie was a blast.
Wish we could’ve had a completely new, original Star Trek story. Bad case of the winks.
There were a couple groan inducing moments for me.
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When Cumberbatch introduced himself as Khan, I did the Picard facepalm. I REALLY wanted something different. Something not so obvious. Gary Mitchell and Garth of Ivar were two names tossed around that I felt would have been great lesser known characters if they just *had* to reuse someone, that would have both fit into the ex-Starfleet narrative.
As Maty said above, there was a bad case of the winks. I don’t mind it to a certain degree, but holy crap, was this loaded. As much as I love Nimoy, adding him just seemed extraneous. The death scene was weak, and lacked punch. Otherwise, Spock’s KHAAAAAAAN moment was fine, and it was the moment where his Human side won out, and he flipped shit. The Spock/Khan fight was badass.
Now, what did I like? Preeeeeeeeeety much everything else. I realized the meeting room beat at the same time Kirk did, and I put my hand up to my mouth and just said “Oooh shiiiiiiiit”
Simon Pegg as Scotty is the greatest thing since James Doohan as Scotty. I like nearly everyone in their respective roles actually, and I think they treat these characters well. The weakest for me is actually Pine as Kirk. Chekov is one of my favorite characters from TOS., and Anton Yelchin absolutely NAILS it. Karl Urban as Leonard McCoy is utterly perfect. (Karl Urban though, period, is a fantastic actor. I’m pretty sure if he played a cardboard box, it would be the most interesting and enthralling cardboard box ever.) The bit where the Vengenace breaks down was a good nod to Search for Spock when the Excelsior was sabotaged.
I’ve seen countless debates now about this being Fake Trek, not real Star Trek, etc. I’ve not been a huge Trek fan my entire life like some people, but, it was always around. Dad watched a lot of TNG and DS9 when I was younger. I prefer TOS by a decent margin. I was familiar with the characters and the idea long before I watched the first Abrams movie. That movie really kickstarted my fandom. Things change. We as comic fans might be a bit more used to it than Trek fans over at Reddit or my fleet chat on Star Trek Online, so perhaps we accept it more readily. This is Star Trek. It’s good Star Trek. It reinvigorated the franchise. It brought these great characters to a new generation who wouldn’t even bother with an episode of TOS. The actors give the characters the respect they deserve. Yeah, there’s a weak moment here or there, but that’s Star Trek. For every The Tholian Web or Best of Both Worlds, there’s a Spock’s Brain or Shades of Grey Old school Trek fans are wearing rose colored glasses. There is some BAD Trek out there. Abrams, like him or not, has done a great job here. This was nearly a dead franchise after a string of lousy TNG movies and Enterprise, and now here we are with a box office hit Star Trek movie.