Star Trek Into Darkness Review

With J.J. Abrams set to direct the new Star Wars film it is as yet unknown whether he will return for the inevitable conclusion to his finely crafted trilogy that has successfully reinstated Star Trek as one of the most important science fiction franchises in the world. Has he left behind a good legacy with Into Darkness?

Star Trek Into Darkness picks up with Captain James Kirk (Chris Pine) and his new crew, at least new in this franchise, already on a mission on the pre-civilisation planet of Nibiru; it is clear right from the off that the crew of the USS Enterprise are not going to be without danger as Spock’s life is immediately put on the line. Luckily, he survives and manages to carry on with the rest of the film. Where eventually they run into John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch), who just so happens to be Star Trek’s arguably most famous villain, Kahn. Kahn is carrying out terrorist acts that turn this film into an emotional chess game between Kirk and Kahn as the two battle it out in a test of will, strength and heroics as they battle to save their respective crews: only one side can win.

“Let’s go get this sonofabitch”

The first thing you notice about Into Darkness (and one of the most significant things) is that it does not feel like a sequel: the film immediately places you at the heart of the action with little knowledge of the previous film (or even Star Trek in general) required to enjoy the film. The whole of the Enterprise crew is back including Kirk, Spock (Zachary Quinto), Sulu (John Cho), Scotty (Simon Pegg) and Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood) and none of the characters come off badly with each one, even Chekov (Anton Yelchin) having their moment in the spotlight; it would have been nice to have seen Uhura (Zoe Saldana) do more, however as her character does feel less like an equal crew member and more like a pawn to try and evoke some emotion in Spock, something she doesn’t really do that well.

The old faces are joined by new additions such as the incredible Benedict Cumberbatch and the almost pointless Alice Eve. Cumberbatch’s portrayal of Kahn is really spectacular; this is the greatest villain that will hit the screens this summer and is the most memorable in modern blockbusters, as far as my memory serves me anyhow. He poses a serious threat to Kirk and his crew on a mental and physical scale. Right from the off he gives you the creeps and it is clear his plan is very well thought out.

“You should have let me sleep”

The action takes place at a quick pace, occasionally slowing down to give the audience some breathing space and for the characters, mainly Kirk and Spock, to talk their problems through which does sometimes border on the line of good or bad writing; but that can be forgiven as you can guarantee whenever something feels stale Into Darkness shakes things up (quite literally), the amount of times they get attacked off guard id pretty suspicious for a craft of such high technology. But the action scenes are spectacular, right off the bat from Nibiru, to the home of the Klingons on Kronos, right up to the final fight scene between Spock and Kahn.

With such a lot hanging in the balance for Kirk, Spock etc. it seems imperative that there is humour injected into the story and that comes in the, predictable, forms of Bones (Karl Urban) and Scotty. This story centres on Kirk and Kahn but the majority of my attention was on Bones, coming out with quality one liners and throwing around metaphors like they were going out of fashion: he’s a treat every time he comes on screen.

“Damn it man! I’m a doctor not a torpedo technician!”

Into Darkness closes with the USS Enterprise about to embark on a five year mission. Is this five years a hint at how long it will be until we see the third chapter of this Star Trek revival? If so, maybe Abrams will be back on board. Part of me doesn’t want to wait so long but part of me longs for the return of Abrams to finish what he started!

In my Iron Man 3 review I claimed that Iron Man 3 could be the best blockbuster of the summer. Well all that’s changed now: Star Trek Into Darkness will not be topped.

My Rating: 9/10.

First Star Trek Into Darkness Trailer Hits!

UK Release Date: 17th May 2013

Stars: JJ Abrams (director), Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, Bruce Greenwood, Alice Eve.

Plot: 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.

The poster for Star Trek Into Darkness was released earlier this week and that has been followed with this brilliant, action packed new trailer. There’s not a lot of things we can learn from this but one thing is that Cumberbatch’s unknown villain is out for “vengeance”, therefore making for a very interesting back story for the villain to have.

We don’t see too much of the crew of the Enterprise in their usual colour coded uniforms in the trailer and that might be an indication to the fact that Into Darkness may not be taking place in space that much. It seems as though a lot of the action will in fact take place on Earth.

This trailer does it’s job perfectly. Star Trek fans across the world have been waiting for their first real glimpse of action from the sequel and they will not be disappointed with this!

Amerian Pie: Reunion Review

It’s been nine years since we last saw Jim and the gang on the big screen, and to fill the pie shaped gap in their lives die hard fans of the series were forced to endure the awful awful sequels that were being made, although by the time Book of Love was made I’m not sure anyone was bothering to watch anymore. But now, in 2012 fans have what they want: a new sequel, the rightful continuation of the original trilogy however there is a problem; with new comedy hits like The Hangover and 21 Jump Street is there still room in the comedy genre for Jim, Finch, Kevin, Oz and Stifler?

The basic premise of the film is pretty much said in the title. American Reunion is the story of the class of 99 from East Great Falls having a high school reunion back in their home towns and as it seems, this is the first time that the gang have got together properly since leaving school. But back in East Great Falls relationship are put to the test as romantic interests, both old and new, force a few characters to think about their adult lives.

The main cast are all back for this: Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Chris Klein, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Sean William Scott, Eddie Kay Thomas and even John Cho, Chris Owen and Shannon Elizabeth return for the final slice of pie. Because of this the film takes a while to get going as the audience have to be re-introduced to the characters and their modern lives. Fortunately, the opening scene featuring Jim and Michelle’s relationship is pretty funny and does well to set up the tone of the film.

Fans of the original trilogy are bound to enjoy this new addition; there are plenty of old jokes referenced throughout the duration of American Reunion and there are, of course, plenty of new jokes and antics from Stifler that are sure to get the audience laughing. A few of the jokes do fall flat on their feet but most of the comedy elements shine and are divided well throughout the film.

As well as the great comedy turns there are also some touching and really nice moments between the couples and this balance of light heartedness and relationship themes really helps the characters come alive and it’s wonderful to see how these people’s lives have changed while we haven’t been watching. This is the first film featuring the original characters not to be written by Adam Herz (instead being written by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg) but the new writers manage to capture the old essence of the characters really well.

American Reunion probably wouldn’t look that great as a stand alone film, but as a sequel to the already hilarious trilogy it works brilliantly, providing plenty of nostalgia and familiarity for audiences everywhere. Whilst it is likely that American Reunion may get another sequel providing it does well at the box office I feel like this should be the end. The end of the film seems like a natural conclusion for the gang and I don’t think there is much else that we can follow the characters doing. This would be a perfect way to go out.

My Rating: 7/10.