by Lorie Lewis Ham
Special coupon for Dinuba Platinum Theatre at the end of this review.
As a proud Trekkie, with each new Star Trek movie I am filled with excitement and yet concern. Will they do this cult favorite that has literally been a part of my life since birth, justice? (Star Trek and I were born in the same year). Well JJ Abrams has done it again! Into Darkness continues to breathe new life into this reboot of the Star Trek stories. It not only remains true to the original characters and world, but adds to it.
Into Darkness begins with Kirk doing what he became famous for, not following orders, as he disobeys the prime directive not only to save a dying species, but also to save Spock’s life. Just as he is about to suffer consequences for his actions, a rogue Starfleet officer, John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch), blows up a Starfleet archive building and attacks all of Starfleet’s top officers. Kirk is given back his command and sent to kill Harrison who has escaped onto a Klingon world. Harrison is brilliantly played by the amazing Benedict Cumberbatch. Benedict is as compelling as a super villain as he is as Sherlock. 
While I’m itching to share more with you about the plot, I don’t want to spoil any surprises for you, of which there are many. I will say though that this movie is filled with great moments, many of which involve Spock and Kirk, and at one point I even cried–which I almost never do at movies. I believe JJ Abrams picked the perfect Star Trek story for the second movie and I can’t wait for the next one! If only we’d get a series out of this.
The casting continues to prove to be perfection. These characters that I have loved and shared my life with for so many years are brought back to life perfectly by Zachary Quinto, Chris Pine, Karl Urban, and all the rest of the wonderful actors. It couldn’t have been done any better had Gene Rodenberry done it himself. The chemistry between all of them is also perfect–which I feel is a vital component of the Star Trek story, especially in the original series.
Yes there are differences–partially because of the changing of history and their timeline, and partially because some of them are updated a bit–but the changes work. Uhura (Zoe Saldana) is a far more confident, capable woman than in the original TV series. You get to see more of the Uhura that was revealed in some of the movies. Yes I’ve heard people complain that her primary role is to be Spock’s love interest, but I think she’s more than that and I can’t wait to see how they continue to develop her character. You won’t hear this Uhura saying, “Captain, I’m frightened.” Instead, at one point in the movie she even gets to kick ass with the best of them. She also gets to have the dream of many a Trekkie, a relationship with Spock.
Scotty (Simon Pegg) is still funny and snarky, Chekov (Anton Yelchin) is adorable and enthusiastic, and Sulu (John Cho), who is another of my favorites, is confident and capable, showing hints of the future captain he became in the original timeline. If I had one complaint here it would be that I would have loved to see Sulu have a chance to be a little more involved in the action, however there is one scene where he has the con that is perfect! As to McCoy–Urban could be a clone of DeForest Kelley! Quinto was hand picked by Nimoy to be Spock and you can see why, and Pine is a perfect Kirk.
It has been interesting for me to see how this change in the timeline has affected the characters–but to me each change is believable and in many cases these changes have brought some of them to more mature decisions and places in their lives much earlier than in the original timeline.
This movie is filled with all the action and great character interaction that one would expect from Star Trek. Abrams has indeed done a brilliant job of bringing back to us our beloved characters and world, and at the same time introducing new fans to the wonderful world of Star Trek. Again, I can’t say enough about how PERFECT the casting is. There is not an off character among them!
Be warned, if you are a Trekkie you will laugh, smile, jump out of your seat, and cry before this movie is over. And even if you are a sci-fi fan that is new to the Star Trek world, you will love this movie! My only real complaint is that I want more–NOW!
Star Trek Into Darkness is currently playing at Dinuba Platinum Theatres 6, also in 3D. Showtimes can be found on their website. Platinum Theaters Dinuba 6 now proudly presents digital quality films in 2-D and 3-D with 5.1 Dolby digital surround sound to maximize your movie experience.
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Loved Lorie’s review. I’m definitely going to see this one.