Whether you are a long time Star Trek fan or just a lover of great summer action movies, you are going to love STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS.
JJ Abrams is one of our favorite writer/directors, creating consistent best of TV and film titles like Fringe, Super 8, LOST and of course the last Star Trek film, a brilliant reboot of the brand.
INTO DARKNESS picks up a bit after that film concluded, with Captain Kirk (excellent Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto is best in cast) and the crew on a planet that is very early in its development, think "pre-wheel being invented" stage. The first ten minutes of the film is like a classic Bond pre-titles sequence, filled with action, WOW visuals, non-stop action and a decision by Kirk that sets up the rest of the film.
Now fold in a fantastic villain in terrorist John Harrison, one of Starfleet's own, hatching terrorist attacks in a futuristic San Francisco. Benedict Cumberbatch is excellent as Harrison, who has a LOT more beneath the surface that will provide a lot of fun surprises for Star Trek fans.
Simon Pegg is hilarious as Scotty, Zoe Saldana is a kick-ass Uhura, Karl Urban is the perfect grouchy country doctor Bones, John Cho is a fun Sulu and young Anton Yelchin has an expanded role as Chekov.
The action is fast, the special effects are state of the art, the sound is fantastic and the music score by long time Abrams collaborator Michael Giacchino is one of his best, weaving classic elements of Star Trek music themes into great, nearly non-stop action music cues.
This is a film FULL of surprises and reveals that are excellent for Trek fans and you won't find me revealing any spoilers here, but see it soon so that you won't have any of them spoiled for you, they are half the fun.
Suffice to say, if you are a fan of the original film series, you are going to have a hell of a lot of fun here as Darkness unfolds.
Our non-Trek fans we went with had a great time too, so don't be scared off if you aren't a Trekkie!
Watching what Abrams has done in two films for the Star Trek franchise, I can't wait to see what he does to bring life and fun back into the Star Wars brand.
With more laughs than plenty of comedies, more action and visual wows than any film this year, STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS is warp speed summer movie nirvana and a rare A+.
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