Now well… I just realise I never came around to writing my comments about the previous JJ Abrams Star Trek revamp effort, and seeing this one now reminds me of why that was. They are both not bad films. For what they are – pre-Summer blockbusters trying to reinvigorate a concept that has already proven to have a large fan base – I guess it’s as good as you can get without offending your traditional customers. Those customers want a bit of space action, a bit of chicks in tights (or underwear, in this case), a couple of funny-looking alien life forms that turn out to be nice guys, and a clearly identifiable villain with a posh English accent. So that’s what they get. Of course Zachary Quinto and Zoe Saldana are very watchable (Chris Pine not so much, to be honest), and of course Benedict Cumberbatch is almost as funny a name as Zaphod Beeblebrox, but still… the film perennially reminds me of more original and more uncompromising peers, and if I see one more movie where the villain at one point is locked up in a Hannibal Lecter cage, I will throw a stone at it to get him out and eat the director!
Whether it would be possible to use the Star Trek premise to make something edgy, challenging and unconventional (a Star Trek: Solaris, or Star Trek: Moon, or even a Star Trek: Ken Russel extravaganza…) remains an open question. As it is, it is decently entertaining, but lacking any surprises or emotional upset (Spoiler alert: no – I did not believe that Kirk could die… seems they did not quite understand why “Wrath of Khan” is still such a classic).
I am increasingly bored by this kind of entertainment, I have to admit. Lacking alternatives (the “Inception” or “Source Code” of 2013) I will keep watching them, but is it just me or is the industry in a creative paralysis? Will “Pacific Rim” come to rescue? I kind of doubt it…
The 2013 one: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_trek_into_darkness/
And the 2009 one: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_trek_11/
thomas4cinema 