It took 4 years, but J.J. Abrams (Super 8, Star Trek) finally got around to giving us a sequel to the highly successful, and great, 2009 reboot of the Star Trek franchise. Over the past 5 years or so (or even further back if you count his involvement with the TV show Lost) Abrams has become a name associated with high quality Sci-Fi cinema outings and is quickly becoming ranked next to and favored by the likes of Steven Spielberg. Abrams even admitted that Spielberg had a hand in convincing him to accept the director's chair for helming the next Star Wars film recently purchased by Disney which plans to expand the new saga from a galaxy far far away into a new trilogy beginning in 2015. On top of this, Abrams has had his hand in many a project over the past 4 years as producer or director in the case of Super 8. Still, with the success of the first Star Trek, you would think that Paramount would've put more pressure on getting around to making the next Star Trek.
In this case, it seems no one was in any hurry and decided to use the long wait to drum up as much hype as possible. The fast-rising star of Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, War Horse, The Hobbit) mixed with the rumor of the return of Star Trek super-villain Khan increased the size of the expectant audience which was already enlarged by the first film beyond just Trekkies. Suffice to say, Abrams had a much bigger fan-base to please this time around.
And for anyone who absolutely loved the first one or just had a really good time at the movies when you saw it, you will definitely enjoy this one as well. Abrams skillfully retains the fast, sharp wit and characters from the first film while expanding the scope of the visuals and sci-fi destinations. The images are sharper, the action is cleaner, the risks are higher, and the explosions are louder. The fight scenes, whether hand to hand or between spaceships, are some of the coolest and well choreographed and shot I have seen yet this year. And boy, let me tell you, Abrams sure does love his lens flares! In nearly every shot in every scene, you get a lens flare or a multitude of them. As noticeable and repetitive as it becomes, it does add a feeling of realism to the look of everything which lends a feeling of spontaneity to each scene somehow making it feel less artificial. When in fact everything you see in this film is either green screen or digitally added and/or manipulated. Still, everything in this film looks beautiful and is a treat to watch on the big screen.
So, yes, Abrams delivered a sequel just as fun and exciting as the first. In fact, it's almost a bit too "just like" the first one. Although it's a good idea to stick with the same writers and team as the first film for any sequel so as to keep the same general feeling, Into Darkness has the same general story arc and areas of focus on characters as the first film. The beginning of the film starts with a bang, then mellows off while dropping hints at the mysteries to be revealed eventually. Then something unexpected happens which prompts a journey to somewhere in space where things seem to be going OK but then take a turn for the worse and we get a moment of "Empire Strikes Back" despair. But then a last, valiant effort is made to save the day!...and you can guess what happens from there. Not that this general plot-line isn't bad, it works quite well. Nor is focusing on the bro-mance between Spock (Zachary Quinto) and Kirk (Chris Pine) and Kirk's crisis of leadership a bad thing. It's just exactly what happened in the first one. So, what you get in terms of plot and character development does not go beyond the structure of the first film. It seems Abrams and the producers took the safer route and went with what worked the first time.
That being said, the explosions and visuals are all new and offer a great ride. Cumberbatch is fun to watch and makes for an intimidating villain even if every line of dialogue he delivers in the film is delivered in the most dramatic way possible. And as serious as the film tries to be at times, it still retains the lighthearted nature of the blockbuster, popcorn-fare that it is making for money and time well spent at the movies.
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