As I’d mentioned before I have watched Star Trek Into Darkness four times, and that isn’t because I'm anal and need to pick out every little detail, it’s because I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m no Armond White, this is not a lengthly shitty review of the film, because I believe you should go and watch the films and figure it out for yourselves. That being said, I love to hear myself talk so I will tell you my thoughts about it, but no star rating and I’m not going to tell you to go and watch it or to burn the posters. There will most definitely be spoilers ahead to if you don’t want to be spoiled I’d suggest you stop reading right... Now.
I’ve been jazzed about the sequel ever since Star Trek circa ’09 came out, the complete change in timeline (which for some reason I have to still explain to people) opened up limitless possibilities concerning storylines. They could take a villain from the series or the earlier films and put a fresh new take on them and in this instance they used “John Harrison” who turned out to be Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch). He had a similar backstory to that of the original Khan, coming from a somewhat ancient race of super-humans, sharing similar traits to that of the Vulcans. Obviously the film didn’t have an episode and a film dedicated to him to familiarise the audience with the character, and as the character was beloved during the original series, hailed as on of the greatest villains to ever grace television screens, Cumberbatch had his work cut out. Although I personally would have chosen Nestor Carbonell to play the character of Khan due to the similar look and the fact that I have watched him in numerous projects so I trusted his capabilities, I do think Cumberbatch did a tremendous job. Due to the reboot of the timeline I knew that the storyline of all the characters would probably differ greatly, I was unsure of his true goal, whether he was really the villain or a victim (I still think it’s both). This was down to Cumberbatch’s portrayal of the character, the nonchalantness when he was committing terrorist attacks, the sadness in his eyes when he was explaining his past and the anger in his face when he thought his crew had died. Cumberbatch blew me away. I hadn’t really watched him if you know what I mean and his performance edged me into the Cumberbitch sector of fandom.
In my eyes Cumberbatch was the standout of the cast, but the rest are not to be overlooked. Chris Pine has really started to fit into the role of Captain Kirk, I enjoyed his performance in the first film, however I felt that he was forgettable when compared to Quinto’s Spock. I do understand that Quinto did have better material though with the destruction of Vulcan, Pine really didn’t have much to compete with him. Pine’s representation of the character through Spock’s betrayal and his self sacrifice was particularly heartbreaking, it proved to me that Chris Pine was the man for the job. If you’ve read my previous post then I’m sure you’ll know my thoughts on Quinto, but I will reiterate that it was riveting to see his metamorphosis during the film, from the Vulcan that only cared for the prime directive and willing to sacrifice himself for it; to becoming more humanised feeling grief and anger, it was superb. There were numerous other cast members that were on a par with the leads, however I’m still waiting for Zoe Saldana to prove herself which I’m sure she will if she were to be given a meaty storyline, rather than being the tough chick. One disappointed for me was the casting of Alice Eve, I will not deny that she is a beautiful woman but she seemed like a spare part to me. Maybe if she features in the sequel then she can prove me wrong but as of now I’m not too fond of her.
Yes, the acting was a major part of my enjoyment of the film but without the plot it would mean nothing. The film was beautiful and complex without being complicated, I was kept on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next. My viewing experience and satisfaction with the film grew every time I watched it and I hope that I’m left at home by myself frequently so I have many more chances to watch it.
Live long and blog!
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