Review - Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

           Hey guys, Chuck here. It's been a while since I talked about the 2009 film Star Trek, so today I'm taking a look at its 2013 sequel: Star Trek Into Darkness. This movie is, once again, directed by J.J. Abrams and once again stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, and Bruce Greenwood, and features newcomers Noel Clarke, Alice Eve, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Peter Weller. 

          So, we open with the Enterprise crew on a Class M planet called Nibiru, where Spock launches a cold fusion device into a volatile volcano, which would wipe out the entire populous of the planet it it erupts. However, Spock is in the volcano as well, and is planning to sacrifice himself to ensure his device goes off. Captain Kirk, however, seeks any way to get Spock out of the volcano, which Chekhov suggests a direct line of sight between the volcano and the Enterprise. Spock objects to this, as the natives of Nibiru would see the Enterprise, which would be a violation of the Prime Directive. Kirk ignores this, and has the Enterprise take off from under the ocean of Nibiru, saving Spock just as his device goes off, rendering the volcano inert and saving the planet. Unfortunately, having now seen the ship, the natives of Nibiru draw an image of the Enterprise and begin to worship it. 

           On Earth, a Starfleet researcher in London is approached by a man named John Harrison, a Starfleet commander, with the means to save the life of the researcher's terminally ill daughter. The researcher uses Harrison's cure, and heads to his workplace, a Starfleet research facility in London, to use an explosive to destroy the facility. Back in San Francisco, Kirk is berated for his actions by Admiral Pike, who informs Kirk that he's been stripped of command of the Enterprise. Later, at a bar, Pike meets with Kirk to inform him that command of the Enterprise was restored to Pike, Spock has been transferred to the USS Bradbury, and Kirk will be Pike's first officer, keeping him from being shipped back to Starfleet Academy, and giving him a second chance. 

          Pike and Kirk are summoned to Starfleet Headquarters for an emergency meeting with Admiral Marcus, and Spock meets his new captain, Frank Abbott of the USS Bradbury. Marcus informs the gathering of Captains and First Officers of the London attack, and that he's formally ordering a manhunt of John Harrison, whose apparently decided to declare a one-man war against Starfleet. Kirk, noticing a duffle bag that Harrison retrieved, note that Harrison may have another attack planned, and it's going to be the meeting of Captains and First Officers. Kirk is proven right, when Harrison shows up in a stolen drop ship, shoots the room up, killing many including Pike. Kirk cripples the drop ship, but Harrison uses a portable transwarp beaming device to transport himself to where Starfleet won't follow: the Klingon home world of Qo'Nos (pronounced "Kronos"). 

          Learning of his location, Kirk meets with Marcus and requests to be restored as Captain of the Enterprise, with Spock as First Officer. Marcus then reveals the truth: the London attack was at a research facility known as Section 31, which was developing weapons and technology for a potential war against the Klingons, and Harrison was working on said technology for Marcus. Spock points out that Harrison is in an uninhabited province of Qo'Nos, and Marcus, with this information, decides to give Kirk and the Enterprise a payload of seventy-two prototype long-range photon torpedoes, and orders Kirk to "Park on the edge of the neutral zone, lock onto Harrison, fire, kill him, and haul ass." 

         Kirk, Spock, and McCoy take a shuttle to the Enterprise, and it's aboard the shuttle that they meet a science officer named Carol Wallace. Aboard the Enterprise, Scotty resigns because of his refusal to sign for the torpedoes, and Kirk reassigns Chekhov to be the new Chief Engineer. While en route to Qo'Nos, Kirk reveals their orders from Admiral Marcus, and decides to instead take a small band to the surface of Qo'Nos to retrieve Harrison to be taken back to Starfleet to be interrogated for his actions. Kirk, Spock, Uhura, and two security officers, in disguise as merchants, take a confiscated drop ship, and end up in a chase with a Klingon craft, and are forced to land when surrounded. Uhura, speaking directly to the Klingons, warns them of Harrison, and points out that the Klingons, while not necessarily caring about human problems, do care about honor, and Harrison has no honor. Harrison, having been warned by Sulu to surrender or face the payload of prototype photon torpedoes, attacks the Klingons and surrenders himself to Kirk upon learning about how many torpedoes there are. 

        Back on the Enterprise, McCoy takes a sample of Harrison's blood, and Harrison points out that something has clearly happened to the Warp Core. He then gives Kirk coordinates to a facility not far from Earth, and advises opening up one of the seventy-two torpedoes. Spock suggests Carol Wallace, who he reveals is actually Dr. Carol Marcus, daughter of the Admiral, may have knowledge of the torpedoes and would be idyllic to open one up, with help from McCoy. The two head down to a nearby planetoid, and open up a torpedo to reveal a man frozen in a cryotube. 

         Trying to figure out what the hell is going on, Kirk and Spock speak with Harrison, who reveals he was from a time long past, was revived by Admiral Marcus upon discovery of his ship, and reveals that the name John Harrison was made-up as a means to conceal his true identity: Khan. Picking up a warp signature, Kirk and Spock return to the bridge, and witness the arrival of the Vengeance, a massive Starfleet ship that was anchored at the coordinates Khan gave earlier, and Kirk had Scotty go to check out. Marcus hails the Enterprise, and realizing that Kirk now knows the truth, orders that Kirk hands over Khan. Kirk instead heads to warp, with the Vengeance giving chase, blasting the Enterprise with phaser fire, knocking it out of warp. 

        Knowing she's the only one that can get through to the Admiral, Carol requests to speak with him, causing Marcus to stop blasting the Enterprise with phaser fire, and transporting Carol over to the Vengeance, only for Scotty, who snuck aboard earlier, to deactivate the weapons systems on the ship. Kirk then recruits Khan to engage in a space jump from the Enterprise to the Vengeance to overtake it and recover both Carol and Scotty. Meanwhile, Spock sends a transmission to New Vulcan, where he speaks with Ambassador Spock, asking him if he ever encountered Khan in his travels. After reminding the younger Spock of his vow to never give him information that could potentially alter his destiny, leaving him to forge his own path, Ambassador Spock tells him, and the bridge crew of the Enterprise, that Khan Noonien-Singh was the most dangerous adversary the Enterprise had ever faced, and his defeat came at a great cost. Back on the Vengeance, Kirk seeks to arrest Admiral Marcus, threatening to stun him and drag him out of the Captain's chair. Khan then breaks Carol's leg, crushes Marcus' skull and killing him, and opens a channel to the Enterprise to demand an exchange: Kirk, Scotty, and Carol for all seventy-two of Khan's crew in the torpedoes. After a stand-off, where Khan reveals he'll kill Kirk, and later target the life support system of the Enterprise, killing everyone aboard and eventually getting the crew himself. Spock, seeing no alternative, has the shields dropped, allowing Khan to take the torpedoes, and sending Kirk, Carol, and Scotty to the brig of the Enterprise. Unfortunately, the torpedoes detonate, but McCoy reveals that Khan's crew is safe, having been removed from the torpedoes earlier. 

         Both the Enterprise and the Vengeance begin to fall, and Kirk sacrifices himself to realign the warp Core of the Enterprise, saving it from crashing to Earth. The Vengeance, however, isn't so lucky and crashes down in the San Francisco Bay, with Khan going on the run in the streets of San Francisco. Spock, having watched Kirk breath his final breath, beans down into the city and gives chase, with the intent to kill Khan. McCoy, having tested the regenerative properties of Khan's blood on a dead tribble, realizes he needs Khan alive to get another sample of his blood, which will save Kirk of his radiation poisoning, and Kirk is placed into a cryotube to keep his brain functions alive. Uhura beams to where Khan and Spock are fighting in order to get the two of them, getting Spock to back off when she reveals that Khan's blood is the only way to save Kirk. 

          Now cured, Kirk thanks Spock for getting Khan, allowing McCoy to use his blood to save Kirk's life. The Enterprise is repaired and rechristened, and with Carol now part of the crew, heads off on its five-year mission, ending the movie. 

        Okay, admittedly this movie is all over the place, but definitely the best parts of it are the cast. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto are terrific, once again, as Kirk and Spock, and I thoroughly enjoyed Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, and Karl Urban as Uhura, McCoy, and Scotty. John Cho and Anton Yelchin don't get a lot to do in this movie, but John Cho gave a chilling performance when Sulu sent a message to Khan on Qo'Nos. Speaking of Khan, Benedict Cumberbatch definitely did an excellent job as the genetically augmented tyrant. His performance is just the perfect antithesis of Chris Pine's Captain Kirk. I also enjoyed both Alice Eve as Carol Marcus and Peter Weller as Admiral Marcus. I mean, it's Peter Weller for crying out loud. The man was frickin' RoboCop. And as a big fan of Doctor Who, I definitely enjoyed seeing Noel Clarke, best known for his role as Mickey Smith on Doctor Who, in a minor supporting role as the Starfleet researcher who Khan recruits at the start of this movie. 

          I also really enjoyed the designs of planets such as Nibiru and Qo'Nos. Making the planet Qo'Nos a burned-out post-apocalyptic scrum hole was a really bold choice, but it really looks awesome. It gives it that war-torn feel that seems like the planet has gone through centuries of conflict. As far as the starships like Enterprise and Vengeance, I definitely enjoyed them both. Vengeance looks truly monstrous, and I like how the Enterprise has an ion trail when it jumps to warp, which is really cool. 

          Unfortunately, the story is the one weak point. The motivations for both Admiral Marcus and Khan are pretty weak, with Marcus seeking to militarize Starfleet outright, and engage in full-scale war against the Klingons, while Khan seeks revenge against Marcus for using him, and wants his crew back. Now, don't get me wrong, I still enjoy the performances of both Benedict Cumberbatch and Peter Weller, but character motivation is weak when it comes to the two villains of the piece. On top of that, the needless callbacks and references to both the TOS episode "Space Seed" and the movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan were just forced and unnecessary. 

         Now, this movie has been extremely divisive amongst hardcore Star Trek fans, and it's not hard to see why. Now, did I enjoy it? Yeah. Was it better than its predecessor? Not really. Is it the worst Star Trek movie ever made? Hell no. As far as rating this movie, I'm giving Star Trek Into Darkness a 4.35/5. This is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys next time.