Star Trek Into Darkness Review

"My name is John Harrison. Seriously. Why is that so hard to believe?"

There is always difficulty in approaching a review of a movie like Star Trek Into Darkness. On the one hand, there quite a bit of information that the filmmakers would like to keep hidden until viewing and on the other hand it's difficult to truly talk about the movie without talking about those hidden moments. So as a result, I am going to try to do my best to talk about the movie without revealing anything that could be considered a spoiler.

Into Darkness takes place not too long after the events of the previous movie. The crew of the Enterprise is out in space, doing what it is they do best. And for the most part that means doing whatever Kirk wants to be doing, regardless of the consequences. So it is during the opening of the movie, when Kirk and crew are attempting to quell an about-to-erupt volcano on the surface of a pre-warp planet. And any Trek fan worth their salt knows that you cannot reveal your existence to any pre-warp civilization as it goes against the Prime Directive. So when the Enterprise must reveal themselves in order to save Spock from the volcano, it causes a little trouble for the crew when they get back to Earth. 

Meanwhile, a mysterious Starfleet Officer named John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) orchestrates a terrorist attack on Starfleet. His intentions remain unknown throughout the vast majority of the movie, but it's clear that he has a bone to pick with Starfleet. Cumberbatch gives an absolutely gripping performance and even if the material wasn't great, and it certainly can be great at times here, he can easily elevate it to a level that would not be capable by many other actors. His motivations are sound, if a little muddled, and his backstory is more abridged than I would have preferred, but that doesn't stop him from being an incredible presence in this movie. (And if you're not already watching "Sherlock", stop reading this right now, fire up Netflix and watch all six episodes.)

This time around, there's no need for the crew to get to know each other, so it's easy to simply jump into the action. The dynamics are there and they haven't skipped a beat in the last four years. The relationship between Uhura (Zoe Saldana) and Spock is still present and it's clear they're experiencing some relational problems. Kirk is as womanizing as ever and Bones is still the cantankerous, metaphor spewing doctor who still isn't given enough screen time. Sure, his role is definitely expanded from the first movie, but I still feel like the Kirk/Spock/McCoy dynamic that was so present in the show and the earlier films is missing in favor of a straight up Kirk/Spock dynamic. Which would be fine if Karl Urban didn't so completely nail a DeForest Kelly imitation while still putting his own unique spin on the role. If there was only one character you could point to as solid follow up to the original cast, I'd have to go with Urban's McCoy. 

But beyond the cast, the film excels by pushing the spectacle while maintaining a solid undercurrent of character development from start to finish, despite some curious missteps along the way and a reliance on too much superficiality. The first odd choice is a change that happens relatively early in the film, which gives the impression that the road to rectify this decision will be a long one. But nope. About 10 minutes after it occurs, the change ends up being reversed. Sure, there are solid reasons as to why this happens but from a story perspective, it's difficult to comprehend and sort of changes the journey of Kirk's character. Because the journey he would have taken under this scenario is much more interesting than the path he ends up taking.

Of course, this is not something that is worth dwelling on since from that point forward the movie moves at breakneck speed. Abrams is a master of introducing high tension even when you know there's no REAL danger at hand. You know certain characters are going to make it through the situation, but that doesn't stop you from moving to the edge of your seat, wondering how they're going to escape. A lesser director would not be able to accomplish such a feat.

The movie also introduces concepts from this new timeline as well as bringing in elements from previous plot lines, including the introduction of Carol Marcus, daughter of Admiral Marcus (and developer of the Genesis device and mother of Kirk's son David in the original timeline). Here played with a British accent, (understandably using Alice Eve's regular accent, but odd considering the original actress Bibi Besch spoke with an American accent as Carol) her presence seems to be little more than fan service to say "Hey, remember Wrath of Khan? That movie was awesome." Other shoutouts seem to do little more than to remind fans of elements of the universe and even one reference to the ill-fated video game I reviewed not too long ago. Did not see that coming.

Which brings me to my next gripe, which is, "What's the point?" I mean, if they were completely reimagining Star Trek, then none of this stuff would bother me. I wouldn't care that Carol Marcus has a different accent or that other changes were made from the original series. At that point it would be its own beast, not too different from the Marvel "Ultimate" line of comics. But by trying to marry it with the original continuity, it simply points out how often it DOESN'T fit with the original continuity. These moments aren't constant, but when they do happen, it really pulls me out of the movie as someone who is a fan of the originals. So if you don't know the previous movies, then these names are irrelevant to you and it doesn't matter who they are. If you are a fan, then the changes can be jarring and alienating to people, so it doesn't really make sense why they're included at all. It simply seems odd to reset the entire universe and then telling the same stories over again.

These sorts of things happen throughout the second act which never seems to fully come together in the way I would have preferred, despite being endlessly entertaining. There just seemed to be a lack of excitement and cohesion that the first movie delivered a lot better during the middle section of the movie.

And one change that occurs about two thirds the way through almost completely pulled me out of the movie all together. I was so focused on this specific change that it became difficult for me to enjoy the movie. That is until a character delivers a speech which has probably one of my favorite non-spoiler lines of all time, "That being said..." When that line is spoken, along with what follows it, I was back on board. I felt like I was given permission to enjoy the movie for what it was.

And from that moment on, everything that happened was so extremely entertaining that I gave up all my previous concerns and just allowed the movie to unfold as it was, despite them going full blast into referencing stories from the history of the franchise. The action was fantastic, the performances were strong, and there were some fantastic call backs to the original timeline which filled my little Trek heart with joy. Especially the musical references. The more that's said about composer Michael Giacchino, the better because he just absolutely knocks it out of the park with this one.

Although I loved the movie completely, there are still elements of concern that I have in the way there seems to be an unwillingness to chart a completely new franchise course which leaves a slightly bitter aftertaste upon further reflection. But taking it on its own, divorced from the history of Star Trek, Into Darkness is a fantastic summer movie. Not the most thought provoking film, but endlessly entertaining with one of the most charismatic ensembles I've seen in a long time. It isn't quite as a cohesive whole as the last movie was, but there are individual moments that are leaps and bounds above what Trek 2009 was able to accomplish. I'd love to see Abrams return for one more outing, but with his Star Wars obligations, I just don't see that happening. But here's to hoping the next adventures do carve out new and unique stories, because the potential with this cast is pretty limitless.

GRADE : A -

Star Trek: The Video Game Review - "Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a game designer!"

Spock and Kirk take out the writers for this game. 

When it's all said and done, there really isn't too much to say about "Star Trek: The Video Game." It's not a very good game. But it's not a completely terrible one. It's simply a game that borrows wholesale from superior titles and attempts to put forth a "Mass Effect" clone without the incredible graphics or deep storyline. So really not much of a Mass Effect clone at all.

From a story perspective, and the perspective through which I was most eagerly anticipating this game, the game falls pretty flat. A sort-of sequel to the 2009 reboot, the Vulcans are colonizing a new planet that they've creatively titled New Vulcan that is being terraformed by a creation of theirs called the Helios device. (I'm assuming that the shades of the Genesis device from Wrath of Khan are intentional.) The only problem is that a side effect of this device is the fact that it occasionally causes rips in space, forming wormholes that subsequently end up allowing the race of Gorn to emerge. A race of straight up evil lizard people who intend to use the Helios device to take over the galaxy. Apparently. The backstory is there, but it's not strong.

In the meantime, a Starfleet commodore knew that this was going to happen and is very happy about it since this would allow for intergalactic travel with relative ease, consequences be damned. The antagonists are all played very one note and the story between the random areas of shooting is surprisingly sparse and awkwardly paced. Literally the last scene of the game does a smash cut in what appeared to be the middle of the scene into the credits. I honestly threw my hands up out of confusion. Granted, there is a post credit Captain's Log, but the resolution just sort of happens and then the game ends. And this is to say nothing of the very beginning of the game which attempts to hook you in via an in media res scene that's less intriguing and more bizarre.

The gameplay is built around co-op, and while I didn't have a co-op partner with whom to play, the AI Spock did a slightly below adequate job in assisting me. I've seen much worse AI partners, and would have preferred to play alone, but I feel that he was the least of the concerns I had during the game. The controls pretty much did the job even if they didn't feel as responsive as several other triple A titles that it's clearly taking inspiration from. Especially the way that you're forced to scan everything with your tricorder to get the full story. Not my favorite game mechanic. And of course, the game takes on a 100% difficulty increase during the last level which is completely inconsistent from the rest of the game. To me, that just shows a lack of creativity from a design standpoint.

Where the game does shine though is in the performances of all the characters from the movie. In most movie tie-in games, you can hear in the voices of the actors that they're there to collect a paycheck. They don't really act. But here, it's different. They seem to be giving it their all, especially Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. The banter seems true to the movie, although it does seem overly contemporary. Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Karl Urban really throw themselves into these characters which adds an air of authenticity that is otherwise lacking in the relatively creepy character models, buggy gameplay, and poorly developed story. (Even here, I can't get over how awesome Karl Urban is in recreating DeForest Kelley's Dr. McCoy. He made me laugh quite a few times throughout this game while listening to his audio logs just by being his cantankerous doctor self.)

The music, though, is exemplary. Michael Giacchino wrote a handful of themes for the game and it was recorded with a 100-piece orchestra. As a fan of his music, as well as a fan of large orchestras, this was definitely an exciting addition to the game, even though in certain sections the music could get very repetitive. Much of that seems to be the problem of the designers and the not the music though, as random cues would just cut in at times repeating over and over.

When all is said and done, is this game worth playing? Not really. Maybe when it gets down to the $20 range, but I could not suggest that anyone play this for the $60 price tag that they're requesting.

Aside: One of the things that really bugged me was the treatment of the Gorn. Now, in the original Star Trek series, the Gorn were a territorial, yet violent race of creatures with massive strength and little agility. Granted, you only saw one in the original series, but it set a precident. They seemed to have none of those characteristics here, except for the violence. And they were most certainly agile. If you're trying to stay true to continuity, this just seemed like an unnecessary change. I believe in one area, they attempt to recreate that type of Gorn, but it wasn't very convincing and he was still pretty large. I'm not married to the continuity (at least not the way that several fans are in their complete dismissal of the reboot), but what's the point of using the name of a character if you're going to change everything they were set up as? Anyway, minor gripe in a game that had a lot larger ones to take care of.

GRADE : C-