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The new Star Trek franchise has been relatively well received thus far but there are definitely many fans of the original series that don't really care for it as they feel like it doesn't have the same intellectual depth of the old Star Trek they're used to. That's fine. I never really watched the original Star Trek TV shows or films, so I'm just judging them based on how much I enjoyed them as films. JJ Abrams' Star Trek films definitely work for me, and while Into Darkness is definitely not as good as Star Trek (2009) was, it does have a significantly stronger villain in Kahn portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch (Eric Bana's Nero in the first film was kind of bland but still effective and the movie as a whole was so great that it worked fine for the film.
It was great to see the continuation of the dynamic between Kirk and Spock in this film and how the relationship between the two characters grew. The tone of the film, as is typical in sequels, is darker than its predecessor, which works given the differences in the narrative between this movie and the first film. Also, JJ Abrams does a great job with this film in the visuals. I love Abrams and his visual style (lens flares and all) and there are some spectacularly shot sequences in this film, which like its predecessor, has a very kinetic feeling to it as the camera is seemingly always in motion but keeps that motion smooth enough as to not be nauseating. I'm also a sucker for infrared camera work so the opening sequence in the forest (shot entirely with infrared cameras, hence the red leaves effect) was a treat for me.
JJ also does a great job of pulling strong performances out of all of the actors, from Cumberbatch's Kahn and Chris Pine's Kirk all the way down the line to Simon Pegg's Scotty and the late Anton Yelchin's Chekhov.
I know not a lot of people are as huge of fans of this film as I am, which is fine, but I really liked it. I think it's incredibly entertaining, and has the right balance of action and character to appeal to both the modern sci-fi action sensibilities while still being an intelligent film.
Is it perfect? No. Is it a ton of fun? Absolutely. And with the way that Abrams's sensibilities as a filmmaker speak to me, it would be impossible to leave it off of the list.
42. Star Trek Into Darkness
The new Star Trek franchise has been relatively well received thus far but there are definitely many fans of the original series that don't really care for it as they feel like it doesn't have the same intellectual depth of the old Star Trek they're used to. That's fine. I never really watched the original Star Trek TV shows or films, so I'm just judging them based on how much I enjoyed them as films. JJ Abrams' Star Trek films definitely work for me, and while Into Darkness is definitely not as good as Star Trek (2009) was, it does have a significantly stronger villain in Kahn portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch (Eric Bana's Nero in the first film was kind of bland but still effective and the movie as a whole was so great that it worked fine for the film.
It was great to see the continuation of the dynamic between Kirk and Spock in this film and how the relationship between the two characters grew. The tone of the film, as is typical in sequels, is darker than its predecessor, which works given the differences in the narrative between this movie and the first film. Also, JJ Abrams does a great job with this film in the visuals. I love Abrams and his visual style (lens flares and all) and there are some spectacularly shot sequences in this film, which like its predecessor, has a very kinetic feeling to it as the camera is seemingly always in motion but keeps that motion smooth enough as to not be nauseating. I'm also a sucker for infrared camera work so the opening sequence in the forest (shot entirely with infrared cameras, hence the red leaves effect) was a treat for me.
JJ also does a great job of pulling strong performances out of all of the actors, from Cumberbatch's Kahn and Chris Pine's Kirk all the way down the line to Simon Pegg's Scotty and the late Anton Yelchin's Chekhov.
I know not a lot of people are as huge of fans of this film as I am, which is fine, but I really liked it. I think it's incredibly entertaining, and has the right balance of action and character to appeal to both the modern sci-fi action sensibilities while still being an intelligent film.
Is it perfect? No. Is it a ton of fun? Absolutely. And with the way that Abrams's sensibilities as a filmmaker speak to me, it would be impossible to leave it off of the list.