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Star Trek Into Darkness – Review
“I am surprised how little improvement there has been in human evolution. Oh, there has been technical advancement, but how little man himself has changed.”
I’m just going to get the most annoying part of this out of the way: Benedict Cumberbatch plays the role of Khan Noonien Singh. I do not consider this a spoiler, as he is clearly listed as such on IMDb. I find this annoying for two reasons: (1) the cast and crew have been denying that Khan would be any part of this film for over a year, and (2) this character would have been much more interesting if there hadn’t been any “twist” at all. Those involved with The Dark Knight Rises made a similar string of disavowals about Marion Cotillard being the daughter of Ra’s Al Ghul, only to have it “revealed” at the end of the film. While I understand the desire of movie makers to keep some aspects of their upcoming films secret before release in an age of non-stop internet gossip, so many of them have cried wolf that future denials will likely be taken as confirmation.
As a second outing, Into Darkness does not quite match up to the quality of J.J. Abram’s 2009 Star Trek. There’s plenty to love, to be sure. The cast is pretty thoroughly excellent as hyperactive versions of the original Trek crew. Newcomers Peter Weller, Alice Eve, and Cumberbatch are just as good as the rest, if not better. There’s a fair amount of honestly funny humor, as well. The special effects seem slightly better than in the 2009 film, with the outrageous interstellar and futuristic earthbound scenes looking more naturalistic than before.
But what is truly concerning about Into Darkness is the bifurcation of the plot. Cumberbatch is most interesting at the beginning when you are told he is a rogue secret agent trying to take down Starfleet from the inside. Once he is revealed to be the genetically engineered tyrant from the 20th century (!) Khan, the film disintegrates into a checklist of callbacks to the 1982 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Khan as a character, nor against him being recycled into the Abrams reboot timeline. Sadly, the rogue agent John Harrison is more intriguing than Khan Noonien Singh. Cumberbatch pulls off both aspects of the character magnificently, and few actors could have pulled it off as well as he. The scenery chewing is simply a part of the character.
Even a new Khan story could have been done well. The slavish callbacks to Wrath of Khan keep Into Darkness from finding a narrative identity of its own, in spite of the promising beginning. Khan would have been a great antagonist if Abrams’ screenwriters had been brave enough to step out of Wrath of Khan‘s significant shadow. A plot that had more to do with the original series episode “Space Seed” could have been far more interesting and appropriate for the Enterprise’s first encounter with the mad tyrant.
There’s some confusing arguments in the film about whether or not Starfleet is a military body. Under Roddenberry’s showrunning, characters constantly claimed that Starfleet was not a military, despite the rather obvious military weaponry on board their ships, and their proclivity for getting involved in military actions. It seemed that Abram’s reboot had also changed Starfleet into a unquestionably military body, with young people enlisting rather than applying to Starfleet Academy, as all Starfleet personnel had to do before the reboot. I had assumed that the military nature of the fleet was obvious in this timeline, but a rather large amount of the plot hinges on a debate about transforming Starfleet into a military body. I’m not sure what the point of this was. Can’t Abram’s writers stay consistent with their own ideas?
I was also disheartened by the utter failure of these screenwriters to acquire even the most basic understanding of astronomy. Perhaps this is in keeping with the Trek tradition of not giving a damn about science, but didn’t anyone involved with this movie watch Apollo 13? If so, they would have known that a disabled ship without momentum does not simply drift from the moon to the earth in ten minutes.
All in all, I expect most people will enjoy Into Darkness well enough. It’s funny, energetic, action-packed, and occasionally charming. I simply feel that this was a missed opportunity to do something greater. With Abrams shifting over to the Star Wars franchise, presumably another director will be taking over for the third installment of the rebooted Trek. I hope that it’s someone with a little more intelligence and a little less attention deficit disorder.
10 Comments
Come on guys, it’s spelt Cumberbatch!
Definitely my bad! It has been corrected.
The whole reboot is a “missed opportunity to do something greater”.
At last a review which echoes my views and opinions and glad to see I wasn’t the only one!
Watching Star Trek 2009 again this was a much better film and in hindsight more faithful (as possible under JJ’s version) to the feeling of Trek as I knew it.
The 2013 film has soo many inconsistencies throughout and surprising how this film is just a rehash of previous Trek films. Kahn as the baddie was a massive mistake not to mention directing stealing key scenes from the wrath of Kahn. Really did they have to do that dying scene again? Seriously did they have to? The film clearly shows a very shallow understanding of the Trek universe by JJ and his script writers especially in key scenes and the end sequence battle – where are Earths defences? Where are other starfleet ships?? Is the Earth really that unprotected especially when Admiral Marcus indicated war with the Klingons?. Why didn’t starfleet send a ship to see why two federation ships were engaged in battle? DOES NOT MAKE SENSE! These ships were inside Earth / Moon orbit!
The film would have been far more enjoyable if the Klingons played a bigger role.
The tone and overall feel to the London scene just felt all wrong. More like Total Recall rather than Trek. Also what is with those grey starfleet uniforms and those hats? Looks more like Nazis in space! Big mistake!
Was it just me or was there too much violence in this film? How many times do you notice fist to face contact? Not to mention other violent scenes.
The score was also dissapointing. Not a patch compared to the first film.
This film had soo much potential but to quote Kirk from Wrath of Kahn “you keep missing the target!”
If they’d stuck with Harrison the rogue agent, that would have been ST:VI rebooted and we have another 3 movies before that can happen.
*shrugs* Maybe the differing reactions are partly a generational thing? As a Reboot-first, TOS-second fan, I only consciously watched the “Wrath of Khan” after seeing “Into Darkness.” So while I knew some of the throwback bits (that Khan existed, a bit of his story, etc.), they didn’t bother me at all or seem disjointed or overdone. I just enjoyed the ride and was very glad to see Khan rather than secret double-agent man, because that would’ve been far less interesting to me. I went with an old school Trek fan, though, and they loved all the WoK references, so … I dunno.
Could the movie have been better? Sure. I was kind of hoping, for instance, that Khan in this alternate timeline need not be inherently evil so much as driven to it by Spock (or others) taking problematic actions based on Old Spock’s history lesson or something, which would have created different and new complications. Realistically, though, for folks who maybe weren’t hoping for something shockingly new so much as deeply entertaining and satisfying on multiple levels, I think “Into Darkness” delivers. It’s possible, though, that in working to be both mainstream-accessible and fan-servicing for Trekkies, the movie doesn’t succeed at being well-crafted science-meets-art. *shrugs* I don’t mind. 🙂
I agree with commenter J., the grey uniforms with the hats were bizarrely militaristic. They have no basis in Star Fleet. Obviously, Star Fleet has a military purpose. When have ever seen a Star Trek episode where Star Fleet officers and their crew involved in the Federation’s war efforts?
Star Fleet is clearly a military organization but one with a mission for scientific and cultural exploration, too.
Finally, how did South Asian Khan Noonien Singh turn into a very pale, blue-eyed white guy?
Genetic engineering?
I actually much preferred “Into Darkness” over the 2009 “Star Trek” film. The 2009 film was cute as a reboot, but in my mind it didn’t really ask very many profound questions, and honestly, I don’t think it called for the depth of acting that “Into Darkness” demanded – and received.
The callbacks were a bit beat-you-over-the-head at places, but honestly maybe that works for a generation most of whom have likely never seen the original.
The new Star Trek continuity certainly does not feel the same as the old one – but I thought “Into Darkness” beautifully captured the components of the first continuity that were most important. I’m greatly hoping that the next film continues more in the footsteps of the ambiguous and thought-provoking “Into Darkness” rather than the action-packed “Star Trek.”
Sorry to be Mary Contrary over here – I’ve just been talking with a die-hard Trek fan friend of mine about our hopes and fears for installment three.
Gotta admit I’d have been annoyed about turning Khan white if it had been anyone but Cumberbatch. For him, I’ll make an exception!
I agree that this second installment of the reboot is a bit disappointing. The biggest problem in my view is any regard for the physical laws of our universe. The Enterprise and other ships seem able to cross gulfs of space in less time than it takes me to get to work in the morning. The Enterprise, a craft built for travel in the vacuum of space, rests on the floor of an alien ocean THEN FLIES OFF. This is utterly preposterous. If you’re going to ignore any sense of reality, then you strip the film of any tension, because the crew really are never in peril as they can just decide to do whatever it takes to save themselves and vanquish the villains. If you are interested in my review of the movie, you’ll find it at my blog.
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