Star Trek Into Darkness
Rating: 3 out of 5
Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldana, Alice Eve, Anton Yelchin, Karl Urban, John Cho, Bruce Greenwood, Peter Weller.
Directed by: J.J. Abrams
Duration: 133 min.
Parental guidance: violence.
Playing at: Angrignon, Banque Scotia, Brossard, Cavendish, Colossus, C?te des Neiges, Kirkland, Lacordaire, March? Central, Sources, Sph?retech, Taschereau cinemas
MONTREAL - Less than a week after Chris Hadfield and company ended their five- month sojourn in space by touching down safely on their home planet, the members of the Starship Enterprise are setting out on another tour of duty.
Picking up where the rebooted franchise left off in 2009, Star Trek Into Darkness is an action and quip-fuelled 3D barrage that has more to do with modern blockbuster entertainment norms than the cerebral dilemmas of Capt. James T. Kirk and his crew in the original TV series.
That's clear from the spectacular, albeit ? like much of this film ? overly digitized chase sequence that opens the proceedings. Think Indiana Jones and spear-throwing natives and you're beginning to get the picture. It's not the first and won't be the last time in his career that director J.J. Abrams pays homage to hero Steven Spielberg.
After saving a faraway planet and breaking all the rules in the process, the Enterprise is grounded, young Kirk (Chris Pine) demoted, and he and Spock (Zachary Quinto) separated. This can't last, obviously ? we have a movie to watch.
A terrorist attack throws the world into chaos, and before long, Kirk and Spock are reunited in interplanetary pursuit of dastardly bad guy Commander John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch, a.k.a. Sherlock Holmes for BBC viewers).
He's holed up on the abandoned Klingon home world of Kronos. Things get tense when Harrison is taken prisoner aboard the Enterprise. And that's about all we'll say about plot. Not that plot has much to do with anything here. There is one, but it's all over the place, much like the near-constant barrage of activity interspersed with in-jokes about characters we know all too well.
The mischievous fun of Abrams's 2009 Star Trek hinged on gently mocking the self-seriousness of a stale franchise. That jocular tone has become the default setting in this hyperactive followup. Wisecracks regarding Spock's extreme logic are a dime a dozen, while Kirk's hot head, McCoy's (Karl Urban) earnestness, Chekhov's (Anton Yelchin) franticness and Scotty's (Simon Pegg) colourful Scottish vernacular are thrown in free of charge.
Pegg earns himself increased screen time with a characteristically enthusiastic performance. But the women get short shrift: Zoe Saldana returns as communications officer, and Spock's frustrated love interest, Uhura; and Alice Eve is newcomer Dr. Carol Marcus (whom in Star Trek lore bears a child with Kirk); and that's about it ? this is a guy's movie.
The real revelation is Cumberbatch, who steals the show as the film's alluring yet evil antagonist. His true identity, revealed in the homestretch, will be a treat (and provide fodder for spirited debate) to hardcore Trekkies.
Abrams wraps things up in open-ended fashion, leaving the door (and galaxy) wide open for further adventures of the Enterprise. Hopefully, the next instalment will see this new "next generation" match the director's ever-reliable entertainment value with a bit more substance.
tdunlevy@montrealgazette.com
Twitter: tchadunlevy
Source: http://www.montrealgazette.com/Review+Star+Trek+Into+Darkness+video/8395162/story.html
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