I've got mixed feelings on the Star Trek "reboot". On one hand it was an enjoyable movie and it was good to see it do well to hopefully jumpstart the franchise, maybe even helping bring about a new TV series. On the other hand, it threw out canon of the Trek universe.
Zachary Quinto, left, as Spock and Chris Pine as Kirk helped revive the "Star Trek" film series in J.J. Abrams' 2009 reboot. Here, the pair costar in a scene in the movie, "Star Trek Into Darkness." Zade Rosenthal / AP/Paramount Pictures
The reviews are in and Star Trek Into Darkness, the second big screen adventure helmed by J.J. Abrams, has joined his 2009 reboot with critics’ phasers set on stunning.
Good news for the crew headed by Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto as the younger Kirk and Spock.
Darkness joins 11 previous films which featured the original 1960s William Shatner-led cast and the Next Generation group led by Patrick Stewart.
Here are the best pre-Darkness cinematic voyages of the Enterprise.
1. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986). The one Star Trek film anyone can love. After saving Spock, the stranded crew time-travel back to Earth and the 20th century on a rickety Klingon vessel where they encounter boom boxes, public transportation and a pair of humpback whales who hold the key to the planet’s survival in their songs.
Comedy, heart and an ecological message that still resounds, IV, is Star Trek at its most relevant and charming.
2. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982). The Enterprise crew discover that Ricardo Montalban’s genetically enhanced Khan, the villain of 1967’s classic Space Seed episode, is alive on Ceti Alpha V. He’s gained an impressive chest, some killer quips, and he’s after Project Genesis. No, not the lost Phil Collins album, but rather a terraforming device that can reorganize matter to make, as well as destroy, planets. Hokey but great fun. Originally planned to be the final installment, hence the emotional ending that finds the cast saying farewell to a beloved member. Look for a thin, pre- Dancing With the Stars Kirstie Alley in her first feature film role.
3. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984). They say the even-numbered Treks are the best, but we saw Star Trek: Nemesis, the 10th entry, and we say balderdash to that theory. The thrilling III marks the directorial debut of Leonard Nimoy and it’s a grand, darker adventure than the previous two films.
4. Star Trek (2009). Battered by Insurrection and Nemesis, two less than stellar entries featuring the Next Generation cast, the Enterprise appeared to be dry-docked for good. Then Abrams, in a reboot rivaling that of the Batman and James Bond film series’, recaptured the zest Gene Roddenberry’s creation had petered away on one-too-many movies and banal TV spin-offs. Time travel, alternate universes and two Spocks for the price of one helped this eponymous effort outgross every other entry at the box office.
5. Star Trek IV: The Undiscovered Country (1991). William Shatner almost killed the series with his ham-fisted direction of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier two years earlier. Khan director Nicholas Meyer returned for a film initially conceived as a prequel (that idea would have to wait for 18 years). Instead, Nimoy suggested a contemporary update pegged to the end of the Cold War as the Enterprise must negotiate a peace treaty with the Klingons. Smart and engaging, VI marked the final film with the original cast. The Next Generation cast would appear in the next four films but only the eighth, Star Trek: First Contact (1996), would score high with critics and fans.
Read Miami Herald movie critic Rene Rodriguez’s review of Star Trek Into Darkness.
Star Trek Into Darkness Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Benedict Cumberbatch, Peter Weller, Bruce Greenwood Directed by: J.J. Abrams Running time: 133 minutes Parental Guidance: violence
Perhaps it was the sensuous tingle of nostalgia that poured from its twin nacelles that made that second coming of the original franchise so attractive. Or maybe it was the bittersweet frisson of reconnecting with an intimate friend, but whatever the mystery ingredient may have been in that intoxicating 2009 Star Trek, it’s not all there in the double-stuffed Into Darkness.
A fluffy popcorn movie with endless special effects and plenty of plotlines to chew on, there’s no doubt director J. J. Abrams was very busy over the course of shooting this long-gestating “prequel sequel” — which isn’t just an awkward turn of phrase, it’s an ugly reality of the modern movie business and its lack of risk and imagination.
But it’s not Abrams’s fault the film is boxed by franchise expectations, and all its prequel-sequel ridiculousness. And it’s not his fault he had to please young and old, hardcore and casual fan alike in order to succeed.
But it is his fault the film lacks a sense of true aim.
Pulling out of space port in a hurry, we pick up the golden threads of Jim Kirk’s shirt and life story as he’s about to violate the prime directive: interfere with the natural order of history and evolution by saving an entire world from self-combusting.
The whole setting will immediately make the older Trekkie feel right a home: An alien planet where the trees are red and the native humanoids wear loincloths. It’s all a little over the top, and the moment we see Jim running frenzied through the ruddy forest screaming, we can almost conjure a tummy-tucked Shatner sitting on some cosmic barstool 20 years hence relating the yarn of how he really is a god — on one planet, at least.
It’s almost too goofy, but the scene is saved by realistic digital 3D scenery, and a notable lack of crepe paper and Styrofoam.
The point is, it conjures the old-style show all the same, which proves Abrams and screenwriter-producers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman understood where to strike a balance between sci-fi camp and earnest pathos.
This is important because it’s in the friction zone between these two that Gene Roddenberry mined the very essence of the modern human condition.
On the chintzy, spray-painted surface, the original Star Trek looked downright silly as it featured green women in purposely revealing William Ware Theiss costumes. But hidden in the shimmering folds of painted skin were socially progressive messages about everything from civil rights to Vietnam.
Star Trek boldly went where no other TV series dared go, which is why there was a slight sigh of disappointment in this movie’s sprawling approach to story.
From an arc about violating the prime directive, to a ragged homegrown terrorist plot and a thickening Spock-Kirk bromance, Abrams and his heroic cast and crew hurl themselves around the bridge to hit the story points, while Scotty screams the obvious: “The warp story engines can’t hold any longer!”
The reality is: Time has sped up, of late. Every cut is shorter, and every scene is a mish-mash of 3D effects and dizzying action because moviemakers know our attention spans aren’t long enough to endure a 10-second ad on YouTube.
So they stuff the studio casing with endless spectacle, and hope we’ll be satisfied by the sensation of being full, if not necessarily moved. Because sometimes, you just want to stuff something in your bun.
But Star Trek demands so much more than sausage, and while Orci and Kurtzman pay homage to the original series with nods to classic episodes, they fail to articulate any single meaningful point to the whole exercise.
The characters suffer a similar fate. With little dramatic dialogue to really work with, they end up over-emphasizing the techie “hull-breach-blah-blah” to land some thespian punches.
Again, this is par for the Starfleet course, but to sustain an entire feature film, you really need to feel the throbbing pulse of a thematic warp core, and this movie burns in shuddering starts and spurts as the main thrusters intermittently go offline, allowing this pimped-out 3D vehicle to drift into the yawning void of formula goodies and baddies.
Not that the man with the showbusiness-defying name, Benedict Cumberbatch, isn’t fun to watch as the “franchise newcomer,” or that Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto don’t have plenty of chemistry as Kirk and Spock. They both capture the emotional and spiritual likeness of their predecessors and make us believe in the continuous depth of the Star Trek universe.
The same could be said for every character who gets a chance to chisel out a hint of new dimension, from Uhura (Zoe Saldana) to Chekov (Anton Yelchin), not to mention the sorrowfully underused Mr. Scott (Simon Pegg) and Bones (Karl Urban).
It’s the obviousness of it all that keeps these solid characters from truly flourishing, hindering this Trek’s ability to really connect at a deeper level.
Star Trek Into Darkness still has the explosive power of high-end entertainment. And it features some crafty allusions to other movies in the genre, but it’s as artful as a shotgun blast. It hits the mark, but shreds the entire target, leaving nothing behind but the hook — and its unspoken promise: “There’s more where that came from.”
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May 15 2013 11:57 AM EDT 'Star Trek' Baddie Benedict Cumberbatch Reveals Role's Biggest Challenge
'I did have to physically remove myself on a couple of occasions,' he tells MTV News of trying not to get too close to the group offscreen.
By Todd Gilchrist, with reporting by Josh Horowitz (@joshuahorowitz)
In "Star Trek Into Darkness," Benedict Cumberbatch plays John Harrison, a would-be terrorist who sets his sights on Starfleet for reasons that may lead to intergalactic war.
But joining an ensemble cast whose collegial familiarity with one another is palpable both on and off screen, Cumberbatch said he struggled occasionally to keep his villainous character separate from folks he would otherwise characterize as friends.
"The only hardship of playing that kind of a character is that I did have to physically remove myself on a couple of occasions," Cumberbatch told MTV News. "To just get my game on, set my head straight and realize that there was glass, literal and figurative, between my character and their characters."
J.J. Abrams Calls 'Star Trek' Film 'Best Version Of What It Could Have Been'
Cumberbatch said he deeply admired the familial energy shared by the actors who starred in the first "Star Trek." "As a fan of the first one, it so came across, and that was the joyous thing about it," Cumberbatch explained. "You thought you'd known these characters, not just because you were re-creating iconic characters from this franchise, but because of the chemistry between you. And it just seemed effortless, because you were being so bold, and such light touches at the same time."
"Star Trek Into Darkness" was directed by J.J. Abrams, who helmed the 2009 "Star Trek" reboot and helped develop the ensemble that is now associated with the franchise. Abrams credits great casting directors and collaborations for the natural chemistry his actors share onscreen. "The extraordinary casting directors helped us find these actors that literally were a dream to work with," he said.
"You can't look at any one of them in a vacuum," he added, explaining how important it was that every actor contributed to the ensemble as a whole. "You have to say, 'Well, how does he or she work with everyone else?' And the beautiful thing was that, to a person, this cast was elevating every scene they were in — the best version of what it could have been."
The Enterprise crew talks about 'Star Trek Into Darkness' (interview)
By Charlie McCollum, San Jose Mercury News
Posted: 05/15/2013 09:24:23 AM PDT
Updated: 05/15/2013 09:25:37 AM PDT
The Enterprise in battle in 'Star Trek Into Darkness' (Industrial Light & Magic/Paramount) (Industrial Light & Magic/Paramou)
Every captain needs a crew -- even a captain like James Tiberius Kirk of the Federation starship Enterprise.
From the very beginning of "Star Trek," some 700-plus TV episodes and 12 films ago, the voyages of the Enterprise have been all about the ensemble. With the original crew, William Shatner's Kirk and Leonard Nimoy's Spock may have taken center stage but Bones, Scotty, Sulu and Uhura were never mere window dressing. In "The Next Generation," it may have been Captain Jean-Luc Picard's ship, but Riker, Worf, Data, Geordi and Dr. Crusher were always right up front.
Director J.J. Abrams has continued that ensemble feel in the two films that have rebooted what had been a moribund franchise: "Star Trek" in 2009 and the new "Star Trek Into Darkness," which comes out Friday. Chris Pine as Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock do a lot of the heavy lifting, but all of the Enterprise's bridge crew get their moments.
It's one of the reasons being part of the new "Trek" is so appealing to actors like Simon Pegg (Scotty) and John Cho (Sulu), back for another voyage in "Darkness," and newcomer Alice Eve, who takes on the role of Dr. Carol Marcus, a key figure in "Star Trek" lore.
Returning to the Enterprise was "eerily similar" to the first film "even with the cast additions," says Cho during a recent visit to San Francisco. "We were playing the same characters, we were wearing the same costumes and doing it on the same sets.
"It was almost as if no time had elapsed at all. And the new cast members folded right into the vibe."
Pegg, who has jokingly suggested that the crew gets its full share of screen time because "Chris Pine is a little less of a camera hog than Bill Shatner," says things were even easier on the set the second time around. "We'd done it once before, so we didn't have the burden of debut," he notes, "and we were able to hit the ground running."
For her part, Eve says that she and fellow newcomer Benedict Cumberbatch (the star of TV's "Sherlock" who plays the main villain) "were really welcomed by everyone involved. J.J. (Abrams) set a tone that is a very familial tone, and a very jovial atmosphere exists on the set, even when we're dealing with serious stuff."
"Into Darkness" gives Cho, Eve and particularly Pegg their chances in the spotlight. Eve helps defuse a proton torpedo and takes her swings at Cumberbatch's villain. Cho gets to man the captain's chair in a faceoff with a powerful starship. ("It's not the most comfortable chair in the world," says Cho, laughing. "It could use a few cashmere throws.")
And Pegg? Well, let's just say Scotty gets to do more than tell Kirk he isn't sure warp drive will come back online.
"Scotty makes a big decision early on in the film that affects his journey," says Pegg. "He doesn't expect that decision to go the way it does. He stands up for himself and for his beliefs and honestly believes Kirk will see sense. But Kirk doesn't, because, at that point, he's blinded by his own emotional attachment to what's going on.
"So Scotty gets to have a little arc where he's off the Enterprise and out of his comfort zone. He would be perfectly happy spending his time in the warp core and fiddling with things."
As they wrap up publicity for "Into Darkness," the three actors are off to other things.
Cho is taking a bit of a break because "I have a newborn kid I've been told I have to spend some time with before I get divorced." But he's in the cast of Fox's new fall series, "Sleepy Hollow." Eve has wrapped up "Cold Comes the Night," a crime thriller with Bryan Cranston, that should be out later this year.
Pegg returns later this summer with Edgar Wright's apocalypse spoof, "The World's End." He also is the film's co-writer, as he was for Wright's "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz."
All three expect to be back onboard the Enterprise for a third trip sometime in the near future, although Pegg notes that "nothing's been said, because before a film comes out, you never want to hedge your bets and to be so bold as to say there's going to be another one."
But it sounds as if none believes that Abrams -- who has a lot on his plate including the reboot of "Star Wars" -- will be around to direct, although he will return as producer and general guiding light of the franchise. And they expect him to pick a worthy successor.
"There's no way J.J. would hand this over to anyone he had any doubts about," says Pegg. "There's no way he'll let 'Star Trek' go unless it's in safe hands."
For film news and more, follow Charlie McCollum at Twitter.com/charlie_mccollu.
'STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS'
Rating: PG-13 (for sci-fi violence and intense images)
Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana and Benedict Cumberbatch
Director: J.J. Abrams
Running time: 2 hours, 3 minutes
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By Owen Gleiberman, EW.com
updated 12:21 PM EDT, Fri May 17, 2013
Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine portray Spock and Kirk, respectively, in 2013's "Star Trek Into Darkness."
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
J.J. Abrams rebooted the "Star Trek" franchise with swagger in 2009
The sequel "Into Darkness" gives the actors more room to dig deep into their roles
The movie has an often sinister grandeur, but that never overpowers the human factor
(EW.com) -- "Star Trek Into Darkness" opens on a primitive planet, where the natives are restless and a volcano, in mid-eruption, traps First Officer Spock (Zachary Quinto) over a boiling ocean of lava.
Naturally, the Vulcan stays cool as a cucumber, ready to die to save his crew -- an impeccably logical decision that also happens to be the compassionate one. But Capt. James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), commander of the U.S.S. Enterprise, has other ideas. He'll rescue Spock, even if that means violating a Federation rule that says the Enterprise can't be exposed to the planet's uncivilized hordes.
Kirk, who never met a regulation he couldn't trash, guides the starship up into the air and over to where his comrade is about to perish, and the white-mud-caked warriors stare at the ship as if it were a god. It's a sensation that the movie transmits to the audience, since the Enterprise, emitting an awesome thrummm, never looked quite so massive or looming.
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Four years ago, director J.J. Abrams rebooted the "Star Trek" franchise with great swagger by treating the launch film as a unique pop culture origin story. The movie was all about how the Enterprise crew first came together, but really it was about how Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto rose up to become those superheroes of yore, Kirk and Spock, by echoing the looks, voices, and personalities of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy just enough, while still making the roles their own.
The two actors now really have a chance to get their Kirk and Spock on. Pine, with ice blue eyes and lips that dance on the edge of a smirk, does something marvelously clever: He evokes Shatner's hamminess by underplaying it. And Quinto makes the glowering, dagger-browed Spock almost fiercely withholding. "Into Darkness" provides room for these actors to deepen their interplay. The movie has an often sinister grandeur, but the images never overpower the human (or Vulcan) factor.
Like Abrams' first "Trek" movie, this one is positioned as a prequel to the original TV series and subsequent films, though it also lifts (and twists) elements from that sacred text, 1982's "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan." Kirk and Spock, each following his own nature (one's a hothead, the other a detached brainiac), are usually at loggerheads.
Even when they wind up coming to the same conclusion they can't stop arguing about how they got there, and that's part of the movie's texture of cocky one-upmanship.
The whole Enterprise crew has become a collection of colliding egos. Zoë Saldana's Uhura, who's in the middle of a lovers' quarrel with Spock; John Cho as the so-stoic-he's-cool Sulu; Simon Pegg's frantically funny and resourceful Scotty — these characters pop out at us with a new dynamism. And they all confront a villain who has been brilliantly retrofitted to throw everyone, including the audience, off-guard.
This dastardly dude is a boyish-looking terrorist named John Harrison, who starts off by striking a note of urban chaos. But it's not long before he's revealed to be — how can I say this? — a foe familiar to Trekkies, with a concealed agenda and 70 of his comrades cryogenically frozen in photon-torpedo capsules.
He's played by rising British star Benedict Cumberbatch in a totally original way, with the physicality of a dancer and an eager, puckish sincerity that ingeniously disguises his vengeful mission. Once Harrison's been captured and placed in a cell, Kirk has to listen to his own hunches about who this man is and what he wants. That's the real ''darkness'' the film's title is referring to: the place where you're no longer certain of the right thing. And that's a place of genuine excitement.
"Into Darkness" is a sleek, thrilling epic that's also a triumphantly witty popcorn morality play. It's everything you could want in a "Star Trek" movie.
Grade: "A"
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'Star Trek' boldly goes where no film has gone before …
Richard Carter/Special to the Times Record News
Posted May 17, 2013 at 11:51 a.m.
Photo by Zade Rosenthal
Uhura (Zoe Saldana, left), Spock (Zachary Quinto) and the rest of the Enterprise pursue a villain capable of mass destruction in “Star Trek Into Darkness.” The film opens in theaters this weekend. Paramount Pictures, Zade Rosethal
NEXT rating: B+
What I liked the least about “Star Trek Into Darkness” is its title. But let me just say upfront that I recommend this fast summertime sci-fi action adventure, and that those who watch it should do so with two fists full of soft drink and popcorn.
The J.J. Abrams-directed movie brings back his playfully-cast Enterprise crew members for the second go-round in his reboot of the classic '60s “Star Trek” TV show. Along with some great villainy, the new film touts good dialogue, special effects and action sequences.
Abrams and his writers do take liberties with the storylines of the beloved '60s “Star Trek” show and the 6 1/2 feature-length movies that followed (including “Star Trek Generations” from 1994). But I don’t think loyalists will be extremely offended, though it's highly unlikely they will stay quiet about their beloved characters and show.
I did feel myself wanting to ask “What about. . .” more than a few times. But the bottom line really is that Abrams' reboot is not necessarily your father’s “Star Trek,” and why should it have to be?
The new flick incorporates a very cool tribbles subplot, and without giving anything away, the film borrows heavily from a specific storyline from the first series and plays with it a lot.
While Abrams’ first “Star Trek” (2009) sets up the crew and puts the make-his-own-rules Kirk (Chris Pine) into the captain’s chair of the famous starship, the second film starts in the middle of a hectic mission that goes wrong.
Kirk breaks the Prime Directive (by allowing natives to see the Enterprise ship) while rescuing the ever-so-logical Spock (Zachary Quinto) from the middle of a volcano that’s about to go nuclear.
The starship is then called back to Earth, with the brash Kirk expecting to be given a five-year assignment to seek out new worlds. Instead, he is demoted to second in command of the Enterprise, and Spock is reassigned.
Meanwhile, a huge explosion rocks 23rd century San Francisco. The terror act is pinned on a genetically enhanced John Harrison (an imposing Benedict Cumberbatch), who also happens to be a brilliant scientist.
Harrison then attacks Starfleet Adm. Marcus (Peter Weller) during his meeting with Kirk and the other starship captains, including Kirk’s mentor, Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood). Pike is killed, and Kirk vows to travel to the Klingon planet where Harrison transported.
Marcus orders Kirk to launch 72 undetectable photon torpedoes to destroy Harrison, but the mission starts to go wrong from the beginning when Scotty (brilliant English comedian Simon Pegg) refuses to sign off on the weapons for peace reasons and quits his post. And as Scotty is leaving the ship, a mysterious science officer, Carol (Alice Eve), talks her way onto the Enterprise.
The mission is dogged again when the Enterprise has issues with its warp drive, which is frantically being looked after by Ensign Chekov (Anton Yelchin). Kirk changes Marcus’ orders and decides to capture Harrison instead.
The movie is filled with fast action battle sequences with plenty of room for the classic rebooted crew members to be colorful, strong and slightly crazy. The humor is pretty great, and characters like Bones (Karl Urban) and Scotty are way more off-the-wall hilarious than they are serious.
Uhura (Zoe Saldana) is loads more fun than her '60s character, especially as Spock’s girlfriend who can take charge in a skirmish. I also enjoyed the mostly straightforward and occasionally serious Sulu (John Cho).
But if anyone steals the movie, it’s Scotty. It’s a shame they couldn’t have found a spot in the movie for Pegg’s frequent sidekick, Nick Frost.
“Star Trek Into Darkness” works well because of the “interesting” relationship between Kirk and Spock, the fun secondary characters, and the evil Harrison.
Throw in a pretty good storyline that mostly makes sense and that most viewers will recognize, some entertaining action sequences and some strong villainy, and “Star Trek into Darkness” is a fun couple of hours at the summer movies.
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence
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Trekkies and moviegoers around the globe have been very vocal with their criticism about one particular scene in the new Star Trek Into Darkness movie.
A short scene in the blockbuster that features a semi nude Alice Eve has caused such furore that the film's producer has publicly apologised for it.
Damon Lindelof used his Twitter account to say sorry for the clip which has been deemed 'misogynistic' and unnecessary by some viewers.
He posted: 'I copped to the fact that we should have done a better job of not being gratuitous in our representation of a barely clothed actress.'
The troublesome scene sees Eve's character Dr Carol Marcus get undressed out of her work clothes in front of Captain Kirk, played by Chris Pine.
The rather racy shot, which was also heavily featured in the trailer for the film, has been questioned for its surplus nature.
Lindelof, who produced blockbusters Prometheus and Cowboys & Aliens and wrote the screenplay for Brad Pitt's World War Z, gave his own explanation for the redundant scene.
While he appeared to apologise for the semi nude shot, he also partially defended it by referencing Captain Kirk's various topless scenes in both movies.
He continued: 'We also had Kirk shirtless in underpants in both movies, [but I] do not want to make light of something that some construe as mysogenistic.
'What I'm saying is I hear you, I take responsibility and will be more mindful in the future.' (sic)
Female fans will surely be hoping Lindelhof's next screenplay, Tomorrowland, features plenty of shirtless scenes as it stars heartthrobs George Clooney and Hugh Laurie.
The futuristic sci-fi film is based on one of the many popular theme lands at the five Disney theme parks around the world.
Personally, I'm failing to see what the problem is. I am officially declaring there is no criticism here!
Thanks nerds for reinforcing stereotypes of all Star Trek fans!
New Star Trek Movie On The Horizon
J.J. Abrams Calls 'Star Trek' Film 'Best Version Of What It Could Have Been'
The Enterprise in battle in 'Star Trek Into Darkness' (Industrial Light & Magic/Paramount) (Industrial Light & Magic/Paramou)
Photo by Zade Rosenthal
Originally Posted by Rick Donaldson
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