Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
Directed by J.J. Abrams
When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.
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19 films that influenced Star Trek Into Darkness
What critics say influenced Star Trek Into Darkness
Clearly, it’s not the perfect geek storm of an opening gambit that evokes not only the old-school boldly-going adventures of the crew of the starship Enterprise but also — hilariously — Raiders of the Lost Ark. Yeah, in a Star Trek movie.
Within the tortured jags and zigs of the turn-laden plot in all its slash-fiction-fanfic finery, there’s room for an opening that draws on “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” a shuttlecraft that mimics the evasive maneuvers of a certain Millennium Falcon, and echoes of 9/11 that at first seem as sour as “Cloverfield.”
The chase sequence, complete with tribe of humanoids who blink up instead of down, is loaded with sharp color contrast probably to wow viewers in the 3D exhibitions but it’s still just a blatant reference to the opening escape sequence in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Elsewhere, however, the screenplay’s cold Vulcan logic becomes apparent (particularly when it rips-off, nearly wholesale, emotional cues that have proven effective in previous instalments, or, as in the opening sequence, Raiders of the Lost Ark).
The story starts with a " Raiders of the Lost Ark "-like action sequence: Kirk, Spock and the gang are embroiled in a secret mission on a red jungle planet filled with superstitious tribespeople whose lives are threatened by a volcanic eruption.
Fans of “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” will be delighted or annoyed by the overt references and parallels to that film, including one over-the-top nod that is so forcefully wedged into the story that it’s unintentionally funny.
Yet he also sets an exhilarating new course in this nimbly twisting feature, which pays homage to 1982's Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Every time the film reminds me of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, I thought it was nice for a moment, but just for that moment.
While the film may borrow heavily from previous even-numbered Star Trek films (the twisty plot of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, the relentless action and pace of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and the friendly humor of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home), it also establishes its own identity.
As in the successful 2009 reboot, the blockbuster machinery overwhelms everything else, though this hardly matters because everything else is recycled: characters (the wicked Khan, played here by Benedict Cumberbatch), conflicts (the stale debate over logic versus emotion), and themes (weepy male romance as Spock watches Kirk expire inside a quarantine chamber, just as Kirk watched Spock die in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan).
Messy plotting seldom detracts from the proceedings, although it’s worth pointing out that the movie owes a major debt to the well-reviewed Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, released in 1982.
An acolyte of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg (and who has recently landed the most thankless job in all of Hollywood: taking over Disney’s first Star Wars movie), Abrams knows how to wrench pure entertainment from serial-like action, while keeping a healthy dash of humor front and center.
Seriously, people, how does one guy end up in charge of both the “Star Trek” and “Star Wars” reboots?
Many sci-fi franchises – including “Star Wars,” “Alien” and the initial big-screen launch of “Star Trek” – hit their golden moment in the second coming (“The Wrath of Khan,” “Aliens” and “The Empire Strikes Back”).
Into Darkness treats them as banter during a chase sequence that plays like some geek-dream mashup of Indiana Jones and Star Wars .
The film’s 15-minute prologue, set on a planet covered with red trees, gives you a taste of what Abrams’ take on the next Star Wars (due in 2015) will feel like.
Can Kirk convince the admiral (Peter Weller of “Robocop”) that only he can save the day?
The terrorist is identified as one John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch, "Starter for 10," BBC's 'Sherlock'), a Starfleet captain from 300 years earlier, who has fled to an uninhabited area of Kronos, a Klingon planet, and Commander Marcus ("Robocop" himself, Peter Weller) reinstates Kirk to take the Enterprise and fire the missiles Harrison's outfitted with his cryogenically preserved crew into his hideout, risking war with the Klingons, in "Star Trek: Into Darkness."
With that now famous Alan Rickman-like baritone growl, he throws himself into the character of John Harrison, a British spy turned rogue terrorist whose devastating attack on London sees Kirk pursue him to the far reaches of the galaxy in order to bring him to justice one way or another (given those orders come from Robocop 's Peter Weller as Starfleet's admiral, it was a small shame he didn't actually say "Harrison, dead or alive, you're coming with me").
Admiral Marcus (Peter Weller, more than a quarter-century after he starred in RoboCop) is Pike’s superior and Carol’s dad; his galactic trigger finger proves even itchier than Kirk’s.
The crew is reassembled for a covert mission directed by Admiral Marcus (Robocop’s Peter Weller) to track down and eliminate the enemy leader, who goes by the innocuous name of John Harrison.
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The film was partially shot in IMAX — certain scenes go full-screen, a stylistic choice that Christopher Nolan used in The Dark Knight — and was post-converted to 3D.
J.J. Abrams wanted Star Trek Into Darkness to be the revived franchise's The Dark Knight.
It leaves fans wondering what’s next in the franchise, which will surely make Paramount happy, but doesn’t stand on its own like the truly great part twos (“The Dark Knight,” “The Empire Strikes Back”).
As Harrison, Benedict Cumberbatch looks like he was sculpted by a forensic artist to model for London Fog, and his sinister plot is only unexpected because future governments haven't seen "The Dark Knight" or "Skyfall."
But I'm not sure you can pull off an improved sequel—almost an expectation, in the world of The Dark Knight and Spider-Man 2— without some real, deep affection for the material.
Anyone who’s seen Skyfall or The Avengers , The Dark Knight or Abrams’ own Mission: Impossible III , will recognize this textbook tactic in establishing villainous bona fides.
If Cumberbatch was trying to reach the intensity level of Anthony Hopkins in "The Silence of the Lambs" (for which Hopkins received an Oscar in 1991), he comes close.
It leaves fans wondering what’s next in the franchise, which will surely make Paramount happy, but doesn’t stand on its own like the truly great part twos (“The Dark Knight,” “The Empire Strikes Back”).
Many sci-fi franchises – including “Star Wars,” “Alien” and the initial big-screen launch of “Star Trek” – hit their golden moment in the second coming (“The Wrath of Khan,” “Aliens” and “The Empire Strikes Back”).
Look at “The Empire Strikes Back,” for example.
While the film may borrow heavily from previous even-numbered Star Trek films (the twisty plot of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, the relentless action and pace of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and the friendly humor of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home), it also establishes its own identity.
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We have the classic themes of Kirk's gut versus Spock's logic, problems with the Enterprise's engine room (compounded by Scotty's resignation and Chekov's (Anton Yelchin) assumption of the role), a beautiful, unexpected additional scientific officer (Alice Eve, "Starter for 10," "The Raven") who may not be what she seems and even a Tribble (watch for other series references and Abrams' in-jokes).
There’s too much reliance on nostalgia for the original, a bit like Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns in relation to the first two Christopher Reeve films — though, again, with a fresh take on the characters and a new sense of style.