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Star Trek Into Darkness delivers on the promise of the preview

Paul Peterson

Paul Peterson

I was really surprised at the customer resistance to Star Trek Into Darkness. Even as the publicity machine was rolling out one of the best previews I’ve seen in awhile.

I think I understand it. People are measuring the new series with their memories of the old one. It’s a cautionary tale about respecting your audience and not milking your brand for everything it’s worth.
The old Star Trek was just that. Old.
The characters were ancient and it wouldn’t have been a serious reach to see the boys on the bridge manouevering their walkers around.
Into Darkness is none of that.
It’s a brilliant reinvention of a worn out classic. By going back into the early days of Kirk and Spock and all of those well-known characters, he gets to energize them and show us how they became the burnouts we came to know and despise.
I hated Star Trek movies. Well, except for the part where I charged people to get in. I was ok with that.
Director J.J. Abrams knows how to tell a story. He developed Felicity and Alias, and Lost for television – among others. He also wrote one of my favorite movies ‘Regarding Henry’. That’s one of those little gems. More recently he did Super 8 with Spielberg and the first Star Trek prequel. I like his touch.
The action in this film is amazing and relies more on physicality than special effects. There is a fair bit of nerdy science and techno talk but it’s kept to a minimum. The characters are really what hold our interest and Chris Pine as Captain Kirk sets the bar. He’s brash and cocky and knows who he is, but here we get to see a bit of range. His friendship with Spock is developed in a bit more detail or at least explained a bit.
Spock is Spock. His logical roots were established last time out and this time we get to see him learn about friendship and emotions. It’s very intriguing.
 Simon Pegg plays Mr Scott with some homage to the old whiny dude, but his Scotty is  funny and sarcastic and I think steals the show every time he’s on camera. My guess is that Abrams lets his characters run with their own interpretation of who they are and it works.
He also takes liberties with the original story.
Spock has a girlfriend. Communications officer Uhura played by the always lovely Zoe Saldana.
I don’t know the full Star Trek story from back in the day because I was lucky enough to have at least one date in high school but I think this is a new wrinkle and gives Spock a new level of engagement. She loves the guy and so we get to see him through her eyes. She also holds Kirk in some kind of contempt.
It all works.
Bones is less of a force in this year’s model .
The thing is it’s fun.
Khan, who is known to pasty nation from the 2nd or 3rd movie back in the day, is a ruthless killing machine. Thrown in for good measure is a megamanic from the Federation, a rogue Admiral who sets the Enterprise up to fail and looky here. He’s got a hot daughter who wants to help Kirk make the world safe for humanity.
It all works.
I really enjoyed Into Darkness  It held my interest and delivered on the promise of the preview.
There are  a few things you have to watch out for. The film is great, but after I felt this incredible urge to move into my mom’s basement and find a game of Magic online.
Even now I’m wondering if there’s a chat room where I can discuss what I’d like to see in the next Star Wars.
I’m sure I’ll be OK. I’m going to go watch Jack Nicholson in anything and try to reset my cool factor
Other than that, Into Darkness is a great summer watch and I recommend it wholeheartedly.
As always, other opinions are welcome, but wrong. That’s it for this week. The cheque’s in the mail and I’m outta here. Paul

Filed Under: News from Everywhere ElsePaul Peterson

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  1. fed up says:

    Ps–in the interest of clarity (I’m a big nerd) I should point out that Khan was played by Christopher Plummer in “The Wrath of Khan”—and a Shakespeare quoting Khan, at that.

  2. fed up says:

    As a fan from my first glimpse of the tv series in the mid seventies, I take issue with your general ‘dissing’ of the work! However, aside from the very first movie, which was generally perceived as slow and ponderous, I have really enjoyed each and every movie.
    Khan,who first appeared played by Ricardo Montalban (“fine Corinthian leather”), on the tv series, helped make Star Trek 11, “The Wrath of Khan” the real reboot to the story.
    I have been a faithful watcher of every tv series and movie since. Some of the tv series were slow starters(“Deep Space Nine” and “Enterprise”)but swiftly grew and developed into excellent tv fare.
    I am pleased to note that the two movies in this latest reboot of the story have not disappointed me. The casting has been nothing short of brilliant. Promising for the inevitable sequels. In short, the current movie is well worth watching, even for the doubters and the uninitiated.
    If you like adventure and science fiction at all, this movie is for you.

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