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Star Trek: Into Darkness
Before I review this movie, I want all hard-core Trekkers out there to follow the calming exercises to be found on this video. They will help you to approach this in a calm, relaxed and rational manner that even Sarek would approve of. And if that doesn't help, you can always enjoy this montage of scenes of Commander William T Riker sitting down.
Firstly, the non-spoilery stuff. This is a follow on from 2009's Star Trek, the JJ Abram's reboot of the franchise, and as such features the now familiar Abram's lens-flares in droves. It is fun, exciting, fast-paced, and much more reminiscent of Trek than the effort from 4 years ago. Also, I can guarantee you 100% that the rumours as to which character main villain Benedict Cumberbatch would be playing are absolutely not true.
Now, the spoilery bits. As ever, they inhabit a world beneath the cut...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Still with us? Beware, there will be spoilers.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
No, seriously, this is going to be really, really spoilery. If you don't want to be spoiled, look away now.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I mean it! Last warning! If you read on, you only have yourselves to blame.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Okay, we're clear.
You were warned.
The Original Series episode Space Seed introduced us to possibly the most iconic villain in all of Trek history, the genetically modified superman Khan Noonien Singh, played by the wonderful Ricardo Montalban. Found cryogenically frozen in the SS Botany Bay by the Enterprise, he is brought aboard and unfrozen. At first the Enterprise crew have no idea who they have released, but soon discover they have unleashed the mastermind that nearly destroyed normal Human civilisation in the Eugenics Wars of the 21st century, replacing it with his own twisted vision of genetically-enhanced Übermensch. Of course, after egotistically prattling on about how superior he was, he and his men were then roundly defeated by William Shatner and a large spanner, and exiled on Ceti Alpha V, where fifteen years later, after neighbouring planet Ceti Alpha VI explodes, he escapes to wreak his vengeance upon Kirk by quoting Moby Dick at him, an irritating habit later picked up by Captain Picard in the Next Generation.
Regardless, Khan has become one of, if not the, most iconic villain in Trek history, not least because his actions in Star Trek II led directly to the death of Spock. So iconic is he that Kirk's famous scream of his name has become forever immortalised as the Graph of Khan. The legacy of the character is such that the final Next Generation movie, "Nemesis", would have been in danger of being sued for plagiarism had it not been in the same franchise due to the similarities in plot, tone and villain (and much like Remembrance of the Daleks and Silver Nemesis, the earlier film was very much the superior to the later recycling of plot). And even in the 2009 reboot, the way the villain Nero was written and portrayed owed much to Khan, though of an even more inferrior quality. Khan is, to Trek, what Darth Vader is to Star Wars.
So the rumours that began circulating on the intertubes in late 2011 that Benedict Cumberbatch would be playing Khan in the new movie were met with, at best, caution, and at worst, hostility that often crossed the line into outright psycopathy. Such are the dangers of playing with such treasured icons. Soothing voices occasionally interjected that JJ Abrams wouldn't dare raise the wrath of the Trek hordes by having Khan in the movie; others said that the story was all wrong for Khan as the Enterprise hadn't even started on its 5-year mission yet, let alone run into the SS Botany Bay, so Khan couldn't be the villain; meanwhile, yet others said that if Abrams did do the unthinkable and have Khan as the villain, that Benedict Cumberbatch was probably the best actor out there to do the role.
Why am I talking so much about Khan when I have already guaranteed that Benedict Cumberbatch isn't playing the character? The answer is simple. He isn't.
Or, rather, he's not playing Khan as portrayed by Ricardo Montalban. This Khan is entirely different.
This is a Khan Noonien Singh that you could truly believe once led an army of genetically enhanced super-soldiers in battle to near-victory, that you could believe had a superior intellect, that clearly had a superior physiology, and was, as he said, just better "at everything". Montalban's Khan was charismatic, a man you could have imagined leading in much the same way as populist dictators like Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot or Kim Il Sung, charming the people and using his superior intellect to direct them as a puppet master. In his place, here was a Khan that led by example, a knight-warrior in the cause of Eugenics, who used his superior intellect to obtain victory in the most efficient and effective manner, even if it meant putting himself on the front line. This Khan was cold, cunning, clinical and calculated. No Ceti Eels here to wrap around a victim's brain to force them to try to kill others. Instead, this Khan uses a father's love for his dying child to ensure an atrocity that, itself, is merely the bait in a much wider trap. In many ways, this could be seen as Benedict Cumberbatch sending a message to Marvel saying "See? You should have picked me to play Loki," and indeed there is a scene very reminiscent of the Helicarrier cell scene, which of course the interwebs have picked up on. But, perhaps that is for the best, as if Benedict had got the part of Loki and played him like he played Khan, it would likely have been far, far too dark for Thor and The Avengers, a bit like Bill Moseley's Otis B Driftwood turning up in an episode of Buffy.
But enough of Khan. What about the movie? Well, for a start the plot holds together an awful lot more than the 2009 movie. There are many more layers to the story, with added levels of ambiguity about the innocence of Star Fleet, and mention of a certain Black Ops outfit who have been rather busy of late. Khan's first overt action draws the attention of Star Fleet, who convene an emergency session. But of course, this is standard protocol, and Khan knows this, and Kirk manages to work this out (he does seem to be rather good at getting into the mind of a villain here, which does lend a certain credence to Simon Pegg's pet theory about the reboot) just before all hell breaks loose.
Given leave to pursue Khan into Klingon territory, we have our first look at the reboot universe's Klingons when Kirk leads an undercover capture mission. There are similarities to and differences from the Klingons we know, both the pastie-headed post-Motion-Picture and the gold lamee-weating Puerto Rican klingons of the Original Series, but these come across more as belonging to the army of King Xerxes in 300. Sadly, the Klingons are little more than cannon fodder, as they are completely overwhelmed. This fight scene emphasises just what a deadly opponent Khan actually is, which makes his capture all the more surprising, unless you know a lot about the back-story, in which case much of the rest of the plot suddenly reveals itself like a lotus blossum unfurling in the first rays of a summer sun.
The scene on board the Enterprise when Bones runs tests on Khan's blood then gives away probably the rest of the plot. It's unfortunate, because it means you're now waiting for 45 minutes fully expecting three things to come to pass, which they do. But the way they come to pass is superbly done, with nice tie-ins with both Space Seed and Wrath of Khan (some may complain that they rip off scenes and dialogue, but these are after all meant to be the same characters, and it is only fair to say that they would have at least some of the same thoughts and feelings, and would be likely to say similar things in similar situations), and there is some excellent development of character from both Kirk and Spock.
Not as much, sadly, from the rest of the crew. Karl Urban excells at channeling DeForest Kelly, but is sorely underused. Other than a couple of minor action sequences, Anton Yelchin's Chekov is a background character (Keenser arguably gets more screen time!), and John Cho's Sulu gets just one decent line. Simon Pegg is excellent as ever, although I found his "Scottish" accent to be even patchier than it was in 2009, and compared to the 2009 movie he too doesn't have that much to do, although he does play a key role which brings to mind James Doohan's tinkering in "Search for Spock".
Of the non-SpockKirk regulars, Uhura gets the most screen time and is the most protagonistic, again forwarding herself whenever a situation appears where her skill set can be of use, and taking action when no-one else can think of anything to do. However, much of her motivation seems to be reliant upon her love of Spock rather than her development as a person, which in many ways weakens an otherwise smart, strong and independent character (in one scene, reflecting on how Spock nearly sacrificed himself to save an entire civilisation, her complaint was that he was selfish because he didn't think of her).
Newcomer Dr Carol Marcus (Alice Eve) is the only other named female character in the entire movie (if, as you should, you ignore the brief mention of Nurse Christine Chapel), and thanks to That Scream and That Underwear Shot in the trailers, the odds were already against her. However, her handling of That Underwear Shot (gratuitous though it may be) is one of bored disdain which more than puts Captain Kirk in his place, while That Scream is a reaction to something that would likely have anyone gibbering in horror. Both are more than made up for by her courage, initiative and intelligence, all of which stems from herself, without the need for a love interest to give her strength. I look forward to reading what others make of the lack of strong female characters and the underuse of those they already have in new Trek.
There are, of course, weaknesses to the plot. The climax of the Big Space Battle (there always has to be a Big Space Battle) and the best hope the Enterprise has of surviving, relies on Khan being Just Stupid EnoughTM (this is closely related to "as stupid as the plot requiresTM", which I may have written about previously), but this can be forgiven as simply underestimating his opponents. After all, Khan underestimated the Enterprise and her crew twice in Space Seed and at least three times in Wrath, so it's a well documented character flaw. And once again, where the hell is the rest of Star Fleet? How many times is the Enterprise the only ship in Earth orbit? How can two ships sit exchanging fire within the orbit of the Moon, without another Star Fleet ship at least scanning from a distance?
But, by and large, these weaknesses are forgivable for at least being in the grand tradition of all Trek. The movie makes up for them in spectacle (it is certainly shiny, and that's not just the lens flares - some of the effects shots, especially the nebula next to Qo'noS, are utterly gorgeous), and in the development of Kirk as a character. In the first movie, he seemed to just sort-of fall into the Captain's chair. In this movie, he earned it. The same could be said of JJ Abrams - this is the movie where he earned the right to sit in the Trek director's chair.
It's not classic Trek, it's not Next Generation, DS9, Voyager, or Enterprise, or any of the other expressions of Trek on the screen, big or small. For better or for worse, Abrams' Trek has carved out its own niche in the wider Trek universe, as well as successfully appealing to those who could be politely described as "not traditional Trek fans", and it would not be surprising if this became the most successful movie in the entire Trek franchise, which would be no bad thing. There will, of course, be hard-core Trekkers who will need the relaxation tape above, but likewise there will be hardcore Trekkers who will like what Abrams has done with this movie, the homages to iconic scenes and dialogue that are perfectly suited to the plot, and a sort of background feeling that, after the arguably necessary kick up the proverbial that the franchise needed in 2009, they are slowly getting round to at least recognising the spirit of adventure and exploration that the Original series exemplified, of Rodenberry's vision that humanity is capable of better.
But at the end of the day, before you set course for the second star to the left and straight on 'til morning, the only thing you need to know is that this is a cracker of a movie. And I really, really, should get round to getting a Trek icon one of these days.
9/10
Before I review this movie, I want all hard-core Trekkers out there to follow the calming exercises to be found on this video. They will help you to approach this in a calm, relaxed and rational manner that even Sarek would approve of. And if that doesn't help, you can always enjoy this montage of scenes of Commander William T Riker sitting down.
Firstly, the non-spoilery stuff. This is a follow on from 2009's Star Trek, the JJ Abram's reboot of the franchise, and as such features the now familiar Abram's lens-flares in droves. It is fun, exciting, fast-paced, and much more reminiscent of Trek than the effort from 4 years ago. Also, I can guarantee you 100% that the rumours as to which character main villain Benedict Cumberbatch would be playing are absolutely not true.
Now, the spoilery bits. As ever, they inhabit a world beneath the cut...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Still with us? Beware, there will be spoilers.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
No, seriously, this is going to be really, really spoilery. If you don't want to be spoiled, look away now.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I mean it! Last warning! If you read on, you only have yourselves to blame.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Okay, we're clear.
You were warned.
The Original Series episode Space Seed introduced us to possibly the most iconic villain in all of Trek history, the genetically modified superman Khan Noonien Singh, played by the wonderful Ricardo Montalban. Found cryogenically frozen in the SS Botany Bay by the Enterprise, he is brought aboard and unfrozen. At first the Enterprise crew have no idea who they have released, but soon discover they have unleashed the mastermind that nearly destroyed normal Human civilisation in the Eugenics Wars of the 21st century, replacing it with his own twisted vision of genetically-enhanced Übermensch. Of course, after egotistically prattling on about how superior he was, he and his men were then roundly defeated by William Shatner and a large spanner, and exiled on Ceti Alpha V, where fifteen years later, after neighbouring planet Ceti Alpha VI explodes, he escapes to wreak his vengeance upon Kirk by quoting Moby Dick at him, an irritating habit later picked up by Captain Picard in the Next Generation.
Regardless, Khan has become one of, if not the, most iconic villain in Trek history, not least because his actions in Star Trek II led directly to the death of Spock. So iconic is he that Kirk's famous scream of his name has become forever immortalised as the Graph of Khan. The legacy of the character is such that the final Next Generation movie, "Nemesis", would have been in danger of being sued for plagiarism had it not been in the same franchise due to the similarities in plot, tone and villain (and much like Remembrance of the Daleks and Silver Nemesis, the earlier film was very much the superior to the later recycling of plot). And even in the 2009 reboot, the way the villain Nero was written and portrayed owed much to Khan, though of an even more inferrior quality. Khan is, to Trek, what Darth Vader is to Star Wars.
So the rumours that began circulating on the intertubes in late 2011 that Benedict Cumberbatch would be playing Khan in the new movie were met with, at best, caution, and at worst, hostility that often crossed the line into outright psycopathy. Such are the dangers of playing with such treasured icons. Soothing voices occasionally interjected that JJ Abrams wouldn't dare raise the wrath of the Trek hordes by having Khan in the movie; others said that the story was all wrong for Khan as the Enterprise hadn't even started on its 5-year mission yet, let alone run into the SS Botany Bay, so Khan couldn't be the villain; meanwhile, yet others said that if Abrams did do the unthinkable and have Khan as the villain, that Benedict Cumberbatch was probably the best actor out there to do the role.
Why am I talking so much about Khan when I have already guaranteed that Benedict Cumberbatch isn't playing the character? The answer is simple. He isn't.
Or, rather, he's not playing Khan as portrayed by Ricardo Montalban. This Khan is entirely different.
This is a Khan Noonien Singh that you could truly believe once led an army of genetically enhanced super-soldiers in battle to near-victory, that you could believe had a superior intellect, that clearly had a superior physiology, and was, as he said, just better "at everything". Montalban's Khan was charismatic, a man you could have imagined leading in much the same way as populist dictators like Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot or Kim Il Sung, charming the people and using his superior intellect to direct them as a puppet master. In his place, here was a Khan that led by example, a knight-warrior in the cause of Eugenics, who used his superior intellect to obtain victory in the most efficient and effective manner, even if it meant putting himself on the front line. This Khan was cold, cunning, clinical and calculated. No Ceti Eels here to wrap around a victim's brain to force them to try to kill others. Instead, this Khan uses a father's love for his dying child to ensure an atrocity that, itself, is merely the bait in a much wider trap. In many ways, this could be seen as Benedict Cumberbatch sending a message to Marvel saying "See? You should have picked me to play Loki," and indeed there is a scene very reminiscent of the Helicarrier cell scene, which of course the interwebs have picked up on. But, perhaps that is for the best, as if Benedict had got the part of Loki and played him like he played Khan, it would likely have been far, far too dark for Thor and The Avengers, a bit like Bill Moseley's Otis B Driftwood turning up in an episode of Buffy.
But enough of Khan. What about the movie? Well, for a start the plot holds together an awful lot more than the 2009 movie. There are many more layers to the story, with added levels of ambiguity about the innocence of Star Fleet, and mention of a certain Black Ops outfit who have been rather busy of late. Khan's first overt action draws the attention of Star Fleet, who convene an emergency session. But of course, this is standard protocol, and Khan knows this, and Kirk manages to work this out (he does seem to be rather good at getting into the mind of a villain here, which does lend a certain credence to Simon Pegg's pet theory about the reboot) just before all hell breaks loose.
Given leave to pursue Khan into Klingon territory, we have our first look at the reboot universe's Klingons when Kirk leads an undercover capture mission. There are similarities to and differences from the Klingons we know, both the pastie-headed post-Motion-Picture and the gold lamee-weating Puerto Rican klingons of the Original Series, but these come across more as belonging to the army of King Xerxes in 300. Sadly, the Klingons are little more than cannon fodder, as they are completely overwhelmed. This fight scene emphasises just what a deadly opponent Khan actually is, which makes his capture all the more surprising, unless you know a lot about the back-story, in which case much of the rest of the plot suddenly reveals itself like a lotus blossum unfurling in the first rays of a summer sun.
The scene on board the Enterprise when Bones runs tests on Khan's blood then gives away probably the rest of the plot. It's unfortunate, because it means you're now waiting for 45 minutes fully expecting three things to come to pass, which they do. But the way they come to pass is superbly done, with nice tie-ins with both Space Seed and Wrath of Khan (some may complain that they rip off scenes and dialogue, but these are after all meant to be the same characters, and it is only fair to say that they would have at least some of the same thoughts and feelings, and would be likely to say similar things in similar situations), and there is some excellent development of character from both Kirk and Spock.
Not as much, sadly, from the rest of the crew. Karl Urban excells at channeling DeForest Kelly, but is sorely underused. Other than a couple of minor action sequences, Anton Yelchin's Chekov is a background character (Keenser arguably gets more screen time!), and John Cho's Sulu gets just one decent line. Simon Pegg is excellent as ever, although I found his "Scottish" accent to be even patchier than it was in 2009, and compared to the 2009 movie he too doesn't have that much to do, although he does play a key role which brings to mind James Doohan's tinkering in "Search for Spock".
Of the non-SpockKirk regulars, Uhura gets the most screen time and is the most protagonistic, again forwarding herself whenever a situation appears where her skill set can be of use, and taking action when no-one else can think of anything to do. However, much of her motivation seems to be reliant upon her love of Spock rather than her development as a person, which in many ways weakens an otherwise smart, strong and independent character (in one scene, reflecting on how Spock nearly sacrificed himself to save an entire civilisation, her complaint was that he was selfish because he didn't think of her).
Newcomer Dr Carol Marcus (Alice Eve) is the only other named female character in the entire movie (if, as you should, you ignore the brief mention of Nurse Christine Chapel), and thanks to That Scream and That Underwear Shot in the trailers, the odds were already against her. However, her handling of That Underwear Shot (gratuitous though it may be) is one of bored disdain which more than puts Captain Kirk in his place, while That Scream is a reaction to something that would likely have anyone gibbering in horror. Both are more than made up for by her courage, initiative and intelligence, all of which stems from herself, without the need for a love interest to give her strength. I look forward to reading what others make of the lack of strong female characters and the underuse of those they already have in new Trek.
There are, of course, weaknesses to the plot. The climax of the Big Space Battle (there always has to be a Big Space Battle) and the best hope the Enterprise has of surviving, relies on Khan being Just Stupid EnoughTM (this is closely related to "as stupid as the plot requiresTM", which I may have written about previously), but this can be forgiven as simply underestimating his opponents. After all, Khan underestimated the Enterprise and her crew twice in Space Seed and at least three times in Wrath, so it's a well documented character flaw. And once again, where the hell is the rest of Star Fleet? How many times is the Enterprise the only ship in Earth orbit? How can two ships sit exchanging fire within the orbit of the Moon, without another Star Fleet ship at least scanning from a distance?
But, by and large, these weaknesses are forgivable for at least being in the grand tradition of all Trek. The movie makes up for them in spectacle (it is certainly shiny, and that's not just the lens flares - some of the effects shots, especially the nebula next to Qo'noS, are utterly gorgeous), and in the development of Kirk as a character. In the first movie, he seemed to just sort-of fall into the Captain's chair. In this movie, he earned it. The same could be said of JJ Abrams - this is the movie where he earned the right to sit in the Trek director's chair.
It's not classic Trek, it's not Next Generation, DS9, Voyager, or Enterprise, or any of the other expressions of Trek on the screen, big or small. For better or for worse, Abrams' Trek has carved out its own niche in the wider Trek universe, as well as successfully appealing to those who could be politely described as "not traditional Trek fans", and it would not be surprising if this became the most successful movie in the entire Trek franchise, which would be no bad thing. There will, of course, be hard-core Trekkers who will need the relaxation tape above, but likewise there will be hardcore Trekkers who will like what Abrams has done with this movie, the homages to iconic scenes and dialogue that are perfectly suited to the plot, and a sort of background feeling that, after the arguably necessary kick up the proverbial that the franchise needed in 2009, they are slowly getting round to at least recognising the spirit of adventure and exploration that the Original series exemplified, of Rodenberry's vision that humanity is capable of better.
But at the end of the day, before you set course for the second star to the left and straight on 'til morning, the only thing you need to know is that this is a cracker of a movie. And I really, really, should get round to getting a Trek icon one of these days.
9/10