Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013, J.J Abrams)

Stellar date 2259 55: Jim Kirk (Chris Pine), Bones (Karl Urban) and the crew of the Enterprise escape from the inhabitants of Nibiru whom they secretly saved from a volcano eruption. Despite his attempt to justify that unauthorized action reported in details by Spock,  Kirk is retrograded and sent back to the Academy and Spock (Zac Quinto) reassigned to another ship, the USS Bradbury.

Meanwhile, an explosion takes place at a London Starfleet base leaving serious casualties and leading Admiral Alexander Marcus (Peter Weller) to gather senior commanders on an emergency session. In fact, the whole thing was a set up orchestrated by the man responsible of the attack, John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) to kill Starfleet senior leaders. When Admiral Pike (Bruce Greenwood) dies following the attack, Kirk and Spock, under Admiral Marcus’s command, lead a manhunt on an enemy territory: Kronos.

Peter Weller as Admiral Marcus

When klingon ships detect the Enterprise, Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Spock and Kirk almost get killed without the help of the fugitive they are looking, John Harrison, who easily surrenders after Sulu (John Cho)’s threat to launch a torpedo if he doesn’t. The mysterious prisoner progressively convinces Kirk that he has been manipulated by Marcus all along. The 72 torpedos aboard the Enterprise contain human bodies in cryosleep for 300 years. John Harrison reveals his real identity: Khan, a genetically engineered man, awoken by Marcus for a single purpose: war. While they are talking, Marcus’s starship approaches, tries to convince Kirk to lower the shields and deliver Khan, otherwise he will open fire.    
 

Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan

Kirk has no other choice but to ask Kahn for help in order to enter Marcus’s vessel and sabotage his plans. In the meantime, M. Spock learns from Spock Prime (Leonard Nimoy) that Khan was Starfleet’s most dangerous enemy.

As Kirk, Carol Marcus (Alice Eve) and Scotty (Simon Pegg) are held captive on the other ship, Khan asks Spock to trade the torpedos for the Captain and his friends.

Four years after the first alternate Star Trek (2009) story, Star Trek Into Darkness comes out, more spectacular than ever. Some criticize its lack of originality but I believe it has been done on purpose in order to keep and strengthen the link to the older movies: the presence of Spock Prime, an alternate version of Khan as the main villain and of course some scenes that are remniniscent of The Wrath of Khan ending. I have picked interesting quotes Star Trek fans will recognize easily.

Spock: The needs of the many outway the needs of the few

Kirk: There will always be those who mean to do us harm. To stop them, we risk awakening the same evil within ourselves. Our first instinct is to seek revenge when those we love are taken from us. But that’s not who we are. We are here today to rechristen the USS Enterprise and to honor those who lost their lives nearly one year ago. When Chistopher Pike first gave me his ship, he had me recite the Captain’s oath, words I didn’t appreciate at the time. Now I see them as a call for us to remember who we once were to who we must be again and those words: Space, the final frontier, these are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations to boldly go where noone has gone before.

Anton Yelchin as Chekov, Karl Urban as Bones and Simon Pegg as Scotty

Into Darkness also explores the connection between the two main characters (Kirk/Spock): the friendship that unites them and their frequent  disagreements. No matter how their destiny has been altered, the two’s reputation remains: the one’s devotion to logic and reason and the other’s tendency to break the rules and justify the means are emphasized all along. As the story evolves, they change progressively. It is interesting to see them wondering what would the other have done.

Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zac Quinto), a wonderful tribute to the Wrath of Khan

In my humble opinion, the first Star Trek (2009) is still better but Into Darkness is great as well. The supporting cast’s performances are outstanding especially Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) but that is not surprising, is it?   

SEE ALSO

Star Trek (2009)

Sherlock (2010)

Big Bang Theory, The (2007-)