Yeah, he's totally Khan.
For a franchise that has a mission of boldly going where no one has gone before, Star Trek sure keeps coming back to the same old stories over and over again. I have to hand it to Abrams and Company. First, they destroy Vulcan in the previous movie. (I was, surprisingly, OK with this. It was a ballsy, gusty move that enabled them to break away from the extensive Trek Canon already in existence.) And now, in this movie, they bring in the iconic villain of Star Trek and in one particularly rage inducing scene practically replicate a scene (not just any scene, the scene) of the greatest Star Trek movie ever made.*
Yeah, these guys have balls of solid steel.
I was hoping, hoping that they would break some new ground with this movie. And they kind of do... it's not a total remake of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan but it might as well be. There's elements of the steaming pile of excrement that was Star Trek: Nemesis- the claws of the deadly ship at the end of the movie must have been recycled from Shinzon's ship. (Nemesis actually did try to remake The Wrath of Khan for The Next Generation crew- not to mention robbing the Romulans of their shot to be decent villains for once. How can you take the aliens from episodes like 'Balance of Terror' and give them a movie like that? Seriously now.)
Soon Khan is revealed and you're hoping that they're not going to do what you think they're going to do. You're hoping that they're going to leave that alone. You're hoping that these writers aren't so lazy that they'll use the concept of an alternate timeline to basic pilfer some awesome Trek moments (not to mention awesome science fiction moments) and twist them around, just a wee, little bit. You're hoping that they're not going to be that lazy about it.
But they are. And despite that, I think they get away with it- by the skin of their teeth, maybe, but they do get away with it.
Star Trek Into Darkness begins with our crew fishing Spock (Zachary Quinto) out of an active volcano on a primitive planet that's threatening to wipe out all the natives. Starfleet's Prime Directive of non-interference mandates that they do this without being seen but with Spock stuck down there, Kirk (Chris Pine) being Kirk fishes him out anyway. (Starting a whole new religion amongst the natives in the process!)
Back on Earth, he's promptly demoted to First Officer under Admiral Pike (Bruce Greenwood) who, despite Kirk's gung-ho disregard for the rules still thinks he'd make a damn good Captain someday. He just needs a little more training. And that's when the mysterious terrorist John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) emerges, destroying a Starfleet base in London and then attacking and killing Admiral Pike and a large chunk of Starfleet Command in San Francisco. Admiral Marcus (an excellent Peter Weller) is left in charge and sends Kirk and Company after Harrison.
Turns out, Scotty's (Simon Pegg) acquired trick with transwarp beaming has come in handy for Mr. Harrison because he's hiding out in a deserted province on the Klingon Homeworld of Kronos. (Looks like Praxis has already come to town in this timeline.) Kirk is sent to kill Harrison, but disregarding his orders, goes in and captures Harrison alive, intending to bring him back for trial.
The mysterious Harrison (actually Khan) asks Kirk a few pointed questions about his mission and suddenly Kirk stumbles upon the real agenda being pursued by Admiral Marcus and a mysterious, covert element of Starfleet known only as Section 31. Soon Kirk and Company are in the middle of a deadly struggle trying to stop an agenda aimed at changing the very nature of Starfleet itself. They eventually, of course, save the day- and get rewarded with a five year mission into deep space.
Well, kids... that's about as much plot as I'm willing to give you. Go see it if you want the nitty-gritty details and all that stuff. Though the rest of the crew (played by Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Anton Yelchin and John Cho) get their moments in the sun the heart of the story remains about the relationship between Kirk and Spock- and how Kirk manages to grow up a little bit and actually fit into the Captain's chair a little more comfortable after his meteoric rise to Captaincy in the previous movie. (In a very real sense, that's what this movie is about as much as anything: Kirk got the chair in the last movie. In this movie, he earns it.)
Abrams and Company do a lot of things extremely well in this movie. It look amazing, for one. The Earth of the future is detailed, believable and wonderful to behold even with the usual amounts of lens flare. They also continue to get the scale of the Enterprise absolutely correct. You feel like you're in a massive starship-- which again, is awesome. And Michael Giacchino's score remains incredible.
After seeing this movie, I want more Klingons! They're new, they're different and they feel very alien- but still have their battleths handy... and while I was hoping that they would continue to break new ground with this movie, I will say that Benedict Cumberbatch takes the role of Khan and make it his own- no one is going to be able to touch Ricardo Montablan's original take- and no one will be able touch Cumberbatch's... Khan remains, thanks to his performance, probably the most iconic Trek villain.
That said: I hope we never, ever, ever see him again. (They're going out on the five year mission. It'd be awfully nice if they could meet some new people. Breen? Cardassians? Someone totally new? But please- NOT THE BORG.)
Overall: Science fiction is at its best when it reflects the struggles going on in the society around it. Into Darkness asks interesting questions about the nature of due process and the questionable morality of drone strikes but unfortunately, the movie is moving so fast it doesn't really stop to, well, think about the answers. And an admittedly iconic performance by Cumberbatch doesn't make up for some incredibly lazy writing towards the end of the movie. The Abrams Trekverse, which seemed so original, such a breath of fresh air plays it much safer than it should this time around. Next time, I hope they're going to go a little more boldly where no Trek has gone before. My Verdict: ** 1/2 out of ****.
*If you've seen Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, you the scene I'm talking about. They also squeeze another moment from Khan into the scene. For reasons passing understanding.
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