Star Trek Into Darkness

I want to begin by saying that I am not a Trekkie. I've seen a handful of episodes from the original series, the 2009 movie, and this one. That's the background I come from as I write this review.

In Star Trek Into Darkness, the crew of the Enterprise searches for a terrorist named John Harrison, who is responsible for blowing up an archive building and assassinating several important Starfleet officers. I don't think I can say more about the plot without giving away too much.

The relationship between Kirk and Spock is interesting and often insightful. They are polarized by their respective beliefs in chaos and order, but they are best friends. This relationship provides many of the philosophical dilemmas of the film as well as most of the witty humor. The struggle between chaos and order was also a major theme in director J. J. Abrams' show Lost.

Evil villains are often stock characters. Common motivations include revenge, insanity, and power. This doesn't happen in Star Trek Into Darkness. The villain is morally ambiguous. I found myself hoping he would win certain fights. Benedict Cumberbatch is so good at being evil that it makes me question his motives as Sherlock in the BBC show of the same name.

It's easy to abuse CGI technology, but I don't think that happens in this movie. The ships, buildings, and planets have a balance of whimsy and realism that makes them beautiful and believable at the same time.

I think this is an excellent science fiction movie for anybody. It requires hardly any prior knowledge of the franchise to enjoy. I hope Star Trek Into Darkness appeals to dedicated Trekkies as well.