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.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

I didn't have very high expectations when I walked into the theatre to see Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. It's been a while since I've seen a good blockbuster spy movie and this one seemed pretty blockbuster. I also wasn't sure that Tom Cruise still had it in him. I was delightfully surprised to find that I was wrong.

Starting with the opening titles, it was apparent that this Mission Impossible movie was not aiming to be incredibly modern but nostalgic. "Light the fuse," says  Cruise. The opening titles follow a lit fuse and play the classic theme song, just like the TV show. While there are quite a lot of computers in this movie, it's not all about hacking like other newer action films such as Live Free or Die Hard. It still had the elements of a classic spy movie. Letter drops, disguises, gadgets, and Russians. Speaking of gadgets, did you know you can make a hologram wall using an iPad? It's amazing what you can do with product placements these days.

The plot revolves around the Russian nuclear launch codes being stolen by a crazed man who believes that the world will be stronger after a nuclear war (similar to Ozymandias in Watchmen.) There are several great action scenes including a car chase, the world's tallest building, and a parking garage with an automatic valet system. There were at least two gasp-worthy "oh shit" moments and countless instances of bone cracking.

Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead) plays the humorous geek character very well. I hope that we get to see that Brit make more appearances in the next few years. I can't help but attribute this movie's awesomeness to director Brad Bird (The Incredibles) and producer J.J. Abrams (Lost, Star Trek.) There was also a subtle reference to Lost with the line "whatever happened, happened." Abrams doesn't appear to forget about his fans.

Cruise has still got it, Abrams has still got it, Pegg has definitely still got it and I'd say the franchise has at least one more strong film in store for the future.