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Review: Star Trek Into Darkness
by IL Fettucinni
[email protected]

Special to L. Neil Smith's The Libertarian Enterprise

The great day arrived (5-16-13) for the premiere of Star Trek Into Darkness, the second of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek sagas of Kirk, Spock and Bones at the start of their careers in Star Fleet. We went a full hour early for the 2 PM showing at the Barkley Theater in Bellingham, WA in case there might be a huge line. Alas! We could have come at the last moment because I counted exactly 33 souls in that matinee performance, no doubt hardcore Trekkies all.

Well, to put it straight forward and simply... I loved the show. It was as good or better than the first outing. In this version we already we are already acquainted with the cast (Except for the brilliant young British actor Benedict Cumberbatch as the villain John Harrison!) so this time out we see their relationships develop, a love spat, a famous death scene redo except better, a return of Leonard Nimoy as the Elder Spock in a tiny cameo and the introduction of Eve Alice, another Brit actor who graces the screen with her good looks and wholesomeness.

I will tell you that the action is non-stop, that the Enterprise is used as a submarine for a time; the plot is intricate and weaving; humor never leaves the movie for too long and yes; I will probably find the excuse to see it again and probably a third time in the theater! But I can't go into details of the action for fear of spoiling it for you!

Christopher Pine is simply excellent as a very young captain full of emotion when compared to his loyal first officer Zachary Quinto as Spock. Their relationship is developed a lot in this pic. But Benedict Cumberbatch as John Harrison somehow dominates the movie with his glare, his direct, Brit speech and total credibility as a really murderous villain. Many of us have been watching this young Brit actor with the cumbersome name in his role as Arthur Conan Doyle's sleuth which he plays with maniacal precision. He is also important to me because he and my son Big AL look very much alike:

As usual there are a multitude of action shots and special effects that are exceptionally well done but they take second place to the drama, especially between Kirk and Harrison and life and death race. Here Kirk confronts Harrison for information while Harrison stands in the Enterprise brig. Cumberbatch is such a good actor one is afraid that at any minute he will figure a way to defeat the brig's force field and kill a few crew members while escaping. And what is it about British actors that makes them so damn intense? When Cumberbatch and Pine are in a scene together Cumberbatch can utter a three word sentence and make it more forceful than anything Pine ever says! The Brit simply overwhelms us with talent. Of course I'm biased in this. I remember in 1987 the first time I saw an ad for Star Trek The Next Generation and saw the bald Brit Patrick Stewart speak in his deep, British base voice. I was stunned at how good he was. AND remains to this day!!!!! Cumberbatch's voice is the same thing!!!!!!!!!

This picture has it all, good looking ladies, lots of action, deceit, loyalty, humor and a plot that never stops and is understandable. For all these things J.J.Abrams gets the credit. He really knows how to tell a good story. As Rand would say in fiction the largest and most important element is plot, plot, plot!

We all saw the many many ads for Into Darkness which gradually showed us more and more of the movie and we learned that the knockout Brit babe, Eve Alice would play Dr. Carol Marcus, who we knew from Star Trek II The Revenge of Khan, would be Kirk's lover and the mother of his son. But! Like the wonderful little problem of our famous other Star Ship Captain Jean Luc Piccard who was French but has a total Brit accent, Carol Marcus, who was played by the beautiful Bibi Besch in the first movie and had an American accent, in Into Darkness she has a Brit accent. Is there a passionate love scene in this outing between Kirk and Marcus? Can't tell you.

Finally Spock is featured prominently as in all Star Trek outings but now his differences with Kirk bring about much of the plot and Spock continues to be a wonderful, walking enigma of rational, logical thought V emotion. I think Star Trek co stars Kirk and Spock. Each is as important as the other.

Would I encourage you to see this picture? Is the Pope Latino?

Into Darkness is, in the words of Spocks' famous father Ambassador Sarek, "Satisfactory." And as Sarek's wife explains, "Satisfactory" is high praise from a Vulcan."

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