Star Trek Into Darkness

JJ Abrams, the lord of the geeks, new movie is out and full of splendour.  I am a little unsure about Abrams being in charge of two of the biggest sci fi franchises.  It is not that he is not a good director, it is just weird that he seems to be a significant creative force from what are basically competing franchises.

Regardless of my or possibly your feelings on the matter this is the reality, so we may as well watch and judge.

And I do love to judge.

Here is a  synopsis of the new Star trek:

Star Fleet has come under attack from one of its own and Captain Kirk, Spock, Bones and the rest of the gang chase the fugitive into enemy territory to bring him to justice.  But the mission starts raising more questions about who is the real enemy as more and more problems arise for the crew.

And that is all I am saying.

Quite a few people haven't seen  Star Trek yet as the I think the anticipation for this film has been muted by films like  Superman  and  Iron Man 3.  And with that in mind I really don't think I can give much more of the story away without spoilers. One thing I will say is if there is a third film I have no idea how they will start it as James Kirk has run out of father figures to murder. But the story was very entertaining. These new Star Trek films are quite clever as they can rehash old stories but take them in a new direction, and it is fun to see where they go.

Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto have made the roles of Kirk and Spock their own. Certainly Pine's Kirk is a more sympathetic character. But growing up with the old series, and while I think Quinto is great, I think Leonard Nimoy will always be the quintessential Spock. Certainly purists might take umbrage with Quinto's Spock in this film, but I thought he was very good.  And while Benedict Cumberbatch was really good as the villain the two stand out actors were Simon Pegg and Karl Urban.

While it is probably a little bit of cultural loyalty, Urbans's McCoy was very entertaining. And it was fun seeing him chase a girl for a change. Urban and Pegg's very over the top Scotty lightened up the film considerably with some great lines.

On the whole the movie was good, better than I thought. I am sure that there will be a third film, and I will definitely see it after this.

Seven and Half monkeys from me.