Paramount Pictures | 2013 | 132 min | Rated PG-13 | Sep 10, 2013
They say that the more things change, the more they stay the same. That's the best way to introduce Star Trek Into Darkness, a film that absolutely gets everything right and brilliantly re-imagines classic Star Trek lore with pinpoint, precise, and exhilarating modern style filmmaking but also with reverence for and adherence to classic Star Trek events and themes, bending but not breaking only a couple of key pieces. Director J.J. Abrams and Writers Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Into Darkness newcomer Damon Lindelof have succeed beyond expectations in two key areas of need, both improving upon their own Star Trek reboot film and rediscovering the magic of the franchise's most memorable villain and, while not exactly improving on him, recreating him on the outside while maintaining the chilling inner drive of hate, spite, intelligence, and power that made Khan so unforgettable an adversary. Star Trek Into Darkness blends together key ingredients from the original series episode that introduced Khan with ideas and elements from the feature film that made him a household name. Combined with a slew of newly re-imagined drama, action, visuals, and character dynamics, the film plays with an air of familiarity but at the same time a fresh appearance. Yet the one constant is the film's -- and the new reboot series' -- dedication to maintaining Star Trek as it was and should be, not content to merely give it a facelift or a fresh start but positing the ultimate in "what if" alternate scenarios in a universe where anything can happen but where, indeed, things tend to play out similarly no matter how much they may seem to change along the way towards destiny.
