- March 5, 2025
Through brisk pacing and breath-taking special effects, J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek: Into Darkness” injects a wonder back into space exploration that feels both unimaginable and right at our fingertips.
BY MIKE CAVALIERE | ASSOCIATE EDITOR
A starship the size of God knows how many football fields barrels through earth’s atmosphere and comes crashing into a crowded, futuristic city. People run, scream, huddle together. And the ship digs into the ground, scraping up cement and soil and mounds of debris as it obliterates parks and storefronts. In the distance, hovercrafts drift between skyscrapers. Black smoke ascends. A figure rises from he rubble.
There are scenes in “Star Trek: Into Darkness” that, despite all of the behind-the-scenes documentaries and DVD extras that have been made about computer graphics and special effects the past few decades, made me stare at the screen in wonder, even almost whisper like a kid, “How did they do that?”
The crazy-cool effects, not being able to tell certain sets from certain green screens, is definitely part of it. But the latest “Star Trek,” following in the footsteps of its predecessor, has a way of making outer space seem cool again. When the U.S.S Enterprise streaks into hyper drive, it’s actually exciting to imagine where it’s heading next, to squint at the sight of its engine burst and get lost in the neon blue trails of stardust it leaves behind.
The story, which introduces the infamous Khan back into the mix as a mysterious, superhuman baddie who wages a single-handed war against Star Fleet, is good enough. But to really get down to what makes this installment in the “Star Trek” series so enjoyable, you have to look at style.
Director J.J. Abrams always keeps his camera moving, turning and twisting and pulling in close. Almost like a more accessible Brian DePalma, he’s never content to just sit and watch the action take place. He wants to be a part of it. (Even the scenes where he does sit still, he usually makes sure to at least pull in for an extra-tight close-up or add some signature lens flare.)
But Abrams is working in an era where, maybe because of how far makeup and effects have come, even silly things like an alien spaceship crew, or comic book heroes, can be cool. So he plays off of that, making everything in his movie shiny and bright and in full view, almost as if to dare the audience to try point out the seams in his work.
For the most part, though, we can’t, so stuff like energy ray guns and rubber masks that might have seemed just too fake not to be distracting 30 years ago — the nerdy stuff that probably kept so many people from giving “Star Trek” a fair shot in the past — blends right in today, creating a universe that seems both unimaginably vast and ripe for exploration.
“Into Darkness” really doesn’t feel so much like a traditional sci-fi as much as it does an adventure fantasy, which just so happens to take place in space, in the future and around a bunch of aliens.
Couple Abrams’ genre-splicing with a fast-paced, funny script from screenwriters Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof, Roberto Orci, and another standout performance from movie star-in-the-making Chris Pine, as Captain Kirk, and you’ve got a big, loud, fast, bonafide summer popcorn flick. And in this case, that’s definitely a good thing.
CRITICAL MASS
“Star Trek: Into Darkness” (PG-13, 2 hr. 3 min.)
Director: J.J. Abrams
Released: May 16, 2013
**** (of five)
Although Chris Pine, as Captain Kirk, proves again that he’s meant for great things, Benedict Cumberbatch (“Sherlock”) as Khan, and Zachary Quinto as Spock, are also a lot of fun to watch. If you didn’t make it out to the theater opening weekend, consider this your second chance.
Rotten Tomatoes 86% fresh (of 217 critics)
IMDB 8.3 (out of 404 fans)
Richard Roeper Fresh
A.O. Scott, New York Times Rotten
