Capt. James T. Kirk and his crew return to Earth after a mysterious force has undermined their organization and killed an old captain, but to their greatest surprise their hunt for the killer unravels new secret.
For all its chasing and falling and fighting-and the movie supplies a great deal of each-Star Trek Into Darkness is at its best when the Enterprise crew are merely bickering and bantering among themselves: less space opera than soap opera.
The socio-political commentary of 'Star Trek Into Darkness' is about as sophisticated as you'd expect from scribes Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtman, who also wrote the first two 'Transformers' movies.
At the core of Abrams' brilliant rebranding, beyond the astute and well-measured use of high-powered special FX, is the inspired casting of Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto as the younger Kirk and Spock.
Star Trek Into Darkness is a high octane but messily plotted romp, with solid performances papering over plot holes you could pilot a galaxy-class starship through.
A well-made, somewhat serious-minded adventure flick is a rare thing, even one that does not seem quite as deliciously new as J.J. Abrams's 2009 reinvention -- which is merely to say that it is not my new favourite popcorn flick of all time.
The conceptual sci-fi of the original series is nowhere to be found, though you might enjoy watching the skinny young actors approximate their counterparts from the 60s; Chris Pine is especially good as Captain Kirk.
The film is pretty spectacular, with enthralling action sequences and stellar special effects (when you can make them out through director J.J. Abrams' omnipresent lens flares).
