Movie Review: Star Trek Into Darkness

Movie Review: "Star Trek Into Darkness"/Paramount/PG-13/132 min./Dir. by J.J. Abrams

For a series originally founded on the ideals of social tolerance, intelligent discourse, and open-minded exploration of issues, "Star Trek" has a profoundly emotional fan base.  "Star Trek" fans have taken an entertainment franchise and turned it into a way of life.  I don't make this statement as an outsider either.  I have bought the movies on VHS, then DVD, then Blu-Ray.  I have the action figures and ships of each cast of each film and series, with "Enterprise" as the only exception because I just couldn't get into it.  I've never dressed as a Vulcan or learned Klingon or been to a convention, but I really do love Star Trek, so I, like many, was a little nervous about the 2009 reboot.  Much of the charm of the original film series laid with its cast, an aging, yet still highly entertaining group who had become better known as personalities than actors.

So, it was with great relief and joy that I embraced the exhilarating 2009 film.  Abrams brilliantly figured out how to create something new, but respectful of what came before.  Best of all, he took what was great about Star Trek and approached it from a fully cinematic view, which had honestly never been done before.  Even the best of the previous film installments couldn't ever get past the feel of an ultra-special episode of a t.v. show.  The 2009 reboot never felt like one.  From frame one, it was grand, cinematic, and action-packed.  The opening scene not only threw the Star Trek canon on its ear, but it was purely, beautifully, heart-breakingly character based and emotionally resonant.  You didn't have to like or even know Star Trek.  It was simply great film-making.

Much has been made of Abrams love of light flares and, yes, they are plentiful, but they are part of the overall visual language of the film, which included camera angles that emphasized the three-dimensionality of space and attention to detail that was strikingly new to the series.  While there had been great Star Trek movies before, this was the first that was just a great movie, period.

Honestly, the easiest thing for Abrams and his creative partners to do would've been to go crazy and wild with the new time line and create new aliens and adventures.  However, "Star Trek Into Darkness" does something a little more complex and a lot more risky.  It deals with characters and situations with which Trek fans are intimately aware and looks at them through a different lens, subtly tweaking them so they meant different things and held a different significance.  

While Kirk (Chris Pine) has remained in the captains chair since the last outing, he hasn't grown much, remaining a bit cocky and holding himself above rules and regulations.  Of course, as is true with any military organization, such flagrant disregard for authority isn't met with well and Kirk must face the consequences  (Curse that nasty old Prime Directive anyway).  However, the internal politics of Starfleet are sharply and harshly put on hold after a terrorist attack on a Starfleet base in London.  After investigating and dealing with the aftermath of further attacks, Kirk is on the path of vengeance against the perpetrator, a mysterious ex-Starfleet officer named John Harrison (fantastically played by Benedict Cumberbatch, although his casting does perpetuate the image of smart and powerful British people being villainous).

I don't want to get to in depth into the plot on the off chance you haven't heard about the twists (unfortunately, I heard about the main twist over a year ago).  Suffice to say that the events lead to several breath-taking action set pieces that feel more like the best of Spielberg than Star Trek.  Through the events, the different lead characters who are so well known that they have been part of our national consciousness for decades, are given situations that change their personal motivations in subtle, but highly enjoyable ways.  There are several times during the film that we see that, while some events seem destined to repeat themselves regardless of the time line, the timing of those events in the characters lives force character arc in a different way than seen before.  Most satisfying is seeing the development of Spock.  Because of the events of the last film and this one, this Spock is forced to confront his half-human side far earlier in his own life than Spock Prime and his choices are, at times, startling.  Quinto's performance is a stand-out at every turn.  He brings the conflict between intellect and emotion a palpable intensity that is a joy to watch.

Michael Giacchino continues to make the musical world of Star Trek his own, although I do wish that he would've delved into new themes a little more.  Had he taken the same route that John Williams did with "The Empire Strikes Back", he could've kept the old musical themes, but created more melodic themes to add to the pantheon.  I know he's capable of it, so I wish he would've added a little more new thematic meat to his Star Trek auditory meal.

However, that's a small complaint.  "Star Trek Into Darkness" is exciting, fast-paced, and visually stunning while remaining true to the spirit and themes of the original series.  I know that J.J. Abrams will have his hands full with Star Wars for the foreseeable future, but I sure hope he comes back to the world of Trek.  After all, a lot of exciting things could happen on a five-year mission of exploration.

Grade: A

Movie Review: Iron Man 3

Iron Man 3/Paramount/Rated PG-13/130 min./Dir. by Shane Black

In 2008, when the cinematic world was first introduced to Tony Stark in Jon Favreau's "Iron Man", he was a revelation, especially as performed by Robert Downey Jr.  Unlike almost every other superhero Stark was deeply, deeply flawed.  Brilliant, but profoundly arrogant, Stark could've been almost impossible for an audience to relate to, but Downey Jr. gave him such a sly and surprisingly self-depreciating sense of humor that he was not only easy to root for, but surprisingly easy to relate to.  While few of us are genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropists, we are all flawed and most of us try to do the right thing even when it's difficult and so did Stark.

However, in "Iron Man 3", we find Tony Stark a changed man.  After the events in "The Avengers" he's anxious and suffering from insomnia.  Like many brilliant people, he channels his sleeplessness into his work and, as a result, has made more Iron Man suits.  More and more Iron Man suits.  42 to be exact (of course, he only owns up to about 14 in order to downplay his loosening grip on reality).

Unfortunately, he is unable to address his problems directly because of a new threat on the country, a mysterious and publicly flamboyant terrorist known simply as The Mandarin (brilliantly played by Ben Kingsley).  With a disregard for human life and a talent for hijacking the countries airwaves, The Mandarin begins a campaign or destruction that looks to have an end game targeted on the President himself.

Also in the mix are a couple scientists from Stark's past, an idea man named Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) and a brilliant biological engineer (don't call her a botanist), Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall).  Conveniently, Killian also has a past with Stark's main squeeze Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), which makes for some romantic tensions throughout the film.

To get too much more involved in plot description would rob the story of some of it's surprises and there are a few.  Suffice it to say that much of the plot involves standard comic book topics (villainous manipulation of DNA, the man behind the mask exploration of a superhero, the "save the innocent or save the girl" dilemma), however "Iron Man 3" approaches these well-known tropes with a fresh sense of humor and a firm sense of character

One of the most impressive things about the way Marvel has approached its "Avengers" films is that it recognizes that each of these characters actually belong to different genres and, therefore, should have directors and writers with a talent and passion for those genres, but grounded in character.  "Iron Man" was a modern action-comedy about a billionaire playboy, so they brought in Jon Favreau, the man behind the male-centric bromance "Swingers".  "Thor" needed a sense of old-school grandeur, so they brought in the modern-master of Shakespeare, Kenneth Brannagh.  "Captain America" was a WWII action epic with a tinge of sci-fi, so they brought in Joe Johnston, the man that directed the WWII action epic with a tinge of sci-fi  "The Rocketeer".  Now with "Iron Man 3", they have a story that feels like an 80's-style action movie, so who better to bring in than Shane Black, the man who wrote "Lethal Weapon" and re-juvenated Robert Downey Jr.'s career with the indy-comedy "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang".  Black shines here, both as director, and as co-writer.  The dialogue has all of the machismo humor you could hope for, with many of the lines sounding like they would be equally at home coming from Mel Gibson's Martin Riggs character from "Lethal Weapon".

"Iron Man 3" also has a couple of the best set pieces yet from a Marvel movie.  The rescue attempt on Air Force One is dizzying and easily the best use of 3D in the movie and the attack on Stark's Malibu mansion (some of which is spotlighted in the trailers) is quite impressive.

There have been rumors that this may be Iron Man's final stand-alone film (although Downey Jr. is a confirmed part of the cast for 2015's "The Avengers 2"), and that would be a bit of a shame.  Not that I would want too much of a good thing, but I'm very curious to see where Tony Stark's character goes from here.  "Iron Man 3" leaves him a much more evolved character and I would very much enjoy seeing his character in another adventure with his new sense of purpose and character.  For now though, it's a trip seeing him get there.

In regards to the 3D, if you enjoy 3D movies, you'll enjoy this, but it's certainly not necessary in the way it was for "Avatar" or "Life of Pi".  If you see it in 2D, you won't miss anything.

Grade: A-