My Review: Star Trek Into Darkness (9/10)

¨You think your world is safe? It is an illusion. A comforting lie to protect you. Enjoy these final moments of peace. For I have returned to have my vengeance.¨

First off I have to say that I loved J.J. Abrams´ reboot of the Star Trek franchise in 2009 and I was highly anticipating this sequel. I had my reservations of whether or not Abrams was going to be able to maintain the same level of success he achieved with the prequel since the originality and freshness of the characters was going to be gone. It is much easier to reboot a known franchise and make it fresh with the introduction of new characters and letting us know how everything began (sort of like what Batman Begins did), but it is much more difficult to make a worthy sequel to such a beloved prequel. Somehow I think Abrams managed to pull it off once again by introducing a great villain and maintaining the freshness of the original film with some great chemistry between Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto along with the rest of the crew. At many points during the movie it even felt like a buddy comedy instead of a blockbuster sci-fi action film, but then Abrams managed to mix it all together quite nicely. It may be much lighter than The Dark Knight, but I felt he did something similar to what Christopher Nolan did with his trilogy by giving us a great villain and giving the movie several layers. This sequel may even be better than the prequel although many people may disagree with me. At least I think Abrams was able to maintain the same level of entertainment once again. This is a very fun and engaging movie with some great characters and spectacular visuals. This is the best film I´ve seen this year and by far the most entertaining one. I was never a big fan of the Star Trek TV series or the original movies, but I was completely hooked with the reboot and Abrams once again teams up with screenwriters: Damon Lindelof, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci to give us a gripping script with some great twists that Trekkies will probably enjoy. I don´t want to give away any spoilers, but if you´ve seen the film you know what I´m talking about. Star Trek into Darkness is the most fun I´ve had in theaters this year.

The movie takes place one year after the events of the prequel as we follow the crew from the USS Enterprise and their Captain, Kirk (Chris Pine), as they encounter new missions into foreign galaxies. In their latest mission they are trying to save a civilization from a volcano eruption without them knowing of their presence. Kirk and his First Commander, Spock (Zachary Quinto), manage to save the planet, but Kirk does so by breaking some rules. This doesn’t go well with Spock who despite being saved doesn’t agree with breaking protocol. When they arrive back to Earth, Spock informs their bosses and Kirk is discharged from the fleet. While this is taking place a former member of Starfleet, John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch), bombs an installation in London and later attacks a high ranking officers meeting at the Starfleet headquarters before managing to escape. Pike (Bruce Greenwood) is killed during this incident and Admiral Marcus (Peter Weller) reinstates Kirk as Captain of the Enterprise in order for him to hunt down the terrorist. And so the new mission begins with Kirk and Spock back together again with the rest of their crew: Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Bones (Karl Urban), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Sulu (John Cho), and Chekov (Anton Yelchin), all looking for revenge.

The relationship between Quinto and Pine´s character was probably the highlight in the prequel, and here once again we get to see how their relation has developed over time. The scenes they share together are really entertaining, but the supporting cast is exceptional once again with Simon Pegg and Karl Urban giving the funniest performances and lightening up the mood. Cumberbatch makes for one of the best villains I´ve seen this year and his performance is incredible. The twist with his character is really clever and it made me want to go back and watch the original films. The film is so good because it focuses on the characters and their relationships more than on the action and visuals, which are incredible nonetheless. I really look forward to what JJ Abrams and his crew are going to bring to the table in the Star Wars franchise because what they have done here was spectacular by combing comedy and sci-fi action. I am a huge fan of pretty much everything Abrams has done, ranging from what he did with the Lost series to his latest film prior to this one: Super 8. It will be very hard for another summer blockbuster movie to top this one this year. It has really raised the standard and the bar for the upcoming movies. Please go watch this film, you won´t regret it.

  

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My Summer Movie Guide

With the premiere of Iron Man 3 Summer has officially begun so I have decided to make a list of the big budget Blockbuster films I am looking forward too. I´ve already seen Iron Man 3 so that won´t be included here. I made a list at the beginning of the year where I mentioned several independent and smaller films, but now it is time for the big boys. I am an indie sort of guy so summer isn’t the best time of the year for me movie wise, but I still highly anticipate some of these big summer movies. If you haven’t checked my other list out then visit http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/2013/01/my-most-anticipated-films-of-2013.html. So here is my list in order of what films I really want to see this summer:

1) Kick Ass 2: I loved the first film starring Chloe Moretz as Hit Girl and am looking forward to this sequel with the addition of Jim Carrey as one of the supporting characters. This is my most highly anticipated summer movie of all.

2) Star Trek Into Darkness: Another sequel happens to be in second place in my want to see list, but how can you not be excited for this sequel after JJ Abrams rebooted this successful franchise in 2009 in such a spectacular way.

3) Fast & Furious 6 Summer movies usually mean sequels and this is yet another I am looking forward after the highly successful fifth film. Before the fifth movie came out I wasn’t too excited about this franchise, but now it has just gotten rebooted.

4) World War Z: Warm Bodies may have brought the fun back to the zombie genre, but Brad Pitt might bring back the scares in the classic horror genre. I´m looking forward to what new things this film will bring to the table.

5) Man of Steel: I´m no huge Superman fan, and really didn’t like Superman Returns, but this film actually looks like it’s going to be great. Here´s hoping Henry Cavill will portray a great Superman.

6) After Earth: M Night Shyamalan hasn’t been on a role lately, but this film looks like it will lift him up once again. He was one of my favorite directors so I´m hoping this film does well. This seems to be the perfect film for Will Smith as well.

7) The Lone Ranger: Gore Verbinski and Johnny Depp team up once again after their successful Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Everyone loves the classic Lone Ranger character so this film looks really great.

8) Elysium: Neil Blomkamp worked his magic with District 9. He made one of the best sci-fi films in years with an incredibly low budget. Now with more money and Matt Damon to star in his film, this looks really great.

9) The Bling Ring; Based on the true story of a group of teenagers who steal millions from celebrities such as Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton, this looks like another good bet for the summer.

10) 2Guns: Staring Mark Walberg and Denzel Washington, two of the best action stars, this film looks very promising.

11) The Wolverine: Another superhero film, but the Wolverine seems to always deliver the goods.

12) The Hangover Part III: I was a huge fan of the first film. One of my favorite comedies, but was a little disappointed with the second film.

13) The Internship: Another promising comedy starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn. I was a huge fan of The Wedding Crashers which was the last film these two worked together in. They haven’t done anything funny lately, so it was a good idea for them to team up once again.

14) The Great Gatsby: One of the most talked about films. It looks great and should transport us all to the fabulous 20´s. Leonardo DiCaprio is a safe bet these days.

15) RIPD: I´m not sure about this film, but I like the pairing of Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds. The premise seems pretty interestin so I´m giving this film a chance.

16) Pacific Rim: Another film I´m not too sure of, but the effects seem like they are going to be interesting. Guillermo del Toro is a great director so it can be promising.

17) 300 Rise of an Empire: The original film was great, I´m not too sure about this one. I think the novelty may have warn off a bit on me.

18) The Kings of Summer: This could be last year´s Moonrise Kingdom. The story seems promising and the trailer is hilarious.

19) This is the End: Reuniting James Franco and Seth Rogen (Pineapple Express) and including Jonah Hill, Jason Segel, Emma Watson, and Paul Rudd this film has to be hilarious.

20) White House Down: Another Roland Emmerich film. He delivers great effects and poor stories, but Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx can make this entertaining.

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