Darkness Darkness

I'm not sure I know what to say about Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013). I expected it to be much worse, or maybe much better. In the end I guess it was just - meta.

It starts with Kirk blatantly breaking the Prime Directive. Now, how many times did that happen in the original series, and how many times did you say something like, "Oh come on, he can't get away with that"? Just like old times - except in this timeline, Kirk is busted for it, and loses his ship. So obvious that this is the director commenting on the series that we spent most of the rest of the movie comparing the new crew to the original.

Chris Pine is certainly arrogant, but does he have the core of self-importance that Shatner so effortlessly gave Kirk? Zachary Quinto has the detachment and the chin to play Spock, but there is something soft and sensual about his lips that make me wonder. John Cho is great as Sulu, but plays hesitant and out of his depth, unlike the always cool George Takei. Simon Pegg has a great take on Scotty, but he isn't Scotty. Anton Yelchin doesn't make much of an impression as Chekov, which is reasonable, since he wasn't in the original episode that [spoiler deleted] is based on.

But Karl Urban really seemed to nail Bones - his cantankerous eccentricity, his deadly serious quarrels with Spock, the way he treats Kirk, with just a hint of the accent. He's not my favorite character (although the original Bones is Ms. Spenser's favorite), but he's the one who most reminded my of his original.

What else? Kirk's most infamous line is assigned to Spock in this timeline, and Kirk goes through an ordeal that Spock went through in the movies. It's all good fun, but like I say, kind of meta.

In conclusion, Benedict Cumberbatch is also in it, being very Cumberbatch.