Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Karl Urban, John Cho, Zoe Saldana, Alice Eve, Anton Yelchin, Simon Pegg, Bruce Greenwood, Noel Clarke, Peter Weller.
There used to be a theory that every other Star Trek film was a little bit duff, that it just didn’t stand up to the one before it or that one that followed in its wake. For every excellent Wrath of Khan, Voyage Home and The Undiscovered Country, there is the slightly tired and sometimes reek of desperation The Search For Spock, The Final Frontier and Insurrection. Then came along J.J. Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman and their combined vision with what could be done with a much loved franchise, re-wrote history and then made two jaw dropping films on the trot. First with 2009’s reboot Star Trek and now with the daddy of them so far Star Trek Into Darkness.
When Science Fiction is dealt with reverence, with passion and with a cast that audiences care deeply about then the result is roller-coaster of great acting, sublime effects moulded into a film that quite honestly is perhaps the best of the franchise since they were taken to the big screen in 1979.
Even for ‘non-Trekkies’ this is a rip-roaring adventure, for those that see the film as part of the rich fabric of cinema and pop-culture history then the only thing that will overwhelm them is the thought they may have to wait three more years before Chris Pine, Zachery Quinto, Simon Pegg and Karl Urban pick up the pieces and fall out of the appearance of a man who is probably the only man who could ever get the best of the Captain and crew of the Enterprise.
Standing at an incredible 133 minutes, time flies by so fast and by the time you have reeled back in your jaw that has dropped and is touching the carpet of your local cinema what you are left with will leave you elated, exhausted and thrilled by the spectacle, this piece of Science Fiction to top all others in the last 40 years.
What makes the film, aside from the cinematography, is the way that Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto have taken on the mantle of Kirk and Spock. The enormous shoes left by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy would frighten to death lesser actors but these two men have captured the single beauty of friendship and gentle bickering that makes the pair the finest act in Science Fiction ever. The addition of Benedict Cumberbatch as John Harrison is perfect and welcome as is Alice Eve as Carol Marcus.
What Gene Roddenbury would have made of it all is anyone’s guess but in the end, what matters most is the story, a story that is big, grand, sensational and with the right level of humour in amongst the tense atmosphere. In the end J.J. Abrams is the right man to carry this on, the heir to the Science Fiction throne.
Ian D. Hall