Into Darkness

I finally saw Star Trek Into Darkness yesterday. It wasn’t by my own choice that I didn’t see it earlier. The local movie distributor has decided that we don’t need to see it in this country until in the first week of June. An insufferable wait for a movie that the rest of the world has seen ages ago already. So when I noticed the local cinema having a preview of it, I immediately seized the opportunity.

I loved it, which isn’t always given with sequels. It wasn’t what I expected; the trailer led me believe there would be an explosion extravaganza. What I got was an ensemble move unlike the first, where most of the main cast had meaningful roles that contributed to the whole. The previous movie was more of a two-man show between Kirk and Spock. The plot wasn’t terribly complicated, but it carried through the two plus hours and didn’t cause me roll my eyes in disbelief at any point. What more can I ask, really?

I predicted going in that I would like Benedict Cumberbatch the best and I was right. Others were good enough in their roles, but he was brilliant. A quintessential charismatic villain you can’t help rooting for.  This was made easier by the fact that his wasn’t the only bad guy in the movie. I guessed the other one immediately – a consequence of Hollywood typecasting – and since the other bad guy wasn’t as charismatic as Cumberbatch, I knew how things would end almost from the beginning. I didn’t let that bother me but just enjoyed the show.

I saw the 3D version. As always, I can’t say it gave the movie anything that I couldn’t have done without. The movie had many close-ups between two people and in 3D it constantly seemed like one of them was sitting on my lap, which was really annoying. The compulsory ‘wow’ effects didn’t really work either. So you won’t miss anything if you see it in 2D. Though chances are you’ve seen it already.

All in all, a great experience. I may see it again even, once the movie opens here officially. In the meanwhile, here's the trailer.