Darkness and Light

In Star Trek – Into Darkness, JJ Abrams scripts a taut thriller that is centered around a former starship captain – Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch) gone rogue – rather than the hackneyed alien encounters of old. Apart from saving the introductory planet through dazzling special effects, and one minor Klingon encounter, there is no long drawn alien engagement. Rather, it is James Kirk (Chris Pine), and Spock (Zachary Quinto) coming to terms with their personalities, their relationship, a misguided leader in Admiral Marcus (Peter Weller), and of course the great Khan threat. The special effects are expectedly mindblowing, including possibly the first instance of the equivalent of base jumping in space. This is a different Star Trek, with more overtones of terrorist threats and dual personalities, than the copybook 20^th century Star Treks and their extra-terrestrials

14.5/20

The First Trek

The first thing that struck me about Star Trek is the simplicity of execution. For a TV series that I remember for its inherent complexity in terms of the issues depicted, the introduction to the key characters, their motivations and their budding interrelationships is surprisingly devoid of complications. The special effects though undoubtedly top of the line (and hence in sharp relief to the TV series), are by no means the focus of the story. This is about how young leaders take responsibility for thinking through and resolving challenging situations, well too aware of the consequences if they take a misstep. In terms of characters, while Kirk is a little over the top as a brash young man, Spock comes across as the conflicted half-man half-Vulcan with all the inherent conflict in such a character. Not worth # 46 all time on IMDB, but definitely an un-missable movie of the year

16.5/20