Now I'm going to be honest and say that I'm not really a big fan of Star Trek. I don't know why that is, but its probably because I never got into it and was more towards being a Star Wars fan. But that doesn't mean that I'm not a fan altogether. Having watched the 2 films I'm reviewing today and most of the original and next generation films (which reminds me, must do a series review of those films), I'm a slightly more bigger fan than I used to be. There are still a lot of things that don't make sense to me about this franchise, but I've now come to terms with it. With that in mind, let's take a look at the reboot of the original Star Trek (you know, the one with Kirk, Spock, Scotty and the gang):
I am aware that these are just 2 of a 3 film trilogy, but because the 3rd film has yet to be announced, I will do a review of that when it comes out and I eventually see it.
Star Trek
Serving as the 11th Star Trek film and one set in an alternate reality (which was because of time travel caused by the main antagonist Nero and a much loved Star Trek character which I won't give away, but will say that he's from the original series and is played by a much loved Star Trek veteran as well as being one of the franchise's much loved characters), we begin with the Federation starship, the USS Kelvin investigating some kind of lightning storm in space. It isn't long however before the ship gets attacked by the Romulan ship, the Narada. As the ship's battle, one thing goes to another when one of the ship's commanding officers is forced to negotiate a truce which ends badly. The Kelvin's commanding officer, George Kirk (played by Chris Hemsworth), gets everyone evacuated, before he sets a collision course into the Narada, which ends up with his death, but him knowing that his pregnant wife is safe and gives birth to his son, James T. Kirk. Years later, a young Spock (played here by Jacob Kogan and for the rest of the film, by Zachary Quinto) is invited to join the Valcon Science Academy, but after finding out that they disapprove of his mother, he joins the Starfleet instead and Kirk (played by Chris Pine) and a medical doctor by the name Leonard McCoy (played by Karl Urban) also join the Starfleet, having befriended each other in the process. One thing leads to another and while Spock isn't too keen on Kirk, the 3 of them then become part of the crew on the USS Enterprise and for the rest of the film, it's just battles, reunions and mutiny. Now believe it or not, this was actually the first ever Star Trek thing that I saw in full, so the review today will be based purely on what I saw. Overall, taking everything into account, J.J. Abrams has done a very good job of rebooting the series, even though I've never seen the original stuff. But because this review is put up after having seen some of the original films, I can say that all the cast do a great job of doing the iconic roles that we all know and love. Its a great film, that I hope starts a great trilogy of films. 9/10
Into Darkness
After surveying a planet where its inhabitants are not as evolved as the rest of the universe, and after saving Spock from possible death, the USS Enterprise is called back to Earth where Kirk's superior officer, Admiral Pike (which unless I already addressed him, is played by Bruce Greenwood), who believes that Kirk was doing the wrong thing of saving Spock, reassumes control of the vessel, relieving Kirk. However, this turns out to be short lived as a Starfleet agent known as John Harrison (played by Benedict Cumberbatch, and believe me, there is a twist in him towards the end) decides to bomb a secret base in London which as a result, has him not only kill those in that area, but also kill some officers later on. As an act for revenge and I guess in a way justice, Kirk (after a lot of convincing) is given back his ship and crew (minus Scotty (played by Simon Pegg) as he chose to leave the ship after coming across some torpedoes which he can't get any information about, as it's classified), so that he can pursue Harrison and bring him back to Earth to stand on trail, with a few old a new faces along for the ride. My opinion is that this was even better than before, but I do have some criticism which is that for the second half, it's a reenactment of the second original Star Trek film, "The Wrath of Khan" (which I know may hint to some spoilers), but with this being an alternate reality version of the original series, it's vice versa. Despite that, the acting is great (and we get some more character development with Kirk and Spock), the special effects are just as spectacular as before and after seeing this (which was in 2D by the way, which is a bit unfortunate), I can now firmly see the next Star Wars film (also being directed by J.J. Abrams) being just as good. Whether or not this is the last film in this series, I'm glad I saw it and it's defiantly one of the best films of the year, for me so far. 9/10
So overall, J.J. Abrams has proven to us that he can create a great sci-fi series of films and if the quality of these films, are shown in the next Star Wars film, it's going to be a blast, I can tell you that, but it's still early days, so we'll see. 9/10
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