SCI-FI; 2hr 12min
STARRING: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoë Saldana, Benedict Cumberbatch
Control issues: Saldana and Quinto
Director J.J. Abrams’s 2009 Star Trek was a sparky blast-off even for non-Trekkies. The less effective Into Darkness takes on typical blockbusterish themes of good vs evil and the connective tissue of friendship when life as the Starfleet knows it is threatened by a rogue agent (a glacial Cumberbatch) and the USS Enterprise is despatched to the planet Kronos to deal with him. With the impetuous Capt James T. Kirk (Pine) in the commander’s chair and impassive First Officer Spock (Quinto) and his beset squeeze, Nyota Uhura (Saldana), also good to go-go-go, the wordplay is slick and fast in a techno-fabuloso skyscape of steroidal ferocity.
The wizardly hardware, quick-fire choreography, intrepid spirit and smorgasbord of dramas are as much a part of the Abrams service as the short skirts of the Enterprise lady crew. Did my heart beat faster? Not for a nanosecond. Streamlined hoo-ha is hoo-ha all the same and this roll call of Teflon-coated crises wears out its welcome in the end. But there’s no denying it’s easy on the eyes.
