Film Review: Star Trek: Into Darkness

With: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch

Runtime: 132 minutes

HAVING put the ace back into space travel with his initial reboot of the Star Trek franchise, JJ Abrams shows there is plenty more juice in the tank with Into Darkness. All the science fiction life one would expect is here, from fiercely-strained Lycra to knowing laughs, awesome spectacle to spectacular silliness, and some surprisingly hefty dramatic moments besides. Carry on like this and they'll soon be letting the kid loose on Star Wars. Oh, that's right, they are.

You can see why from the opening moments. Far be it for us to advise on sartorial choices for your cinema-going, but it might be as well to wear running shoes to keep up with Abrams' sprint of a start.

Captain Kirk (Chris Pine, reporting for duty again) has led his crew into a tight spot, and the only way he can see out of it is to break some cardinal rules. Starfleet soon has more to worry about, though, than one young captain getting too big for his space boots. There is a villain on the way, and in the proud traditions of Hollywood movies from time immemorial, he's an English cove.

John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) is the name and snarling in a Shakespearean fashion is the game. With his swept-back hair, long black coat and diction as crisp as an autumn leaf, Mr Harrison looks and sounds as though he has just popped into a Hollywood movie on his way back from something simply mahvellous at The Globe, dahling. It is a performance of glorious hamminess, but first class ham, the kind reared on an organic farm, fed on prime scran and watered with angels' tears, and it is one of the film's most delicious treats.

Having started at such a ferocious lick, Abrams eases off the throttle to set up the rest of the story. He takes quite a time to do so, and where he is heading is not always clear, but any patience expended is ultimately rewarded as the story thunders towards its end.

The biggest favour Abrams did Star Trek in the 2009 movie was to take a Hydra-headed franchise and hack it back to its essentials. Even then, Gene Roddenberry's creation continued to defy easy categorisation. With its Kirk father figure, sons and daughters, squabbles and reconciliations, was Star Trek a family saga, a sort of Waltons with a warp factor? Was it a western in which white hats and black hats roamed the intergalactic prairie? Or was it a souped up soap opera built on the cosiness of familiar characters going through standard routines each week?

Abrams took a slice of each element and put them in a blender, spicing up the mixture with a glossy young cast, glugs of humour and plenty of love. The last ingredient was crucial. If it was to appeal across the age range – and make lots of money, natch – the new Star Trek could not simply preach to the converted. It had to blend the old jokes with new teases, respect the franchise's history while not setting phasers to stun everyone else into boredom. Abrams can hit all these marks because while he might have a fondness for Star Trek, he loves being entertaining more.

That stance pays off triumphantly for the most part. The jokes are slick and the politics right-on (war, though hell, must be fought nobly). At other times, Abrams seems to be trying too hard to reach certain demographics. The are-they-aren't-they interplay between two of the space travellers will likely be a bore to anyone but the soppiest teenage girls, while boys of the same age must have been the target audience for one shot of a crew member in her skimpies. But hey, as the script makes clear before the gratuitous disrobing, the officer in question is also a mega-brained scientist. So that's all right then.

While we wait for the story to sort itself out, Abrams has a blast with the characters, putting them under as much dramatic pressure as possible. Kirk is finding leadership a lonely path, strewn with doubts and self-recrimination. The half-human, illogical side of Spock is at odds with the logical Vulcan in him. Simon Pegg, back as Scotty, is cod cannae-ing fit to burst. In every corner of this glorified tin can hurtling through place, someone's mettle is being tested. Acting chops are duly shown, with Quinto and Pine in particular showing there is far more to them than looking good in Lycra.

But enough of the thesp action, what Star Trek audiences have come to see is spectacle and plenty of it. Abrams duly delivers, from bird's-eye views of futuristic cityscapes to explosions that will rattle your fillings. If you can, see the picture in Imax. If you can't, trek along anyway for a high old time.