THE FOLLOWING POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS. IF YOU HAVE NOT YET SEEN THE FILM, DO NOT GO ON AFTER THIS FOR I WILL BE ADDRESSING THE FILM’S KEY SPOILERS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!
For those who are not looking to learn the film’s key spoilers, here is my Spoiler-Free Review of the Film:
Like ‘Iron Man 3’, ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ is another movie where the major spoilers of the film prevent me from talking about the film completely in an official review. So now, let’s talk about the key spoilers of the highly anticipated sequel to 2009’s ‘Star Trek’. Of course, the biggest spoiler for the film is the identity of the main villain, Benedict Cumberbatch’s John Harrison. Ever since Cumberbatch was cast in the role, there was speculation as to who Cumberbatch was really playing with some possible identities being some classic Star Trek villains who would have been making their debuts in the new Star Trek alternate universe. Even after his ‘Harrison’ name was confirmed, some weren’t really convinced that was all there is to the character. So who is John Harrison? In order to explain it further, let’s delve into the plot for a bit. To quote Cumberbatch from the film, ‘Shall We Begin?’
So as the film begins, Harrison bombs a Starfleet archive in London and then proceeds to attack Starfleet’s Top Officers (who had gathered together in response to said attacks) at Starfleet Command in San Francisco, with Christopher Pike being one of the casualties. Captain James T. Kirk, looking to avenge Pike’s death, volunteers to go after Harrison who, following the second attack has fled to Kronos, the home-world of the Klingons. The Enterprise follows Harrison to Kronos and eventually Kirk does end up capturing him after a little skirmish with some Klingons. While in captivity, Harrison tells Kirk to examine one of the 72 photon torpedoes that were loaded onto the Enterprise at the request of Starfleet Admiral Marcus (Peter Weller) to use against Harrison in case they were unable to capture him. When Bones and Dr. Carol Marcus (Alice Eve) examine them, it is revealed that there are actually cryogenic pods containing humans who have been frozen for about 300 years. When Harrison is questioned about this, he reveals his true identity, which is…
Everybody say it with me now…
KHHHAAAAANNNNN!!!
That’s right, Benedict Cumberbatch’s Harrison is actually Khan Noonien Singh, the genetically engineered superhuman who is arguably Star Trek’s most famous villain and the star of the best Star Trek film to date, ‘Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan’, where he was portrayed by the legendary Ricardo Montalban. In my review, I stated that this film pays homage to a classic Star Trek film, and ‘Wrath of Khan’ is that film. Not only is Khan the main villain, but Dr. Carol Marcus is also in the film as well, though in a relatively minor role. Also, there’s a major death near the end of the film, and yes, even the famous ‘KHAN!’ yell returns as well. The only difference here is that this time, there are changes to those last two moments. So, the big question now is whether or not this all works out in the film.
Well, overall the new take on Khan’s story does work well because while there are many similar events that happen again in this new film, it at least does do enough to be different from ‘Wrath of Khan’. I did like how at one point, Kirk even allies with Khan in an attempt to capture Admiral Marcus, who is revealed to have revived Khan (who had also been in cryogenic freeze for 300 years), forcing him to help Starfleet design weapons in order to start a war against the Klingons by holding Khan’s fellow colleagues hostage as a way to blackmail Khan into helping him. However, this leads to my major complaint of the film in that there are some certain story aspects and characters that were rather underdeveloped, and Admiral Marcus is right at the center of this dilemma.
While the writers do give Marcus a clear goal in mind (he’s looking to start a war with the Klingons), there is absolutely no clear motivation or reasoning for his actions. Khan had a clear motive; Starfleet was holding his people hostage but as for Marcus there’s nothing. There’s also no real connection between him and his daughter. For the record, Alice Eve is fine in the role of Carol Marcus. It’s just that she doesn’t play a big part in the film. Actually, I’m glad that the filmmakers did not try and make her Kirk’s primary love interest right off the bat, even when considering that, in the original Trek timeline, she was the mother of Kirk’s only son David and the co-creator of the Genesis Device (maybe that will make an appearance in the next film, perhaps?).
But aside from the ‘secondary’ villain, there are a couple other story/character elements that don’t really go anywhere. The father of a sick girl, as shown at the beginning of the IMAX preview (by the way, the two scenes in the preview are actually switched around in the final cut) last December, doesn’t really play a big part in the movie. Khan offers him a cure for his daughter’s disease, he takes it, it works, and then he helps Khan blow up the Starfleet Archives in London by setting off the explosion. Also, and while this may be just a minor nitpick, not enough Klingons. I know it’s not really that big of a deal in this film because of course the focus is on Khan, but hopefully the Klingons will play a bigger part in the next film. They’ve played a relatively minor part in this new series (in fact, there were some Klingons in the first ‘Star Trek’, but those scenes were removed from the final cut).
One final spoiler I want to talk about is the finale, which does pay homage to ‘Wrath of Khan’ quite a lot, namely a key death near the end of the film. This time, instead of Spock sacrificing himself to save the Enterprise from being destroyed, Kirk is the one who sacrifices himself to save the ship as it falls out of space down to Earth. The scene between Kirk and Spock that mirrors Spock’s final scene in ‘Wrath of Khan’ is a well-done scene that I guarantee will bring tears to Trek fans. As it ends, Spock is the one who utters the famous yell (‘KHAANN!’) as he then proceeds to chase after Khan. But don’t worry because Kirk does come back at the end. While Spock vengefully pursues Khan in San Francisco, Bones realizes that Khan’s superhuman-enhanced blood can save Kirk so Spock and Uhura eventually subdue Khan and use his blood to bring Kirk back to life. Is it a possible cop-out? Maybe, but at least it’s not the focus of a whole movie like Search for Spock was.
The consensus that I’ve been getting from people who aren’t really big on the film is that the movie is way too similar to ‘Wrath of Khan’ and I can see what they’re talking about. Aside from a few changes, this is pretty much the new alternate universe’s take on the best Trek movie to date. That being said, I stand by my original rating of 4.5/5 even after all that I’ve said in this post because while it is true that this is very reminiscent of ‘Wrath of Khan’, especially towards the end, the film is still a very exciting and entertaining sequel. Obviously, it’s not as good as the last Star Trek film, but it definitely benefits from Cumberbatch’s performance as the new universe’s interpretation on Khan. It is a vast improvement over the main villain of the last Trek film. I’m of course excited for the next Star Trek film, and I’m also interested to see who might be taking over for J.J. Abrams as he moves on to ‘Star Wars: Episode VII’. Maybe there will be a ‘Star Trek’ film directed by Brad Bird, perhaps?
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