Star Trek Into Darkness

I know the Trekkies are gonna be mad at me when I do this, but it's too tempting not to be cliche. My mission in this review is to boldly go where no man has gone before. And just for good measure, this may contain spoilers. The movie tonight, Star Trek Into Darkness.

Kirk and company are once again exploring space. This time they are in pursuit of a Star Fleet traitor named John Harrison....no....Khan. Yeah. I said it. I spoiled it. Or did I? Let's talk Benedict Cumberbatch for a moment shall we?

For those of you who don't know, Benedict Cumberbatch is the lead role in BBC's acclaimed series, Sherlock. When the news first broke that he would be the villain in Star Trek, everyone began speculating who he could possibly be. Everyone but me. I knew he was Khan. Even before they began to imply he was Khan. Kind of like how I knew Joseph Goron-Levett was going to be Robin in The Dark Knight Rises. I'm no Trekkie, but I know Khan. I know Khan is a bad dude. So is Benedict. You do the math. Bottom line, not only did Benedict play Khan well, but I believe it was on par with Heath Ledger's Joker. He put his own spin on the character while at the same time making you believe he was Khan.

This, however, does not take away from the performances of Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and the rest of the cast. All of them did a spectacular job reprising their previous roles. I especially enjoyed the evolution of Kirk and Spock's relationship. Just as Shatner and Nimoy before them, Pine and Quinto made me believe in the bond that the Captain and his First Officer have. Of course, I and others would believe that those two are more than friends. Not a bad thing at all, but damn it could it have been more obvious.

My problems were very nit-picky things as the rest of the movie was so damn good. The Klingons seemed to have little or no reason to be in this movie aside from that one, flashy battle scene. Also, props to J.J. Abrams for creating a time paradox in the last movie, but I'm sure you could've had Leonard Nimoy do a cameo without reintroducing that concept. I don't know how, but anything would have been better than Spock calling Spock. Speaking of Spock, my final critique involves him breaking a tragic moment by yelling "KHAN" after Kirk dies. There's a difference between paying homage and trying to hard to do so.

None of those things change my opinion on the movie though. Star Trek Into Darkness is a fantastic film. If I ever needed a movie to keep me occupied while waiting for Man of Steel, I found it. Action packed, breathtaking, and if Mr. Cumberbatch thought he was famous before, I believe this movie brought his career to a new high.

SCORE: 9/10
POINTS LOST: See paragraph of nit-picky things. (-1)

I am better...at everything.