European Contemporary Arts Practitioner

FILM REVIEW

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS, 2013, directed by J. J. Abrams.

★ out of ★★★★

The highly anticipated sequel to 2009’s reboot of the STAR TREK film franchise disappoints in almost every means at it’s disposal. However, our villain shines like a gold statue in a silverware shop as the new younger crew of the USS Enterprise find themselves pitted against an adversary that bests them in every way.

INTO DARKNESS finds the crew of the Enterprise in the frontier of space performing their duties as silent protectors of other civilisations with an ever rule-breaking cocky Captain Kirk (played by Chris Pine) having been demoted. Meanwhile, a mysterious former agent of Starfleet known as John Harrison (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) destroys a secret installation and manages to attack several admirals and captains before being pursued to the farthest reaches of space where the crew of the Enterprise will learn shocking secrets that reveal the true enemies and friends.

Whilst the first in the new franchise of STAR TREK films was well received in 2009 and would have garnered 2 out of 4 stars from this reviewer, INTO DARKNESS delivers less awe than a serving of tiramisu and can only be justified by its lead villain Kahn this time played by Cumberbatch with exuberant passion and a ferocious aura that reminds us why this baddie is probably one of the greatest film villains of all time, and an excellent addition to the best film antagonists in recent years. Superior to the Romulans in physical and mental strength, as our human crew, Kahn represents a favourite of director J. J. Abrams’ auteur in recent years: catastrophes/menaces spawned out of human ingenuity seeking vengeance against their captors with humanity as hero and villain. If it wasn’t the giant monster in the Abrams-produced CLOVERFIELD, 2008, then it was the alien in SUPER 8, 2011, or the meteorite in his co-authored film ARMAGEDDON, 1998. Personally, several directors of other genres are joining the science-fiction band-waggon with this reviewer dying to see Guillermo del Toro’s vision in PACIFIC RIM to be released this year which should follow a del Toro theme similar to Abrams [del Toro was here first]. It becomes apparent that the two keywords of this picture are “feel” and “loss” with a theme of “terrorism” coursing through the veins of INTO DARKNESS‘ heart, as acts of personal revenge and heroism all reveal consequences. Unfortunately, Abrams’ direction confirms that he has very little to teach his audiences about cinema, and that if he is not paying homage to the pictures of Steven Spielberg in SUPER 8, then he is trying to dumb-down the beloved STAR TREK franchise for a target audience of twelve year-olds who most likely have never seen an episode let alone a film from the original series.

If Trekkies were expecting INTO DARKNESS to be their EMPIRE STRIKES BACK then they may very well be upset by how it “does not feel like a STAR TREK movie”, producing a script of cheesy metaphors (apparently still utilised in the distant future) as well as numerous references and performances befitting an otherwise rubbish ‘Beverley Hills 90210’ school play production of Star Trek. The ending also has little resolve losing it’s momentum, and demonstrating why it could alienate fans of the franchise; and whilst it leaves room for a sequel, it probably does not deserve such a feat. It is very difficult to accept that some critics actually wish to see INTO DARKNESS receive Academy-Award nominations#, whilst a Best Supporting Actor nod for Cumberbatch is more likely, although the Academy is famous for not always embracing the science-fiction genre. If what we have seen of Abrams’ work is to present us with any clues to the ditsy direction of the highly anticipated new title in the STAR WARS saga (EPISODE VII (2015), then fans could very well be disappointed, and should expect heart and soul script-writing to be replaced with mechanical robotic direction and tasteless performances from the young folks.

Here’s hoping to an improved follow-up and until then “Live Long and Prosper”.

#’Summer Movies with Oscar Potential’ by Thelma Adams http://tinyurl.com/nlxjaym

HIGHLIGHTED UPCOMING FILM

PACIFIC RIM, 2013, directed by Guillermo del Toro

The director of BLADE II, the HELLBOY films, and PAN’S LABYRINTH doing a sci-fi summer blockbuster about giant robots battling giant monsters? Ridiculous you say? Far from it – del Toro has come a long way since writing and directing unique World Cinema films with either a horror or fantasy flavour as evidenced when he made his first “mainstream” transition with Blade II (2002); often dubbed the best film of the Blade trilogy; which he infused with his love of fantastical creatures in a horror setting.
But his pet project was always the titular character of the HELLBOY films (2004, 2008) which also featured his muse Ron Pearlman in the lead role of a good-guy demon battling to protect humanity. Even the word “humanity” is a key to understanding del Toro’s oeuvre, as his characters often represent the best-and-worst of our species (e.g. courage, greed, curiosity, evil, etc.). The point is, humanity is depicted in his films as being the cause of their predicament (e.g. the mechanical vampire-like device in CRONOS, 1993, or the titular mechanical army in HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY, 2008) and for this PACIFIC RIM should be no different, as the Kaiju (giant monsters) in the film arrive not from space but from the Pacific Ocean [alluding to the BP Oil Spill of 2010 and other such disasters] and before long, humans are forced to build giant robots to battle the creatures in a fight reminiscent of the Titan-Olympian battle from Greek mythology.

You might think “monsters coming from the ocean battling humans? doesn’t that sound like CLOVERFIELD (2008) produced by J.J. Abrams [who also wrote and directed the Spielberg-homage monster film SUPER 8 (2011)?” and the answer is not “yes”. Whilst that symmetry of origins for the lead monster(s) is similar it no-way represents unoriginality and artistic depth, as personally CLOVERFIELD and SUPER 8 were far from being “excellent” – CLOVERFIELD was nothing more than an MTV movie with annoying human characters and SUPER 8 was little-more than a rip-off Spielberg cinema, which demonstrates Abrams over-rated spectacle and left this reviewer in boredom for STAR TREK (2009 – on that note the new STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS, 2013, seems a right snooze-fest, and gives little hope that the direction in STAR WARS EPISODE VII, 2015, will be any good because of Abrams).

Although it has been 5 years since del Toro’s last film (HELLBOY II), this film should demonstrate that whether Hollywood has succeeded in recruiting him, del Toro is very much an auteur and chooses his projects carefully, and makes them into visual splendors regardless of the budget or box-office gross. If you are a fan of his cinema, or just enjoy the Kaiju monster movies of Japan such as Godzilla, maybe even just want to watch a decent summer blockbuster, then PACIFIC RIM should be the choice you make.