7 Things About "Star Trek: Into Darkness" (Short Review)

Here are seven spoiler-free things about Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013).

1. You already know whether or not you will enjoy Star Trek: Into Darkness. If you are a Star Trek fan or like action movies in space, you will see the movie no matter what I say. And you probably will not be disappointed. For a Star Trek fan like me, it is a very entertaining movie and the most fun I have had at the cinema in awhile.

2. Director J.J. Abrams continues with our heroes in an alternate time-line from the 1960s series and the William Shatner movies. In this first sequel to J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek (2009) reboot, where time does not need to be wasted on the set-up, we are starting to see the brilliance of having the freedom to change the events of the “past” while also connecting to the stories we know.

3. While the first film took me awhile to adapt to the new actors in the classic roles, by now the actors fit well into their roles. Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho and others have become the characters we know. Benedict Cumberbatch does a good job as the bad guy too.

4. There are several references to the old TV and movie series. I will leave it to you to decide whether the movie overdoes it. On one hand, one might conclude there was a little too much old and not enough new — while also wondering if this alternate universe storyline really makes much sense for the characters. But on the other hand, the connections did make for an entertaining and clever movie.

5. As Slate has noted, the new film has a little something to say about the U.S. war on terrorism, making the movie relevant in the way the old series was. The Atlantic, however, finds the message is not so ambiguous. There is a lot to discuss on this point, which makes the movie even more memorable.

6. While many speculated about the identity of the villain prior to the film’s release (and which I will not spoil here), I was pleasantly surprised by the appearance of one of these (warning: clicking on the link will give you a minor spoiler).

7. Conclusion? If you liked past Star Trek films, you should see Star Trek: Into Darkness. But I probably did not need to tell you that.

What did you think of Star Trek: Into Darkness? Leave your two cents in the comments.