Movie review

Yesterday, while we were doing a Wal-Mart run, we happened to see that Star Trek: Into Darkness was on the shelves.  We snapped it up in a freakin' heartbeat.  Star Trek (2009) was an awesome reset--basically, bad guys angry at Kirk and Spock traveled back in time, did a lot of bad shit (including killing Kirk's father as he was being born, then later destroying Vulcan), and completely changed how the timeline was going to run.  With that in mind, we knew we were going to want to see the second movie.

With the reset having happened, the whole universe is moving at a much faster clip.  Instead of moving up through the ranks, Kirk is shoved into the captain's seat pretty much fresh out of the academy.  They've done a few missions, but the whole "five year mission...to boldly go where no man has gone before" hasn't happened yet.  Not even close.

Yet...with the bad guys in the first movie having shown the Federation how weak it really is, things have changed.  And one of my favorite villains from the Original Series (and the only villain to repeat in the movies) has been found and awakened early.  Very early.  Like about ten years or so earlier than he was in the series, and by a war-hawk admiral, Admiral Marcus, who parlayed his gains into putting himself in command of Star Fleet.

The bad guy is played--magnificently--by Benedict Cumberbatch.  He may not be of the ethnic background the character of Khan should have been, but truthfully, that really didn't matter.  He brilliantly portrayed Khan's arrogance and his certainty that, as a genetically engineered super human, he's better than everyone else around him. 

The pacing of the movie was incredible.  A two hour and ten minute adrenaline rush.  And it took me more than an hour and a half to settle down for bed.

Which leads me to my recommendation: if you have children, or a job, that gets you up early every morning, watch this early in the evening.  We started it around nine or so, finished it a bit after eleven, and I didn't get to sleep until a bit after one this morning.  And was awakened promptly at seven thirty this morning by the kids...like always.

I very much enjoyed the movie.  Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Karl Urban have completely nailed the chemistry and interaction between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, and Simon Pegg is a more than credible Scotty.  This movie is going to be getting watched a couple more times before we loan it to my family in a couple of weeks.