Ratings for reviews will appear above the fold, while the review itself will appear below the fold to avoid spoilers for anyone that wants to go into it with a blank slate.

Jean-Paul’s rating: 4/5 stars

J.J. ABRAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMSSSSSSSSSSSS!

“Into Darkness” is an an incredibly fun action movie.  It sets the tone of the whole movie right at the beginning with Kirk and McCoy racing through an eerily red forest being chased by chalk white primitives off a steep cliff into the deep blue ocean.  Meanwhile, Sulu, Spock, and Uhura are deep in the bowels of a volcano trying to prevent it from exploding and making all of the primitives dead.  Why were Kirk and McCoy being chased through the forest by primitives?  Who cares!  This is fun!

The whole movie is like that.  You’re enjoying the dialogue and action so much you don’t realize all of the inconsistencies in it.  Who knew that cold fusion freezes lava?  Why can’t Kirk’s rifle harm a simple flying craft?  Why do they need Brendan Cumberbatch’s blood to revive Kirk when they have 72 other super humans to choose from?  The list goes on.

I can see why so many people didn’t like this film.  If you go into it with a critical eye, you’re bound to be disappointed.  And there are no more critical eyes than the eyes of Trekkers.  In their defense, there’s a lot to criticize.  The super secret switcheroo that occurs fell pretty flat.  Many of the fight scenes, while visually stunning, are highly improbable.  But they are fun!  Fun triumphs over substance.

Go into this movie with an eye towards an action movie and I think you will enjoy yourself.  The main characters, heroes and villains alike, have an excellent rapport with each other.  J.J. Abrams is sure making Star Trek his own and he’s doing a decent job of it.  Just repeat after me, Trekkers, it’s an alternate universe and in my universe William Shatner is still the best Kirk.