The Immortal NCC-1701

Today I saw Star Trek Into Darkness—by myself because Martine refuses to see any film that’s over ninety minutes long. I had wanted to see the film because, well, I’m sort of a Trekkie. No costumes or anything like that. Perhaps I just have a hankering for green women.

While I enjoyed the film for the most part, all the CGI work bored me. I have no doubt that most of the production money was spent on scenes that meant nothing to me. Ever since the original Star Wars, space ships have been at least as big as the Burj Kalifa (the world’s tallest building, these particular fifteen minutes) and have featured leagues of heavy metal whose mining would have reduced Planet Earth to the size of an inconsequential cinder. What I want to know is: Who did all the dusting and mopping?

On the plus side, the acting was pretty good, with Chris Pine as a believable, super-insubordinate James T. Kirk; Zachary Quinto as the son of the Leonard Nimoy Spock (that seems to go against the chronology, as this takes place before the Shatner/Nimoy original); John Cho as a fearsome Sulu; and Alice Eve (below) as an exceptionally cute addition to the Enterprise.

Alice Eve in a Gratuitous but Not Unwelcome Cheesecake Shot

What worked best were when Director J. J. Abrams paid homage to the original series. Referred to in this version were The Wrath of Khan and the TV episode on which it was based (“Space Seed”), and also the TV episode entitled “The Trouble with Tribbles.”

In the end, I think Star Trek Into Darkness was a good addition to the franchise, but no masterpiece.