Star Trek Into Darkness is the sequel to the 2009 film Star Trek. Both are directed by J.J. Abrams.
A mission to survey a primitive civilization leads to near-death experiences for Capt. James Kirk (Chris Pine) and Dr. Leonard McCoy (Karl Urban) as they run from angry planet inhabitants as well as Mr. Spock (Zachary Quinto) as he attempts to negate a supervolcano eruption on the planet. To save Spock, Kirk breaks the Prime Directive and exposes his ship to the primitive civilization, drawing concern from Spock as to the repercussions of that action.
A short time after, back on Earth, a couple with a very sick daughter is approached by a gentleman (Benedict Cumberbatch) with a promise to cure the daughter’s disease in exchange for a task. The task, unbeknownst to the person performing it, blows up an intelligence organization.
While this happens, Kirk and Spock are called into Admiral Pike’s (Bruce Greenwood) to address an inconsistency with reports filed by Spock and Kirk. Kirk is demoted to for breaking Prime Directive and Spock is assigned to another ship. During an emergency meeting following the explosion of the intelligence organization, the gentleman who organized the attack is identified as John Harrison. Harrison ambushes the Starfleet officials in the meeting, killing several of them. After much insistence, Kirk receives orders to find and kill Harrison. The mission that follows warps the moral compass, tests the emotions of the Enterprise crew, and challenges Kirk’s abilities as a leader.
Character development is rather easy in this movie, being a sequel. Captain Kirk is still arrogant and uses happenstance outcomes to justify his behaviors against protocol. Spock, on the other hand, is a fantastic foil to Kirk, being more of a moral compass and a very by-the-book follower of the rules. The new character, John Harrison, is characterized immediately as somewhat charismatic and powerful.
I’m sure J.J. Abrams went to great lengths to make sure this movie would cater to a great deal of audiences, but with that generally leaves a movie with one or two scenes that aren’t essential to the plot but are put in anyways. Let me ask you, why would you want to keep in an unnecessary scene for a movie?
Oh.
Themes are frequent and not very subtle. Within 20 minutes, there is a terrorist attack and there is a declaration to take him out by any means necessary. If the moviegoer isn’t sure about the overarching theme of the movie after a few reminders about what the bad guy is doing, a post-movie message removes any doubt that the film is an allegory for the War on Terror. Aside from that, the film also goes into the dark (no pun intended) moral areas that Kirk (and at times, Spock) has to address. This is especially important for Capt. Kirk, since he avoided the important moral dilemma of the Kobayashi Maru in the first movie. This time around, though, the dilemma is not a simulation, there is no system to cheat, and the stakes are much higher and more personal.
Plot: 8/10 (Capt. Kirk and crew hunt down a terrorist)
Characters: 8/10 (Not much since it’s a sequel, but the new characters get rooting interests and defined objectives)
Language: 8/10 (Alien speech and space travel terms that many are familiar with at this point)
Themes: 8/10 (Terrorism, ethical and moral dilemma, more terrorism)
Music: 6/10 (Great sweeping orchestrations, but the sounds of laser blasts and explosions make it so you can’t hear it)
Spectacle: 7/10 (Stylish, but the lens flares are still annoying)
Star Power: 9/10 (Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, and many others from the previous movie)
Who to watch with: 8/10 (Broad net for fans of the franchise as well as general moviegoers)
Post-movie thought: 6/10 (We get it, terrorism!)
Source material: 9/10 (Fans of the franchise might appreciate when SPOILERS AVERTED)
Overall: 77/100
Two Hours at a Time 
You are so lucky you got to see it. I can’t wait for it to come out this weekend. Great review 🙂