Bias alert:

I went in with an attitude; I was expecting a pretty cool, fairly well-done movie, but the kind that was so serious and dark and trying to be cool that I just felt alienated from it… but everybody else was saying it was the most awesome thing ever.

There have been a few of those lately.

How was it?

I thought it felt more Trekkish to me than the last one did. (Helped, in no small part, by a much better score by the same guy, Michael Giacchino.)

It was full of adventure and action, and had humour… from time to time.



It wasn’t perfect; the old riddle springs to mind: “What’s black and white and red all over?” - this movie.

I don’t think they quite got the villain right; but he didn’t collapse in a screaming heap, either. For example, when you first see him, the camera and the score are making a big deal about the reveal – but if you haven’t seen Sherlock, and/or don’t know he’s playing the villain, he’s just some guy. Come to think of it, if you have seen Sherlock, and do know he’s the villain, he’s still just some guy. He's the villain, but the stunning reveal doesn't reveal anything.

I’ll give him a bare pass mark, though. He worked, but needed to be more… bombastic, I think. And feel bigger.



There were a few changes, mostly to the Klingons, that felt like change for change’s sake; the one Klingon we see without a mask has ridges all the way around his head; their ships (that we see) look like they’re made of junk. Praxis seems to have exploded while Kirk was young (that didn’t happen until Trek 6 in old continuity).
All of this, though, was background stuff.

It kept you going with a cool adventure with excellent characters. It was fun. Does it go, as the title suggests, too far into darkness?
No. Not by a long shot.

I give it a rating of:
Awesome.
If you’re tossing up between Iron Man 3 and this one, I recommend this one (though both are good!)