But having seen the film a second, as it is the summer, and as youngin' that's what I'm wont to do during this time of the year, I thought I'd share some additional thoughts.
Seeing the film a second time, I enjoyed it much more. The film is a fun, action-packed film. And while it doesn't reach the memorable heights of the first film, it does leave you entertained. I had expectations going into this film since its predecessor was such a wonderful reinvention of the franchise. Into Darkness doesn't expand the series further or reinvent it anymore, and that's a good place to start for considering why it doesn't come off as strongly as the original.
The film as is could shed the elements that make it uniquely "star trek-y" and it could still stand largely on its own as a solid big budget action, sci-fi adventure. That's partly a strike against it. It's nice to see a well put together summer blockbuster that's a fun distraction, but I'd rather, in the case of this film, that it be unique and specific to this franchise. While some of this is well-realized, including especially the relationship between Kirk and Spock, much elsewhere just doesn't give you that sense. I would love to see the affection for the old series shine through; to see people who geek out about the older series getting to play around in this sandbox. And that well-worn love doesn't always comes across as strongly as it did in the original.
Many of the characters feel incredibly poorly utilized. Pavel Chekhov has practically no screen time whatsoever. Uhura is stuck in a plot that is at times embarrassingly reductive, relating agency solely to her relationship to Spock. The conflict between the two characters also comes off as rather forced and is resolved much too easily.
This speaks to a larger problem that the film has with gender. It's not all bad; the undercutting of Kirk's masculinity, at turns, is a nice sight. But the female character are token at best and objectified at worst. This is particularly true of Carole Wallace. Carole often times seems to be in the movie for the purpose of looking good, and while I can dig a pretty face, this has male gaze written all over it.
However, the film is on the whole a very good time. There are very few sequences I would point to as being bad or distracting (although the fight on Chronos is kind of a mess and my least favorite). This is popcorn spectacle at its most refined, even if I think it could have been honed just a tiny bit more to raise it up to the tier of its predecessor.
Stray Thoughts:
-John Cho doesn't get as much to do this time around as Sulu, but that steely eyed speech to the Admiral is an excellent monologue and Cho revels in every second of it.
-Simon Pegg once again goes home MVP as he has an absolute blast playing Scotty. Also Scotty's sidekick is adorable and awesome.
-Khan crushing the Admiral's skull feels like it's from an absolutely different film. It's almost over the top for a film like this.
-Khan crashing the ship into enterprise headquarters at films end comes off as far too destructive for the conflict to feel truly victorious, like the film wants it too appear.
-I enjoyed the intro more the second time around, but having so much character development and plot take place off screen is just bad storytelling.
-The film could have done a better job explaining the situation with the Klingons for non-Trekkies.
-Kirk's death is very effective, although I think Spock saying the reverse-engineered version of the infamous line from Wrath of Khan feels a bit forced, even if it's kind of necessary for fan service.
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