Star Trek: Into Darkness was, in my opinion, almost flawless. The story can entertain nerds and others with its humor and meaningful themes of family, trust and self-sacrifice. The music and effects were breathtaking, and the delivery of the well-thought-out lines was always engaging.
As time has evolved, so have Star Trek special effects. Even in comparison to Star Trek, which came out in 2009, I could see improvements in special effects in this new movie. The Enterprise looked as realistic as ever and the costumes and effects of aliens were believable. Also amazing was the soundtrack. The music added excitement to battle scenes, presentations of the Enterprise (a few too many times), and dramatic, serious scenes. The only thing I had to complain about the actual filming was a few way-too-close ups in one scene of the movie.
Some other great things about the movie were the humor and suspense. As an sci-fi/ action film, suspense is a required part of the movie. The writers of Star Trek: Into Darkness did not disappoint. The music and fast-paced action scenes both contribute to the building of suspense in this movie. As for humor in the movie, I was pleased. Scotty, Bones, Kirk and Spock all added different types of humor to the story, so all kinds of people will find one part of the movie funny. I thought the writers’ choice of giving Spock a girlfriend was great, and watching Spock and Kirk’s reaction to the relationship was absolutely hilarious.
One thing about the movie that really surprised me was the deep themes it contained. The theme of family was important in Star Trek: Into Darkness. The relationship between Captain Kirk and his crew was just like a real family, and we could see this through another theme of the movie: self-sacrifice.
Kirk said he would do anything for his crew multiple times in the movie, and he lived up to his promise by doing everything he could to protect his family. The theme of trust is also a part of the self-sacrifice theme. The crew of the Enterprise trusted all of Kirk’s decisions, no matter how crazy. Also, Kirk had great amounts of trust in his first officer, Spock, and his engineer, Scotty. It’s these themes and deep messages that make science fiction so lovable by those who are called “geeks” or “nerds.” The relatable messages and realistic characters of fiction show us how we should act and feel in real life.
The reason that these themes came through so strongly are because of the great writing and amazing acting. Chris Pine (Captain Kirk) was perfect at delivering short, humorous lines to long, serious or angry monologues. Simon Pegg (Scotty) was always a great source of comic relief, and his appearances were well-placed in the storyline. Zachary Quinto (Spock) played his character perfectly and interacted exactly as he should have with other characters. I believe the combination of these actors with the great writers was well fitted to continue in the Star Trek legacy.
