The next film that is part of my catch up is the sequel to J.J. Abrams brilliant remake of the original Star Trek T.V. series, following the lives of Captain Kirk (Chris Pine), Dr. Spock (Zachary Quinto) and the rest of the crew of the Starship Enterprise. With Abrams directing again, the crew face their most ominous enemy to date, Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch), a rogue member of Star fleet who has turned into a one man source of terror.
When I was growing up, the one T.V. show that I always associated with my Dad was Star Trek. Whilst for most people that would mean that they would hate it with every fiber of their being, I actually quite like Star Trek now (although I'm not quite at 'Trekky' level I'm afraid). The first revamp of Star Trek only added to this so when the second film was released I was definitely not going to miss the opportunity to see it on the big screen.
To start with, I shall just say that it is great. If you enjoyed any part of the first one then this is definitely a film that you need to see. The characters are better, the storyline is bigger and the whole movie is just more epic. J. J. Abrams has yet again created a brilliant movie. One thing I particularly love about the way these films are shot is the anamorphic format that is used (movie nerd coming out, sorry). This is basically a way of filming that distorts the image slightly, but what it brings to the Star Trek films is the flares that it adds to the lights. This creates a very cinematic and spacey feel in the film and really makes it stand out amongst other Sci-fi movies around at the moment (nerd rant over). For those people who are not geeks and don't really care about that kind of stuff, the action sequences and story are outstanding. The action is fast paced and adrenaline fuelled including everything from fist fights between two people to epic battles between spaceships and aliens. No opportunity has been spared to really crank up the action and it certainly pays off in the long run.
Acting wise, all of the regulars are back again and all fit right back into their roles as the crew members of Starship Enterprise. I may be slightly biased when I say this but I do think that Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto are so much better than William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy at the lead roles of Kirk and Spock (sorry to the fans of the original). This already gives the film a good base to build from and when you add Benedict Cumberbatch's performance as the antagonist, you can't really go wrong. He plays a very good bad guy both in the action sense and the performance sense. The only issue I have is that sometimes it is very obvious to see that he is from a theatre background. Every so often (and in reality that's not very often at all) his facial expressions and what not are over exaggerated and quite distracting making it difficult to focus on what he's actually saying. But like I said, it's only every so often.
The only other problem I have with the movie is that sometimes it can be a bit slow. With the majority of the film being so fast paced and action packed, in the scenes where more dramatic elements are occurring or nothing much is happening it can appear to drag a bit and be slightly slow. However (oddly) I didn't find this when I saw it for a second time I saw it so maybe I was just being weird the first time round.
Therefore, it is probably safe to say that this definitely deserves its place among the summer blockbusters this year. Whether you are a fan of Star Trek, Sci-Fi or none of that at all, just go see it, it will be worth it.
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