I am not a Star Trek person. I’ve never seen the TV show or any of the “original” movies. My only exposure to Star Trek has been the various quotes and items that have been embedded into pop culture. Everyone knows the names Captain Kirk, Spock, and the Starship Enterprise, lines like “Beam me up Scotty” or “Set phasers to stun,” and of course “Live Long and Prosper” with accompanying hand sign. This pretty much sums up my knowledge of Star Trek. That is, before I saw the JJ Abrams reboot movies. I saw Abrams’ first Star Trek movie when it came out in 2009 and really really liked it. Not enough to want to dive into to the original TV series or anything, but I liked that world that Abrams had introduced me to.
Then May saw the return of Abrams’ Star Trek universe with Star Trek Into Darkness and I was excited. The fantastic cast from the previous movie was returning with Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg and Karl Urban (among others); the addition of Benedict Cumberbatch as the villain was an added bonus.
Short review of the film? Star Trek Into Darkness is a fast paced, exciting, and sci-fi adventure that will make you love its characters and keep you on your toes.
Now here is a long(er) review.
Star Trek Into Darkness is fast paced and takes you across the universe, literally. There are so many locations in this film. Opening on the extremely primitive and vivid planet of Nibiru, a manhunt on the dark and gritty home of the Klingons, Kronos, and even a trip to Jupiter. Personally, the Earth cities of London and San Francisco were the most interesting. These cities were both familiar and futuristic. The filmmakers were able to create a balance between being futuristic and realistic. For example, there is a scene where a mother and father visit their child in a hospital (this is a spoiler free review so no major details!) and the hospital looks like a normal hospital, until you see the floating stretcher go by. This kind of balance made the world seem like a believable future.
Into Darkness is also extremely fast paced; its like your going at warp the entire time. There is always something happening. There is literally no down time in this movie and when you think the movie is finally reaching its conclusion, it keeps going. Not in a particularly bad way, though. There are a lot of twists and turns in the story and you start to feel done with the movie just as it is ending.
The main draw of Into Darkness is its characters. There are a lot of characters in this movie and they are all different and awesome in their own right.
First we have none other than Captain James T. Kirk, played by Chris Pine. Kirk is impulsive and has a fierce loyalty and love for his ship and his crew. He is not afraid to show weakness and emotion, which are great qualities in a captain. Kirk will do anything to save his crew. From flying through space in nothing but a space suit to board an enemy ship, to teaming up with a potentially very dangerous criminal, or risking his life to repair the ship’s engines. Kirk is also not afraid to admit when he is wrong or unsure about things. There is a moment in the film when Kirk makes Spock acting captain so he can go infiltrate an enemy ship. Spock tells Kirk that his decision is not wise and Kirk admits that it is. But he is going with his “gut feeling” and wants the ship to be in the best hand it can be. Kirk also stands by what he does, even if it goes against the “prime directive.”
Zachary Quinto does a great job as Spock. Spock is half human and half Vulcan. Vulcans are known for prizing logic over emotions, Quinto balances these things beautifully. While Quinto’s Spock is, most of the time, unfeeling and always tries to do the most logical thing (which results in jeopardizing his good relationship with Kirk), he does exhibit a great amount of emotion. He cares about his friends and crew mates and doesn’t want to see them hurt. His face maybe stoic but look into his eyes and you’ll see all of the emotion there.
The last notable actor is of course the brilliant Benedict Cumberbatch. I won’t say much about who he plays (because that would just spoil everything, even a non-trekkie like me knows that who he plays is a big deal). 
Cumberbatch is brilliant; probably steals the whole movie. He does play the villain and does so brilliantly. He is so viciously evil and at some points scary. He gains the viewers trust, but there is always that little voice in the back of you head saying “No that is a bad idea” (it sounds like Spock). You want to trust him but you know there is something wrong. Part of this is because of his look. Cumberbatch has amazing bone structure and is immensely good looking (Can you see my fangirl showing?), but that makes you want to trust him and think that he is a good guy, but looks can be deceiving. And deceive he did. Honestly, if you hate Sci-fi or Star Trek then just go see this movie for Cumberbatch because he does not disappoint.
Overall, Star Trek Into Darkness is a great movie. It has action, emotion, humor, and lots of eye candy (in the form of actors, visual effects and of course, lens flares. So many lens flares). While watching it you have no idea where it is going but afterwards you feel like it was predictable. Which is a strange feeling, but a good one. I’ve seen this movie twice and it was good both times.
I’d give Star Trek Into Darkness 7 Spocks out of 10.