Star Trek: Into Darkness

• Title:  Star Trek:  Into Darkness
• Director:  JJ Abrams
• Date:  2013
• Studio:  Paramount
• Genre:  SF, Action
• Cast:  John Cho, Benedict Cumberbatch, Alice Eve, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoë Saldana, Karl Urban, Peter Weller, Anton Yelchin
• Format:  Color, Widescreen
• DVD Format:  R1, NTSC

"...You misunderstand, it is true I choose not to feel anything as my own life was ending.  As Admiral Pine was dying I joined with his conscienousness and experienced what he felt at the moment of his passing:  anger, confusion, lonliness, fear - I had experience those feelings before, multiplied expontentially on the day my planet was destroyed.  Such a feeling is something I choose never to experience again." -- Spock

"Don't agree with me Spock, it makes me very uncomfortable."  -- McCoy

The opening vignette of Star Trek Into Darkness has Kirk and McCoy disguised on a red Class M planet.  Kirk holds a scroll and is running away.  The Natives follow, throw spears at him, and at McCoy as well.  However, Kirk's actions had been a distraction, so the Enterprise's shuttle can drop Spock, in a fire suit into the volcano to drop a cold fusion device in the active and ready to erupt volcano to prevent the eruption and save the indigenous life on the planet.  Kirk and McCoy dive into the water to escape the natives, and board the Enterprise.  However, Spock is in trouble and could be killed.  Kirk and the Enterprise, but incur Star Fleet's wrath at the flagrant disregard for the Prime Directive.

A mysterious man (Benedict Cumberbatch) offers to cure the ill daughter of a Star Fleet officer.  He soon discovers the price as he has to blow-up a Star Fleet Archive building.

Pike finds Kirk in a bar, and brings him back to Starfleet.  He asks Kirk to be his first officer, Kirk accepts, and Pike takes him to a gathering of all Starfleet's captains and first officers to discuss the destruction of the Archive and Starfleet's response to the terror attack.  Kirk, wonders, however, why anyone would destroy an archive, especially when the information held there is public record.  Just as Admiral Marcus, Pike, and Kirk are realising that protocol for an attack calls for just this occurrance - all the captains and first officers in one room, the room is attacked by a helicopter-like gunship.  (Because apparently Starfleet never heard the old adage about not putting all your eggs in one basket.)  Pike's killed.

Admiral Marcus calls Kirk and Spock into his office, he offers Kirk the Enterprise again, and Kirk asks for, and is granted, Spock as his first officer.  But Marcus's plan is chilling - not only does he want Kirk to track down "John Harrison" the ex-Starfleet officer responsible for the attack - he wants Kirk to kill him.  Specifically, even though Harrison is hiding on the Klingon home world and an attack on the home world would lead to all-out war, he wants Kirk to hide in the Neutral Zone and fire a new long-range photon torpedo at the uninhabited province where Harrison is hiding and obliterate him.

Scotty quits when the torpedoes are loaded on the Enterprise, and the security detail with them refuses to tell him what the payload is.  Scotty fears an interaction with the warp core. Kirk accepts Scotty's resignation.

During the trip to the Neutral Zone, however, Kirk has second thoughts (helped by his conversation with Scotty, and additional conversations with McCoy and Spock) about blindly following the orders of Admiral Marcus to kill Harrison rather than capture him.

Kirk decides rather than killing Harrison outright, Kirk decides to capture Harrison.  He will take a landing party, and using the transport vessel from "the Mudd incident" will land on the Klingon home world, capture Harrison, and return him to Earth.  Kirk, Spock, Uhura and a guard take the shuttle down.  Uhura attempts to reach an agreement with the Klingons who attack their ship and force it down.  She's doing OK, when they are attacked.  The fire fight is chaotic, but a mysterious man rescues them.

Kirk brings this man, Harrison, to the Enterprise and locks him in the brig.  However, he soon learns from the man, that, as Admiral Marcus had pointed out, the Archive that was destroyed wasn't an archive or library - it was Section 31 HQ, home to Starfleet's secret military and spy organization.  Moreover, Harrison wasn't simply an agent there as Marcus said.  Harrison is Khan, a genetically engineered superhuman, who, with 72 other similar super humans was sent from Earth.  Marcus found his ship, kept the crew in cryo-suspension, but revived Khan.  Seeing Khan as the brilliant warrior he needed, he gave him a new identity (John Harrison) and set him to work developing weapons for Starfleet.  Khan tells Kirk, he had no choice, Marcus held his crew hostage.  However, he rebelled against being forced to make weapons and to create a "militarized Starfleet" - which was Marcus's dream.

Kirk isn't sure how much of this he buys, but he's keeping an open mind, deciding to bring Harrison/Khan to Earth to tell his tale.

It's easier said than done, when two problems occur:  first, the Enterprise Engine Core leak, that had stranded the ship short of it's warp point goal, is getting much worse, threatening the entire ship.  And second, Admiral Marcus has arrived and is he pissed off that Kirk hasn't killed Harrison/Khan, talked to Khan, and might believe Khan.

From what Marcus says, it's clear that at least some of what Khan has said is true.

However, Marcus beams his daughter Carol from the Enterprise to his own dreadnought-class ship  then attacks the Enterprise.  Kirk, who's also heard from Scotty, who checked on some co-ordinates Khan gave him.  Khan convinces Kirk the only way to defeat the dreadnought is from within.  Scotty has hidden aboard the ship.  Kirk and Khan space jump to the other ship, using jets to maneuver.  During the jump, Khan saves Kirk's life.  Scotty lets them in.

But on the bridge, Khan shows his true colors.  He wants revenge on Marcus.  Kirk tries to arrest Marcus.  Khan kills him.  Kirk, Carol, and Scotty are transported to the Enterprise brig.  Spock had transported the torpedoes to the dreadnought.  However, the torpedoes were primed and blow the ship.  Khan escapes.  Khan's crew, the 72 cryo tubes are in sickbay on the Enterprise.

However, the Enterprise is dying - the damage to the warp core is so bad the ship is dying and about to crash into Earth.  Kirk and Scotty try to fix the ship, but the engine core is mis-aligned, and can't be fixed because of the radiation in the compartment.  Kirk goes into the compartment to fix it.  He succeeds and saves the ship but is dying from radiation poisoning.  Spock pulls the ship out of it's dive.  Scotty calls him and asks him to come down.  He goes, and in a reverse of Star Trek II:  The Wrath of Khan, it's Kirk who dies and Spock who must watch.  There fingers even touch on the glass separating them.  Spock screams, "Khan!".

Khan, meanwhile tries to crash his ship into Starfleet HQ and misses (He does destroy the Great Fire Memorial in San Francisco though.)  Spock chases down Khan, ready to kill him for killing Kirk.  Uhura stops him - McCoy's realised that Khan's blood can save Kirk, because of it's regenerative abilities.

This works, and Kirk Lives.  One year later, Kirk re-dedicates the new Enterprise, reciting "the Captain's Oath", which we know as the opening to classic Star Trek.

JJ Abrams directs Star Trek:  Into Darkness at a breakneck speed.  The film moves, extremely fast - so fast, it's hard to keep up with it at times.  However, the film also has it's moments.  Harrison, as played brilliantly by Benedict Cumberbatch, is brilliant, from lone terrorist, to scientist who's work is poached for weapons, to revenge-seeking madman, each of Khan's roles is well played.  I avoided all spoilers when this movie came out last year, even the name of Cumberbatch's character - so I was surprised to find out that "Harrison" was Khan. I enjoyed the film in the theater and enjoyed watching it again yesterday.  The film is fun, and the cast is excellent.  I really do like Pine, Quinto, and Urban.  And Cumberbatch played a multi-faceted villain with relish and even, at times, compassion.

Though not too much - because even if Marcus had cold-bloodily killed Khan's crew, Khan's attacks would have been over-kill.  The film, like the best Star Trek episodes and films raises questions.  Questions about the power of the military, questions about the ability for news events to be shaped, and public opinion to be manipulated.  And it's Kirk's noted ability to stand against the rules and go with his gut that save him and his crew.  Kirk is willing to follow rules and regulations as needed, but he won't stand by and watch a planet die because of them - nor will he kill a criminal who should rather be put on trial.  It's a enjoyable rollar-coaster of a film, with a bit more to it, and I liked it.

Recommendation:  See It!

Rating:  4 out of 5 Stars

Next Film:  Star Trek VI - The Undiscovered Country

Star Trek (2009)

• Title:  Star Trek (2009)
• Director:  J.J. Abrams
• Date:  2009
• Studio:  Paramount Pictures
• Genre:  SF, Action
• Cast:  John Cho, Bruce Greenwood, Ben Cross, Simon Pegg, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Winona Ryder, Zoë Saldana, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin, Eric Bana, Leonard Nimoy, Chris Hemsworth, Jennifer Morrison
• Format:  Color, Widescreen
• DVD Format:  R1, NTSC

"Emotions run deep within our race - in many ways more deeply than in humans.  Logic offers a serenity humans seldom experience, the control of  feelings, so that they do not control you."  -- Sarek

"Your aptitude tests are off  the charts so what is it?  You like being the only genius-level repeat offender in the Midwest?  ....  But you feel like you were meant for something better.  Something special.  Enlist in Star Fleet."  -- Christopher Pike

"Damn it, man, I'm a doctor, not a physicist.  Are you actually suggesting they're from the future?"  -- McCoy
"If  you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." -- Spock, quoting Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Abrams' re-boot of  the Star Trek franchise re-casts everyone with a very, very young command crew.  However, this crew, barely graduated from Star Fleet Academy, earns their stripes in the midst of disaster and war, so one can forgive how young and inexperienced they really are.  Moreover, the film emphasizes the immediate connection between Kirk and McCoy and the somewhat more difficult road to friendship between Kirk and Spock.

The film opens with a bang, when George Kirk's ship is attacked by the Romulan, Nero.  George manages to evacuate the ship and protect the unarmed and unshielded shuttles by fending off  Nero's attack, but he loses his life in the process.  However, his wife survives the attack and James Kirk is born.  Yet, we don't see Kirk's mother again.  A few years later, young James Kirk is a hellion - borrowing a car before he can really drive, driving fast and hard, and then destroying the car and nearly himself.  Meanwhile, Spock undergoes typical Vulcan training - a enriched media multi-tasking experience where students are tested in individual pods.  However, he is also taunted by his school mates.

We next meet Kirk as a young 20-something (probably between the ages of 18 and 24), a townie who goes to a bar near Star Fleet's recruitment center to pick up women.  This doesn't go well when a couple of bruisers from security beat him to a pulp.  But he does meet Christopher Pike who gives him a different view of  his father's death.  Kirk decides to join Star Fleet.

Spock also, is at a turning point.  He's accepted into the Vulcan Science Academy, but when the  acceptance committee remarks that it's "amazing" how well he's done despite his "handicap" of being half-human, Spock turns down the position and instead joins Star Fleet.

Back at the academy, Kirk is preparing to take the Kobayashi Maru test for the third time.  The "no-win scenario" test is built as a test of character.  Kirk manages to win by changing the parameters of  the test.  He's brought up on charges of  cheating.  But before anyone can do anything, an emergency distress call is received from Vulcan.  All cadets are sent out on ships to assist.  Kirk, McCoy, Uhura, Spock, Chekov, and Sulu all end-up on the newly-built Enterprise, under Capt. Pike.

Arriving near Vulcan, the Enterprise encounters Nero.  As before with the USS Kelvin, Nero attacks, then invites the Captain onto his ship.  Pike, who did his dissertation on the loss of  the Kelvin, knows he's walking into a trap, but also knows there's nothing else to do.  But he has Kirk, Sulu, and an Australian space jump to a drilling platform the Romulans have placed on Vulcan that is also blocking transporters and communications.  The Australian dies, but Kirk and Sulu manage to shut off  the transporter/communications blocking and stop the drill itself.  They are rescued, but it's too late for Vulcan - the Romulans have injected Red Matter which will turn the planet into a Black Hole.

When Spock realizes this he beams down to Vulcan to rescue the Elders of  his planet, including his parents. He rescues Sarek and a hand full of others, but Amanda is killed.

After this tragedy, Spock is understandably a little off-balance, and he falls back on calm logic -- ordering that the Enterprise rendezvous with the  rest of  the fleet in order to plot their next move.  Kirk argues vehemently that they must do something to stop Nero, that they have no time to return to the fleet per standing orders.  Spock over-rules him, and then kicks him off  the ship via a life-pod.

Kirk lands on a frozen planet and encounters an unconvincing CGI monster (the only sequence in the entire film I didn't like) then takes shelter in a cave. There he meets Spock Prime and learns the plot.  Far in the future, Spock had been tasked with using Red Matter to turn a Supernova into a Black Hole and thus saving the planet Romulus.  But, he was two late and Romulus was destroyed.  Nero saw the destruction, went berserk and decided to make Spock suffer by destroying Vulcan.  He time-traveled back to the past, destroyed the USS Kelvin, and twenty-five years later Spock arrived, having followed him through the Black hole.

But what shocks Spock more than anything else is that Kirk can't stand Spock's younger self and that Spock can't stand Kirk.  Spock gives a hint of  what their friendship means through his mind-meld with Kirk (while also explaining what's going on).  They leave the cave and hike through the snow to a Star Fleet outpost and encounter Scotty.  Spock gives Montgomery Scott the equation of  Transwarp Beaming, which Scott discovered, thus creating a non-invention paradox.  (EG -- If  Scott discovered it but hasn't yet, and Spock gave him the info to discover, which he then discovered - then where did the equation come from?)

Kirk and Scott beam onto the Enterprise, and Kirk provokes Spock into an emotional reaction to take him out of command.  He then orders a direct warp to Earth.  At Earth, Nero is using the drill to attack near San Francisco (home of  Star Fleet) and destroy Earth with Red Matter.  Kirk and crew stop him and rescue an injured Pike.

Upon returning to the Academy, Kirk is given command of  the Enterprise, and Pike retires.  Kirk's crew will include Spock as first officer who is convinced to do so by Spock Prime and Scotty.

I loved this film when I first saw it, and I still love it now.  Karl Urban is a wonderful, angsty Bones McCoy, still smarting from his divorce, though they changed the origin of  Kirk's nick-name for him.  Chris Pine mimics Shatner's body language, but gives us an edgier Kirk, still smarting from the loss of  his father.  Quinto's Spock is much more emotional, especially after the loss of  his mother, a parent he was quite close to.  It's interesting that in Abrams' re-imagining of  Star Trek - both the principles have lost a parent.  When I saw this film in 2009 I wanted a sequel, and it looks like one might be coming in 2013, we'll see.

This film also has some wonderful special effects sequences in space - the space dock, the launch of  the Enterprise and other ships, even the destruction of  Vulcan are all realized well.  And I liked all the classic characters:  Sulu and Chekov are both great, the classic trio of  McCoy, Kirk, and Spock, though young and new at their jobs are already showing the hints of  great friendship, and Scotty is amusing and promising.  Uhura has been updated to be confident, bright, and an expert in xeno-linguistics.  She's also having an affair with Spock, but you can't have everything.

Recommendation:  See it!  Highly Recommended.
Rating:  Five out of  Five Stars
Next Film:  Star Trek II The Wrath of  Khan

Batman Under the Red Hood (Warning: Major Spoilers)

• Title:  Batman Under the Red Hood
• Director:  Brandon Vietti
• Voice Director:  Andrea Romano
• Date:  2010
• Studio:  Warner Brothers
• Genre:  Action, Fantasy, Mystery
• Cast:  Bruce Greenwood, Jensen Ackles, Neil Patrick Harris, Gary Cole, Jason Isaacs
• Format:  Color Animation, Widescreen
• DVD Format:  R1, NTSC

"Could you just once say - 'Let's get in the car', Is that so hard?" -- Nightwing, as he finds himself  talking to thin air

"You really think I would stir up so much trouble and not make sure you knew it was me?" -- Joker

Under the Red Hood is a major departure from previous WB Animation Batman films.  Where those films (previously reviewed, see Mystery of  the Batwoman, Subzero, and Mask of the Phantasm) felt like longer episodes of  Batman:  The Animated Series, this film is cinematic, full of action, and also tragic.  In short it feels like a film.  It's also very grounded in Batman graphic novels published by DC Comics, especially A Death in the Family and Under the Hood.  And this film is violent.  People die.  Granted, most are criminals, but still - not for the under 15 set.  This is a film for adults, which, again, is more in the same tone as the more adult Batman graphic novels.

The film opens with a scene from the end of my favorite Batman graphic novel, A Death in the Family, Joker beating Jason Todd/Robin nearly to death with a crowbar and then blowing him sky high.  Batman arrives, but too late to save the boy wonder.  The shot of  Batman, standing in the rain, holding Jason's dead body is nearly as effective as the still in the novel - where Batman is half kneeling (one knee on the ground, one up) clutching Jason, and has his head bowed.  Jason's death would haunt Bruce nearly as much as his parents' death.

The film then moves forward five years.  Batman is out on patrol and ends up fighting Amazo (a killer android), Nightwing arrives and the two work together flawlessly.  Nightwing (aka Dick Greyson), voiced by Neil Patrick Harris, I really liked.  And I actually thought the re-casting worked.  I preferred him to Loren Lester who had voiced Dick/Robin/Nightwing in Batman:  The Animated Series.  But what Batman discovers is that two new players are at work in Gotham:  Black Mask and the Red Hood.  Black Mask is a gangster, similar to what we've seen before in Gotham City, but grotesquely disfigured with a skeletal black head.  Red Hood is both attacking, and killing, criminals in Gotham, and taking a percentage of  their take.  Batman, at first with Nightwing's help, goes after Red Hood.  Since Red Hood was once upon a time an alias of the Joker, they pursue a lead to Arkham Asylum, checking in on the straight-jacket restrained Joker.  But, Joker has been held tight, and even more convincing, says he wouldn't keep it a secret if  he was causing chaos in Gotham.

After their first confrontation with Red Hood, Batman and Nightwing, now suffering a broken ankle, are in the Cave with Alfred (who's bandaging said ankle) going through Batman's video and audio recordings of the fight.  Nightwing notes that Red Hood isn't just some hood or gangster - he's trained.  Batman points out that even the ability to have knives that can cut his lines is unheard of.  However, Batman also sends Nightwing away, asking Alfred to bring Dick home.  In part, because Bruce still sees a need to protect Dick.

Once Dick is gone, Bruce reviews the audio, and thinks he hears the Red Hood call him "Bruce".  Only a handful of  people know that Batman is Bruce Wayne.  After another confrontation with the Red Hood, Bruce is able to get a blood sample for analysis.  He's running the sample through the computers in the cave, running a comparison.  The results come back just as Alfred walks in.  The result:  a match between Red Hood and Jason Todd, startles the normally unflappable butler so much he drops the coffee service he's carrying.  But he also, immediately, tries to console Bruce, while trying to figure out what's happened.  Together, they dig up Jason's grave.  Bruce realises he's buried a latex dummy.  Alfred tries to comfort Bruce, reminds him how distraught he was, but Bruce is angry with himself and insists he should have realised.

Bruce flies off to the middle of  nowhere and  confronts Ra's al Ghul.  Ghul explains exactly what happened.  During a confrontation between himself and Batman five years before, in desperation, he had hired the Joker to provide a distraction.  But, he hadn't counted on the Joker's madness or savagery.  Ra's, in short, actually felt bad about Jason's death, arranges the switcharoo with the bodies, and takes Jason's body to a Lazarus pit.  But, the resurrected Jason is quite literally, quite nuts.

After he's discovered the truth, Batman heads back to Gotham in his jet.  Alfred talks to him over the video link.

"Sir, please take this to heart.  Who Jason was before, how we lost him, and this dark miracle or curse that has brought about his return, it is not your fault." -- Alfred
...
"Then I got him killed.  My partner.  My soldier.  My fault.  I own that.  I'll carry that like everything else." --Batman

The conversation is filled with everything I love about Bruce and Alfred's relationship, and nearly brought me to tears.  Alfred cares so much for Bruce, the man he sees as a son.  Bruce, however, can't really accept that caring in any way.  (He has the same problem accepting how Dick feels about him).  And Bruce is, oh, so ready to take the weight of  the world on his shoulders.

Brilliant writing.

The conversation is cut short, however, by Alfred's discovery on the news that Joker is causing trouble.  Batman needs to rush to the scene.  Red Hood shows up where Joker is (who's taken all of  Gotham's criminals who work for Red Hood hostage) and reveals everything was a plan to get an audience between himself and Joker.  Joker scoffs, but is then impressed.  Then he's on the run for his life.  (Imagine -- someone scarier that Joker chasing the Joker.  And in this film, it works.)  Red Hood catches the Joker, takes him to a room, and starts to beat the crap out of him with a crowbar -- using the exact same taunting words Joker had used five years ago.  Formerly confused as who Red Hood was, now Joker gets it, and still manages to insult Jason.

Batman does arrive and tries to stop Jason.  In the fight, Jason tears off the cowl, then removes his own red helmet. (He does return the cowl to Bruce)  He leads Batman to Joker.  Their conversation, again, is heartbreaking.  Bruce tries to apologise and tries to make things right, but it doesn't work.  Finally, Jason tells a startled Bruce that he forgave him for dying (that is for Jason's death).  But he doesn't forgive him for not killing the Joker.  Batman tries to explain that he has thought about it, but that's a dark pit he'd never crawl out of.  Jason continues with -- "I'm not talking about Penguin, or Scarecrow, or Dent -- just him!"  But Batman is adamant - he will not kill.  So, Jason gives him a choice -- kill the Joker or kill Jason (as he puts a gun to Joker's head).  Batman turns, slowly walks away, then after Jason's fired at him, he ducks the bullet as he turns back and throws a batarang into Jason's gun, which explodes and so does the room, with charges that Jason has set.  Batman isn't able to get everyone out safely.

This is a dark, violent story.  But vintage Batman.  Well, new Batman, to be precise.  It's an excellent, excellent movie, dealing with dark themes.  The voice actors are good, especially Neil Patrick Harris as Nightwing and Jensen Ackles as Jason Todd/Red Hood.  I was very disappointed that Kevin Conroy, who was so excellent as Batman, and in many ways is my favorite Batman actor, (Batman:  The Animated Series, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, and old Bruce Wayne in Batman Beyond, plus various movies) is re-cast with Bruce Greenwood.  However, Greenwood does do a good job.  And oddly enough, Batman, Alfred, and Joker, all sound very much like their counterparts in the Warner Brothers live action movies, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.

But, I also cannot stress enough just how good this film was.  It's cinematic, it's shot or filmed like a film -- with some really great shots (the close-up of Robin's eye as he realises the Joker's rigged the place in Sarejevo to explode; Batman holding Jason's broken body, etc).  I also loved how flashbacks were introduced with ghost images that then became solid.  The storyline is great, and based in the books (always a plus for any filmed version of  Batman).  And, Warner's has gotten away from the "no one can really die" code that makes it's animated television shows occasionally resemble The A-Team (the original TV series, not the movie).

Recommendation:  See it!  Buy it!  Appropriate for children over 15 and adults.
Rating:  5 out of 5 Stars
Next film:  Batman Beyond  Return of  the Joker