Star Trek Into Darkness

Sequels are always a tricky issue when it comes to successful firsts. But when you consider that a particular successful first was the reboot of a fanatically loved franchise of over 50 years, the pressure is peaked somewhat. 2009 gave us a truly brilliant revamping of Star Trek, introducing us to the characters so many of us had loved but lost to gimmicky nostalgia, the task now, was to let them break their stereotypes. Time to take a leap of faith, with Star Trek Into Darkness.

Here's a round up for what goes on for you. Captain Kirk leads the crew of the Enterprise into a secret (and completely against Starfleet regulations) mission to save a dying planet, a mission which temporarily costs him the command of his ship. Luck smiles on Kirk, however, as he is offered a chance at redemption by his old Captain, Rear Admiral Pike, who takes him under his wing. Kirk is given the assignment of tracking down and executing on-the-run terrorist John Harrison, a mysterious former Starfleet officer who has taken out a series of devastating attacks on Starfleet headquarters. The film focuses on the relationships between Kirk and his crew, particularly Spock, as well as a desperation in understanding this new, enigmatic foe.

The crew are played by the same actors as last time, and once more they just get it very right. Chris Pine perfects the reckless acts of heroism, tinged heavily with tongue-in-cheek, macho humour that embodies Captain Kirk; Zachary Quinto has become so very much like Spock that I'm beginning to wonder if he is in fact related to Leonard Nimoy; Karl Urban embraces and delivers the hokey metaphors and melodramatic speeches of Dr. McCoy; Zoe Saldana brings the Amazonian quality to the lead female role with ease. Slightly disappointing is the more backseat roles of John Cho and Anton Yelchin, who play Sulu and Chekov, respectively, although both are given brief moments to shine with a piece of comedic panache. My favourite (somewhat unsurprisingly) of the main crewe, is of course Simon Pegg as Lt. Commander Scott, who really soaks up the spirit of the franchise, guilty-cheesy humour comes hand in hand with a seriously impressive array of scientific-sounding words, what more can you want from a science fiction classic? The man who almost steals the show from the lot of them, however, is Benedict Cumberbatch, as the villain John Harrison. He manages to be consistently unnerving, even more so when it appears his character is attempting to be trustworthy, and there is always something otherworldly about him. I'll not beat around the bush here, there's something about the Harrison character that I did not see coming, which I perhaps should have at first, but it's a very pleasing revelation when it arrives, and only adds to the sinister atmosphere surrounding him. Also, the Starfleet Admiral, Alexander Marcus is only played by Peter "GOD DAMN ROBOCOP" Weller. So there's that.

Visually speaking, it's two things. First, it's a science fiction film in arguably the biggest science fiction franchise of all time, being remade in a time where special effects have become largely perfected for the genre. Second, it's directed by J.J. Abrams. So yes, it's quite the spectacle in terms of everything you see on screen; particularly pleasing are the depictions of a 23rd century London, as well as the interior of the Enterprise itself. Only minor issues I have with this aspect of the film is that Abrams once again puts it dangerously close to being called "STAR TREK: INTO LENS FLARE...and a bit of darkness", though he has thankfully toned it down slightly since Super 8. Second, and very much minuscule picking I had was the appearance of the Klingons, who look somehow much less realistic than they ever did in the Next Generation series. But, hey, I'm fairly sure we can live with that.

The story is entertaining, it's gripping and tense in places, and it's just plain enjoyable. Yes, it's nonsensical in places, and there are a good few plot holes, but we have to remember, this is a science fiction movie; sci-fi relies on pieces of luck and farfetchedness more than most genres. Watching this film made you feel like you were watching Star Trek in its pomp, and that is largely due to the fact that the roles of Kirk and Spock are exploring and almost turned upside-down throughout the course of the movie, really grabbing you and dragging you into the story. The more emotional side of Scotty being explored, albeit briefly does nothing more than multiply this effect, as it's not something you'd expect from a character who is largely used for comedic value.

5/5 - For me, this is a perfect science fiction film. It has suspense, it has laughs, it has tonnes of nods to the old series and all the cultural references that it gave us. Oddly, it's not a flawless film, and it's not the most complete one you're likely to see, but at no point did I find myself not being entertained by it. Contrary to what it may seem from my superlatives above, I was never much of a Trekkie, and yet I loved every minute of this film, and felt like I'd been a fan of the whole franchise for decades. It's just that good at pulling you in. Definite go see.

Iron Man 3

Over the last few years the start of summer has been marked by the release of a superhero movie, quite often followed by a good 42 others right up until autumn comes along and tells us all to go back to being normal again. Marvel have pretty much monopolised the market for superheroes right now, as although the Dark Knight franchise is of phenomenally high standard, it's just three films, with one particular story arc, Marvel has released six films to date, with more already in production, and even more planned. And this is the one that sparked it all, returning to the big screen in a solo effort, it's Iron Man 3.

Plenty of cinema goers (myself definitely included) will have been left wondering exactly what direction any of the heroes involved could possibly go in a post-Avengers world. Would The Hulk hold down a steady coffee house job? Would Thor open his own chain of hair salons? Would we have a film where Captain America studies, in a Johnny 5 style in order to catch up on all the possible cultural references he'll be missing out on? I'd probably watch the latter. The answer is surprisingly simple: how does Tony Stark cope with life being as "back to normal" (at least as normal as it gets for him) after witnessing and thwarting the attack on New York by an alien army.

The crux of the story is this: Tony Stark has been shaken mentally by the events of New York, and it's having an effect on his relationship with Pepper Potts. He's become obsessed with building a seemingly endless line of armoured suits. Meanwhile, a super-terrorist going by the name of The Mandarin is unleashing scenes of total devastation upon America, and seems to have links to a previous acquaintance of Stark, in Aldrich Killian, pioneer of the creation of the Extremis virus. Stark must overcome his fragile mental state in order to solve the mystery of the Mandarin, find out who he really is, and bring an end to his attacks. Simple enough, really.

Robert Downey Jnr, as his character declared in the very first film, is Iron Man, he is cast perfectly as the eccentric, egotistical, witty and charismatic Tony Stark, that much we already knew. However, his new fragility allows RDJ to show a more tender side of the character, which his delivers with aplomb. Naturally though, despite just how down Stark gets, he's full of his trademark humour with every situation, and at no point does the mood of the character put a dampener on the film itself. Support comes from Gwyneth Paltrow reprising the Pepper Potts character, who is explored a little more here, with a non-spoiler experiment on the whole damsel-in-distress scenario. Also reprising his role in the franchise is Don Cheadle as Rhodey aka The Iron Patriot, who ups his game somewhat in how close he becomes to Stark, up to the point where we find him also making Starkish wisecracks. Sir Ben Kingsley fills the boots of the enigmatic Mandarin, and delivers an exceptionally chilling vision of an extremely powerful terrorist, attention to detail going down to his accent, sounding just American enough to unhinge you from what you'd expect, given his near-stereotypical terrorist appearance. Guy Pearce gives a pleasing showing as Killian, the once crippled scientist turned suave think-tank leader, he never lets you know where anyone stands with the character, and at no point are we sure if we should trust him.

The film just looks like a Marvel movie, it's very bright and colour-focused, and, as has become somewhat of a trademark, it just looks like a comic strip. The only real issue I had with the the visual quality of the film is that the effects used for the Extremis virus are somewhat cheesy, but whether or not that simply adds to the feel of a comic book is, I guess, up to the viewer.

The whole story runs very smoothly, and at no point did I ever find myself feeling bored. What's more, the issue of how a superhero movie could work in the Marvel universe after The Avengers was comfortably dealt with, and is definitely encouraging for the releases of the next Thor and Captain America films. It's not spectacular, but it ticks all the boxes you'd want from a new Iron Man movie.

4/5 - Genuinely enjoyable, and very much worth a watch. Builds the excitement up for what Marvel have to offer in the next couple of films. There's a great deal of spoilers to be had though, so I really cannot go into much more detail, but trust me, there are a lot of hugely fun and unexpected moments in the film which are all very much key to the story.

P.S.

There is a scene after the credits, just you have to wait slightly longer than normal. It's not much, but it's another thing to make Marvel fans go all gooey.