…written by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof; directed by J.J .Abrams; starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, and Benedict Cumberbatch.
How to take beloved pop-culture and sci-fi phenomenon from cold storage to the spotlight, by J.J. Abrams. With so many reboots, reloads, relaunches, it’s easy to get cynical about these kinds of movies. Just like it would be fairly easy to mash something up and deliver a financial success to the studio. Fortunately for Trekkers and cineplex-goers, Abrams and company have continued along the brighter path with Star Trek Into Darkness.

Starting with a prologue that could have been a classic episode scenario, STID quickly re-acquaints us with the crew of the Enterprise. Once again, we marvel at the effective casting. Chris Pine’s Kirk and Zachary Quinto’s Spock continue their yin-and-yang dueling over the Prime Directive and the overall mission of Starfleet. The burgeoning not-quite-friendship of the two leads juxtaposed over a cliff-hanger action sequence with some excellent humor for good measure… This is what STID thrives on, what makes the movie so much fun.
In Brief: Alastair Reynolds’ epoch-spanning, pan-galactic novel features very intelligent, very human characters questing after universal mysteries while confronting the seeds of violence and intrigue sowed from within their own neo-utopian society.
With Iron Man 3 opening this weekend, we enter the Summer Movie zone. Ah, the smell of popcorn and industrial-strength air conditioning… Big budgets, big stars, big plot-holes… Summer movies have crept forward from the traditional Memorial Day weekend starting point, because why, again? Because if they open something big the first week of May, it will sell.