After the success of 2009’s Star Trek and with a large and loyal fan
base waiting eagerly, there was no doubt that another Star Trek film would follow the recent reboot. The film picks off
pretty much where the first one left off, thematically and cast wise at least
and finds the crew of the USS Enterprise on a previously unexplored planet,
attempting to save a primitive civilisation. Several set pieces and un-followed
directives later and Captain J.T. Kirk (Chris Pine) is stripped of his
captaincy while his first officer Spock (Zachary Quinto) is reassigned. When a
rogue officer attacks Starfleet in London,
Kirk is given command once more and tasked with tracking the extremely
dangerous Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch) to the Klingon home planet and ordered by
his superiors to set phasers to kill.
For about an hour I was really
enjoying this second updated Star Trek movie
and had few complaints but into the second hour the plot begins to sag and then
fall away completely. There is a set piece, which is also in the trailer, and
shows the Enterprise
hurtling to Earth in an uncontrollable spin. For me this was an apt metaphor
for the film as a whole following a second act reveal. Up until that point I
was engaged and intrigued but once the torpedo truth was made known, the film
hit a brick wall and relied on admittedly excellent special effects and action
set pieces to see it to its soppy conclusion.
