Star Trek Into Darkness

Scott Hardie: DS9 was the red-headed stepchild of the Trek spinoffs, and the least likely series for later productions to revisit. It liked to push the boundaries of Gene Roddenberry's future utopia, and Section 31 was one of its most heretical ideas: An illegal intelligence operation that secretly did the goody-goody Federation's dirty work. Somehow after DS9, Section 31 went on to inspire several episodes of Enterprise, and now here it is in this movie, providing Admiral Robocop with his dangerous and illegal warship, and introducing a pissed-off Benedict Cumberbatch bent on revenge. Neat. The Roddenberry purists must be on the verge of a riot over this film sullying his perfect utopian society.This reply contains spoilers. Reveal it. − May 20, 2013 • more by Scott

Scott Hardie: In hindsight, some of the things that I thought were "forgotten plot elements" really weren't:

- Kirk's lack of accountability in Pike's office came up later when he offered up himself to the Admiral instead of his crew.

- McCoy's concern about Kirk's vital signs, and more importantly Kirk brushing off that concern while busy with departure, existed to foreshadow Kirk later risking his health for the good of the ship in a much bigger way.

- Most importantly, it bothered me that the movie went to such lengths to set up a war with the Klingons that never happened, even after what sure looked like a major international incident. I have decided that this is probably sowing seeds for a third movie.

Those were some of my biggest problems with the movie, and I like it more without them. I have a feeling I'll like it even more on a second viewing once I'm past the shock of it not being what I expect from a Trek movie. It's not unlike the much-maligned Nemesis, which I also didn't like the first time but came to appreciate much more on repeated viewings.This reply contains spoilers. Reveal it. − May 20, 2013 • more by Scott

Scott Hardie: On further reflection, I'm upgrading my rating on this. I think I was a bit too overwhelmed and a bit too close to the brand to appreciate my feelings about the movie at first. I keep thinking about it and it's better than I gave it credit for. − June 26, 2013 • more by Scott