'Star Trek Into Darkness,' A Review With Some News

I just watched Star Trek Into Darkness once again since it's now out on the home entertainment market in both VoD rentals and DVD/blu-ray venues.  And I have to say that coming into a movie a second time, you get to see and experience so much more from a title.

'Star Trek Into Darkness,' A Review

And the time between having seen it in theaters and watching it when it comes to market, you get to keep your eye on how the movie consumer and fan has either embraced or rejected a film.

With that said...

With Star Trek Into Darkness having grossed around $466M worldwide, it has landed in the home entertainment world by being the No. 1 ranked rental, leading Now You See Me and Oblivion as the top-three rentals.

Karl Urban, Zachary Quinto, J.J. Abrams and Chris Pine at a Star Trek Into Darkness movie premiere

Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch and the rest of the gang, I found the film from J.J. Abrams pretty damn entertaining.

Sure, I don't like the marketing tactics that Paramount is pulling, what with leaving different extras on different distribution packages, but hey, I'm just rewatching it for the moment via rental and pondering if I want to buy it later. (Paramount's marketing tactic did sway me away from buying the movie for the moment, if you must know.)

Despite what some anti-fans were decrying about this new chapter of the bold new Star Trek franchise heralded by J.J. Abrams, this is Star Trek at its best.

J.J. Abrams on the set of Star Trek Into Darkness

Best because it's a slightly new spin on old characters, great to get new stories and great to see it done well.  Face it, if 'The Asylum' production company had done it, it would not have made it past a home DVD sale stage.

Be it as it may, we get all the old familiar characters back in a new spin on the franchise, courtesy of a nasty, time-mucking Romulan in the first movie.

Hence, a reboot of a new chapter of stories.

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Captain Kirk (Pine) and Spock (Quinto) in Star Trek into Darkness

In Into Darkness, we watch the maturation of James Kirk (Christopher Pine) as he loses his command, then the father figure in his life, Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood). We experience Spock (Zachary Quinto) tackle his emotional human side, head-on.

Benedict Cumberbatch as John Harrison/Kahn in Star Trek into Darkness

We were introduced to the wonderful voice and character delivery of Benedict Cumberbatch as John Harrison/Kahn.  (Oh those crafty production guys, denying that Cumberbatch was playing Kahn.  But many who were privy to those early production stills of Spock going hand-to-hand with Cumberbatch's character was one solid clue for sure.)

We watched tough-looking man Karl Urban further develop his doctor character, Dr. McCoy, aka Bones.  And so forth.

Oh, and if this version of Star Trek sticks to some cannon, then Carol Marcus (Alice Eve) will or should become the love interest of James Kirk in future films.

Will there be future films?

Star Trek 3 Movie News

Well, it's certain that a third film is on their minds and the horizon. But there's some good or not so good news, depending on your perspective.

Their are hopes that the next movie will come out in 2016, which would be the year that Star Trek hits its 50th anniversary.  But with Abrams landing the Star Wars: Episode VII gig with Disney, there's worry he won't be on board the next installment, if it were to come out in 2016.  (Star Wars VII is due out in 2015.  That's NOT enough time to get a new Trek movie off the ground in time for a 2016 release.)

Psst: There's a slight possibility that the bad guy for Star Trek 3 already made a quick appearance in Into Darkness.  We'll see how that pans out if they stick with this idea or not.

And as if Abrams questionable involvement isn't enough, the writing team themselves (Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Damon Lindelof) are quite busy with their own work.

And I don't think I want to see either project rushed.

But as far as directors go, Abrams has been noted, by HitFix, to be endorsing the choice of Rupert Wyatt  (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) as the next Trek director.  If he were chosen that is, and said that they are tossing story lines around right now.

And more recently, E! News recently reported that Abrams has confirmed he's not returning to direct.

To be honest, I 'm a bit worried about a directorial swap up.  After seeing what changed in the Iron Man movie franchise after Jon Favreau gave up the chair and Shane Black stepped in, well, let's just say I'll never trust a Shane Black movie again!!!

But maybe Paramount will step in and lock down some features of the Trek franchise.

We'll see what happens.
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