In 2009, J.J. Abrams gained the eternal respect of Trekkies, sci fi nerds, or people who just enjoy damn good movies everywhere by reviving a beloved franchise, with a few tweaks of his own. Set inside an alternate timeline, and actin as a prequel of sorts to the original series, Star Trek explored the early adventures of James T. Kirk, Spock, Bones, and all the others we have grown to know and love while working aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise. The villain was that of a Romulan, Nero, who, in his timeline, was working aboard a mining vessel, Narada, when he watched his home planet of Romulus be consumed by a supernova. Nero pursued that who he held responsible: Spock. Or more accurately, the Spock of his timeline. As when Nero went after Spock-Prime, both himself and Spock-Prime were transported to an alternate reality 154 years in the past. Their presence caused the timeline of the Trek universe to shift into what we were shown in Abrams’ beloved remake.


Now, why am I telling you all this? Just so you can get a sense of what kind of impression us moviegoers were left with after exiting the theater, for those of you who haven’t seen it. Now, if you haven’t seen the 2009 Star Trek, go and watch it. Then, if you’re craving more, go and buy a ticket to go watch Star Trek: Into Darkness, Abrams’ long awaited sequel to his groundbreaking reboot.

Into Darkness is more than worthy to bear the name of Star Trek. It takes everything that we Trekkies have come to expect in Trek movies and quintuples it. We end up leaving the theater with our minds blown, us craving more, and our brains filled with new ideas and possibilities that are sure to incite heated arguments in a local coffee shop, or an annual Trek convention.

Filled with everything from great humor, to riveting action and storytelling, to spectacular chemistry between central characters, to mind boggling special effects, to an amazing onscreen narrative that comes to a chilling conclusion with an ending no one expected. The movie itself, however, loses a few points in my book for being oddly predictable and having the villain so incredibly obvious, that very few of us were surprised when the rouge Starfleet agent, John Harrison came clean with his true identity. But, it was an amazing movie nonetheless, and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who is a Trekkie, a fan of Abrams’ work, or who just enjoys a damn good movie. I can’t wait to see what J. J. Abrams does next.