Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013)
DIRECTOR: J.J. Abrams
CAST: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Alice Eve, Peter Weller, Bruce Greenwood, Leonard Nimoy
REVIEW:
Warning: While I will try to avoid outright “spoilers”, this review will discuss elements of the film’s plot.
Like Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins, J.J. Abrams resurrected the floundering Star Trek film franchise with 2009’s simply-titled Star Trek, and now, after its critical and box office success, he has, by his own admission, sought to provide Star Trek’s answer to The Dark Knight, a sequel that is bigger, more epic, and goes to some darker, more surprising places. I’m not prepared to say he’s completely accomplished this task—Into Darkness pulls a punch where The Dark Knight had no such compunction—but what he has succeeded at is a second breakneck space high adventure that’s engaging and exciting, serves up plenty of action and tension, and is lighter on comedy and higher on drama. Continue reading
Iron Man 3 (2013)
DIRECTOR: Shane Black
CAST: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley, Rebecca Hall, Jon Favreau, James Badge Dale, Ty Simpkins, William Sadler, Miguel Ferrer, Paul Bettany (voice)
REVIEW:
When it comes to superhero trilogies, Iron Man 3 isn’t bad enough to be an example of the “third movie curse”, but nor does it save the best for last. Like Iron Man 2, it’s adequately diverting summer escapist entertainment, but like Iron Man 2, it’s mildly underwhelming. Perhaps responding to a common criticism of the last film, Iron Man 3 has a somewhat higher action quotient, and it wisely doesn’t try to match the sheer spectacle of last summer’s The Avengers, aiming to be a little more character-oriented. Like its predecessor, its pacing is uneven, with some lengthy sequences that tempt one to check the time in between spectacular action sequences. The result is serviceable summer comic book action fare, but doesn’t go above and beyond like The Avengers or Christopher Nolan’s recently completed Batman trilogy. Perhaps, after such entries that defy the supposed constraints of how far this genre can go, more ordinary installments like this just don’t feel like quite enough anymore.