Star Trek: Into Darkness - 2013 - 3½ Stars

Actors:  Zachary Qunito, Chris Pine
Director:  J.J. Abrams

I was exposed to near-fatal levels of Star Trek as a child, and while I enjoyed the original series on the rare occasions I saw it, I loathed Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine.  Both seemed to contain a self-seriousness that the franchise doesn't merit.  I mean, c'mon, it's space in the future.  I also missed the 2009 Star Trek reboot, but this film seems to embrace the silliness intrinsic to the series.  The sharply deliniated characters of the original bounce off one another, there's goofy moments, there are also emotional moments, popcorn is consumed, people leave the theater satisfied.

We're nearly 50 years closer to the future imagined by Star Trek when the Original Series began, so now we know that picture of the future is absurd.  Regardless, elements like 'inaccurate guns' are so necessary to preserve action cinema - one wonders how action cinema will evolve in this time of drone strikes and targeting from space, etc.