4. The Action Set-Pieces
This is a more general point, since Abrams' action set-pieces are one of his chief assets, and the key to selling a Star Trek story that features a minimum of stars and very little actual trekking at all. From the opening sequence set on a strange new world, which launches the film with a bang, through to the Klingon chase, and the excellent fire-fight that quickly paints a picture of what John Harrison really is, phasers are set to stun, and Abrams deftly guides us through like a sci-fi pro. Whether he's shooting on the grandest scale - as with the chase - or framing hand-to-hand combat (such as the emotionally charged fight at the end of the film that pits good vs evil definitively,) Abrams creative decisions are never misplaced, and he remains committed to reinventing the Star Trek ethos with a modern action agenda. The effects work is astonishing, but the human choreography in each scene is what really sells the action, and the hand-to-hand combat, particularly involving the unexpectedly brutal Benedict Cumberbatch is a joy to watch. Wrath Of Khan meanwhile is a more personal affair, of good vs evil, without the same sort of scale, and though it is utterly engaging, to see both approaches married together is all the more entertaining.