The long-awaited follow-up to J.J. Abrams' immaculate re-imagining of the Star Trek mythos, Star Trek Into Darkness, finally pulled into UK cinemas yesterday, and we're curious to know what those of you who've seen it think of Kirk and company's latest adventure. The film is currently sitting at 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, not too far away from the original's 95%, though if it can hold that margin over the next few days, it will be very impressive indeed. You can read my review of the film
here. Though I did find Star Trek Into Darkness to be an exhilarating, uproariously funny blend of old and new Trek, to me the film didn't pack the same energising (sorry) punch as the previous outing, instead relying more on contrivance and convenience, as well as somewhat lazily referring back to some of Kirk's more classic, early adventures. That said, the universal sentiment seems to be that Benedict Cumberbatch has done a superb job as the mysterious John Harrison (though it's difficult to speak about his villain without ruining things), far exceeding Eric Bana's decent if somewhat garden variety space-psycho Nero from Star Trek. I was also rather impressed with the character development regarding Spock and Kirk's relationship, giving parts of this film a very nostalgic feel (despite veering close to outright plagiarism at times). Also, what about the future of the franchise? Rumours broke last week that Abrams might not be returning for Star Trek 3 due to his commitments with Star Wars Episode VII, but we'll just have to wait and see. If push came to shove, which franchise would you prefer him to devote time to (though given the nature of this article, perhaps that's a pointless question)? Have you seen Star Trek Into Darkness yet? Let us know what you thought in the comments below.