Would it be cool if Chris Pine fistfights a sentient nuclear bomb named Fat Man in J.J. Abrams‘ Star Trek Into Darkness? Of course it would. Unfortunately, they’ve gone with a human villain which means that we’ll be deprived of that gift to humanity(unless the set footage was an elaborate rouse, and Benedict Cumberbatch is voicing the anthropomorphic atomic missile).
What we won’t be deprived of, according to the plot synopsis, is the kind of second act tragedy that has to befall freshly minted heroes for a sequel to work well. If they can cut off Luke Skywalker’s hand while changing his entire self-identity, something terrible has got to happen to the farm boy who became king of the Enterprise. Also on the menu? The aforementioned “one man weapon of mass destruction.” Spoiler alert: it won’t be Tom Hardy playing a clone.
It’s not hard to parse the tough parts out of the official synopsis for the film (even though it struggles with the basic rules of syntax). If you care to be enlightened, check it out for yourself:
In Summer 2013, pioneering director J.J. Abrams will deliver an explosive action thriller that takes Star Trek Into Darkness.
When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis.
With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction.
As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.
Watch out, everyone. Whoever did this detonated a fleet and everything it stands for.
The Trek-obsessed have mostly come to the consensus that all signs point to the baddie being an Original Series character, Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell, who is imbued with fantastic psychic powers and loses his mind. Of course, Cumberbatch could be playing a completely new character which would cause a small earthquake produced by thousands of people slapping their foreheads all at once. Still, speculation remains, while the plot itself sounds like it has all the ingredients for a thrilling, meaningful second outing for this crew.
The best element of all? A clear willingness to create loss and devastation in order to raise the personal stakes. It’s fun to zip around the galaxy while tugging at your uniform and making pithy comments, but it’ll be far more exciting to see a story that the characters can really dig into.
Source: The Film Stage