Mild Spoilers Ahead!
J.J. Abrams (TV’s Lost and Alias) serves up a second, solid entry in the rebooted Star Trek franchise. Into Darkness is equal parts action and character-driven charm, with an emotional climax and a terrific villainous performance from Benedict Cumberbatch. You don’t have to be a Trekkie to enjoy this flick, but it will add immeasurably to your enjoyment if you’re familiar with the original crew’s feature films, particulary Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. If you want to bring it out for inspection, the film does have something to contribute to a discussion on terrorism, but Abrams’ approach is decidedly less didactic than Gene Roddenberry’s. This Star Trek is just for summer movie entertainment.
Ian Holm gives a career highlight performance in this Atom Egoyan adaptation of Russell Banks’ novel. Holm plays a lawyer who travels to a snowy, rural town to incite a lawsuit after a bus crash robs the community of its children. Naturally, no one trusts Holm at first, but the more he digs, the more secrets are uncovered, and the more the community unravels.
