Enterprise Crew's Latest Adventure, 'Star Trek Into Darkness,' Receives Mixed Reviews

"Star Trek Into Darkness" is playing at Gateway Cinemas 12 in the BigD Experience. Showtimes are 12:45, 4:15, 7:20 and 10:15 on Friday, May 17, and Saturday, May 18. Regular showings are at 12:30, 4:00, 7:05, 10:00 and midnight. 

The premise, courtesy of the film's official website:

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 (Chris Pine) 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.

Here's what critics are saying:

If the 2009 film reintroduced audiences to a crew in the making, this outing plunges them — and us — into the greatly amped action. Amid terrible explosions and fierce fire fights, friendship, loyalty, personal ethics and Starfleet protocol will be tested. There continues to be something touching in the ideal of divergent personalities uniting in — and quibbling throughout — adventures in discovery, of new worlds but also of self. — Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post

The plotting is clunky, and the action more relentless and violent than I'd like; there are no pauses for ideas. There are too many self-deflating quips. The movie doesn't hold up to post-viewing scrutiny — which matters if you want to see it again. — David Edelstein, NPR

'Into Darkness' eclipses the first film in a rare occurrence of a sequel one upping its predecessor, though missing are those sensations of grandeur and stargazing as Kirk, Bones and Spock experience space and the Starfleet for the first time. Having all of that already established, Abrams instead fashions a hardboiled action-thriller, putting the film in full-throttle from the get go, grabbing the audience by the jugular and refusing to let go until the end credits roll. — Justin Craig, Fox News

The visual effects and stunt work in the movie is very impressive, as you’d expect in a J.J. Abrams film, and offers up the kind of spectacle that almost makes you forgive the flaws elsewhere. (Almost.) But the number of climactic action sequences contained within the plot corkscrews also starts to feel exhausting, eventually pushing the audience from feeling like 'things keep getting more intense!' to 'seriously, shouldn’t this be over yet?' — Graeme McMillan, Wired

... instead of taking advantage of that fresh start, the movie goes in the opposite direction. Leaning on its predecessors to an even greater degree than the 2009 reboot, it’s a film that that can be taken in wildly different ways depending on what the viewer brings to the table. If you loved the 2009 film, you’ll see more of the same wall-to-wall enjoyable summer action. If you have a strong attachment to earlier Trek films, however, you may walk out of the theater very angry. — Bryan Bishop, The Verge

"Star Trek Into Darkness" is rated PG-13 for PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence. The movie runs 2 hours and 12 minutes.

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