Alright, I finally saw Star Trek: Into Darkness and tried to pay close attention so I could relate them here. I missed out on fracas of Trek 09 and really wanted to get in to the debate of this new movie.
First of all, spoilers ahead. While I will do my best not to give away too many plot details, some of it requires more discussion of things that will reveal important points. So, you have been warned.

As a general review, before the spoilers, I would highly recommend seeing this movie, as it has good action, some fun moments, some serious character moments.  Each actor brings an excellent performance and there are some truly tear-jerking moments in there. The visual effects, of course, are well done, and there are some unique takes on the Star Trek universe.

Ok, now we move in to spoiler territory, so you have been warned.

The movie starts out with a typical Trek plot line: local aliens are in danger and Enterprise must save them. Spock must journey in to a volcano to stop it from erupting, but then is almost lost. Kirk insists on saving him, violating the prime directive as the pre-warp aliens see them.

This sets up some important character points. First of all, Kirk doesn’t care about the rules, and Spock hates that. Uhura and Spock’s relationship is a little rocky and Kirk finds this difficult to understand. All of these points are important, as it will relate later in the movie towards character development and change.
We are also introduced to John Harrison, an enigmatic man who tells a grief stricken father that he can save his dying daughter. How, we are not told, but we are shown Harrison working, then the father injecting something that allows his daughter to live. We also see Harrison’s price, as the father then goes to a Starfleet facility in London and blows it up.

Right off, I have to say, that was a gut punch of a beginning. The sacrificing for his daughter was wrenching to me as a father, as well as the almost cold way in which Harrison uses this family’s grief for his own ends. Right then, I knew this man was a foe.
Well, the story moves on as Pike informs Kirk that violating the Prime Directive means he loses his command, and Pike will take command back. He then informs Kirk that he is arrogant, reckless and feels he can’t lose. It’s a great moment of Pike’s fatherly discipline coming down hard on Kirk’s wayward behavior, reflecting the father-son dynamic present in the Star Trek 09. It was a relationship dynamic I was glad to see continue.

As the movie progresses, we see more dynamics, as there is a lot more at play than just Harrison bombing things. Kirk is made Pike’s first officer because Pike convinced Admiral Marcus that Kirk has great potential. So, when Pike is killed by an attack on a Starfleet captain’s meeting, Kirk is again in command of the Enterprise, and eager to avenge Pike.

We meet Admiral Marcus at this point, played by Peter Weller, who does a fantastic job. Marcus has a little more bite to him than the fatherly Pike, but he still gives Kirk friendly advice. Marcus wants to deal with Harrison too, but Harrison has fled to Klingon space. Getting him back means risking interstellar war, though Marcus’ fears its already coming. Again, it’s another character moment where we see Kirk willing to fly off half-cocked, but this time, he is encouraged by Marcus. Marcus gives him super torpedoes, designed to evade detection and can be fired in to Klingon space without provoking the Klingons.

Spock is reluctant to use these weapons, citing that Harrison is a Federation citizen and needs to be brought to trial not killed remotely. Kirk, however, is more than willing to take the chance. However, everyone questions him, Scotty resigns over not knowing what fuels the torpedoes, and Chekov is made chief engineer (hence the red shirt in publicity shots).

All of this protest makes Kirk rethink it, and he decides to use a captured smuggler’s ship to infiltrate Klingon space, retrieve Harrison and get back, without the arbitrary killing. However, their presence is detected and Kirk’s ship is forced down. Harrison saves them from the Klingons then willingly surrenders when he learns the torpedoes are onboard.

So, we get to meet Harrison, and Cumberbatch is fantastic as this cold, almost remote killer. He takes down the Klingons without breaking a sweat, and doesn’t even flinch when Kirk attempts to pummel him. Once on the Enterprise, Harrison reveals himself to be Khan, an engineered human retrieved by Marcus to help make better weapons to save the Federation in the event of a war.

Harrison/Khan goads Kirk in to opening a torpedo and they discover a person, frozen, inside. Khan then exposits his origins, altered to sound better. Marcus shows up and tells the rest of the story.

Here’s where the movie takes an odd turn, and has one of its weaker points. We have Khan and we have Marcus, who we discover is a villain and a part of a covert Starfleet organization known as Section 31. Marcus is determined that war is coming and Starfleet must be able to win at any costs. Khan wants revenge on Marcus for using him and his people, the frozen people in the torpedoes, and then wants to destroy everything else. Unfortunately, that is too many villainous plots for the movie to deal with, as we see Marcus trying to destroy the Enterprise, so Khan helps Kirk defeat Marcus, then turns on Kirk.

It becomes a bit convoluted and loses some of its punch after eliminating one villain for the sake of keeping the other. Marcus was serving as a good villain, showing the darker side of Starfleet, and giving Kirk a lesson in the necessity of the rules. Instead, Marcus is killed, without fanfare, and Khan steps in as the main bad for the rest of the film.

With this misstep, it unfortunately also allows for the comparison to Wrath of Khan. There are also some scenes which are directly taken from that movie, though turned upside down in some ways. Some will complain that it is too much and not original enough and I can understand that and will agree, to a point.

The thing about Khan is that it was too easy. They relied upon an existing villain, hoping to win points with fans burned by changes in Trek 09. Instead of trusting their story to stand on their own, they inserted a villain. That, to me, is the misstep. It does take away from the movie, somewhat, but more to illustrate wasted potential.

It isn’t the fact that they brought Khan back that bothers me, or the famous death scene, but with Kirk dying instead, or even the magic blood. It’s the fact that they were lazy and didn’t keep him as John Harrison.
However, the movie has some strong themes of friendship and family and the lengths that people will go to protect their family. As I mentioned earlier, Kirk shows disregard for any authority, believing to be above the rules. What he doesn’t realize is how that distances him from his shipmates, his family, until Pike dies and he realizes that he can lose. The theme continues until Kirk is placed in the position to save his ship and his crew, and he does so willingly. No one told him to do it, no one ordered him or argued him in to realizing it was the right thing. Kirk and Spock switch places from beginning of the film to end, where Kirk is willing to die for the sake of doing what he believes is right. Similarly, we see Spock realizing his need to feel emotions and to not be emotionless. There is a bit of extreme taken there at times, but Spock does reconcile with Uhura his feelings in the volcano.

The second theme, and perhaps, for me the more strong theme, is reflected in the movie's title. Into Darkness shows us the darker aspects of humanity, the willingness to use any means necessary to win a war, as Marcus points out. We see the Federation, supposedly an exploration agency, being treated more and more like a military. The movie drives this point home with Kirk arguing with many of his shipmates over their mission to kill Harrison. It shows Starfleet building a ship purely for war, and Marcus makes no apologies for it. He seems to relish the idea that he will be able to demonstrate strength to the Klingons because he believes war is inevitable.

At first, Kirk is on Marcus' side, but over time, with the help of his crew, his family. he recognizes that to embrace this darker, warlike nature, is to make him like Marcus, like Khan, and to reject the principles he believes in.

That is why the movie stays strong for me. It has some missteps, but the theme is strong, and the performances by the actors carry that theme all the way through the movie.

Final Score:
7 out of 10.