Michael Vazquez (mv1334)

"Was never that big of a fan of the Star Trek classics but then J.J. Abrams changed that for me 4 years back in his take in surprisingly fun and entertaining reboot Star Trek and now this. Abrams returns to the director's chair to make another one of this resurgence franchise. Chris Pine returns as Captain James Kirk and gives his finest performance to date. Zachary Quinto returns as Spock and again, does a terrific job. Zoe Saldana returns as Uhura and thankfully, gets more screentime and does a great job. Simon Pegg & Anton Yelchin both return as Scotty & Checkov and again, brings some good laughs. Karl Urban returns as "Bones" and is terrific again. John Cho is good again as Sulu."

"Newcomer: Many had problems with Alice Eve's character (who is always nice to look at, been in love with her since She's Out of My League) being a pointless character but I actually thought she did a fine job with what was given to her, don't really get the negativity on her character but that's just me. Benedict Cumberbatch is excellent as John Harrison/Khan (mind as well spoil his name since everybody already knows ) and makes a really good villain, star-making performance after being in some lesser-known yet good roles."

"Michael Giacchino comes back to score and does wonderful job again including his great version of the Star Trek theme. I'm going go ahead and say I liked Into Darkness more than the last one, while I thought the first one fun and very enjoyable, this one is more action-packed, funnier, more serious and better-acted. With great visual effects, sound and setting, Into Darkness is the first great movie of the summer for me and a better sequel than Iron Man 3 (I liked Iron Man 3, it was very good but not great). If they do decide to continue this fresh and rebooted franchise, hopefully Abrams, the same cast and people behind it are involved in it again."

"Naomi Watts & Ewan McGregor give some of their best performances of their career as a real-life couple spending their Winter vacation in Thailand where sadly, bad turn of events as Tsunami takes in as both and their 3 kids survive all they can through it. Tom Holland who plays the older of the 3 kids is impressive, showed good acting range and emotion, hopefully we'll get to see more of him down the road, he seems like a good actor. This sad true story may not be as powerful as the script makes it out to be but it's a very good movie to look & follow these poor people suffering through everything they experienced. Great performances from Watts (definitely got a well-deserved Oscar nod), McGregor & Holland."