Star Trek Into Darkness
Star Trek Into Darkness is, for the time being, my favorite movie of 2013. I had an absolute blast.
I believe that I may be the perfect member of the target demographic. I know enough about the Star Trek franchise to catch all of the references, and I can see how the timelines have diverged since 2009's Star Trek, but I'm not emotionally invested enough to go complaining about the filmmakers plundering my childhood and somehow ruining it. After all, the Star Trek franchise appeared pretty dead in 2008, so this new thing is fine by me.
There are plot-holes, of course, but thankfully there is no "red matter," and the bad astronomy isn't blatantly, see-it-without-a-telescope bad. Some folks have complained about how Spock's character was handled, especially during one scene in particular, but the statement that scene made about symmetry, and the "arrival" it offered on Spock's character arc worked for me, even if the line itself fell a little flat. I would have had Spock deliver that line differently, and none of you would have complained.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, great! If you do, well, feel free to argue the point in the comments, which will be very spoilerrific I'm sure. It may be a re-hash, however, since the comments were all Star Trekky a week ago when I blogged to say "I don't have enough time to give you a movie review but I saw a thing" and off you went.
Anyway, new number one for the year. I had a great time in the theater. So great that I almost walked out of Fast & Furious 6 to see Star Trek Into Darkness again. That review is coming right up, and will be inarguably less generous with the praise.