Review Detail

I have seen Into darkness a fair number of times and while I like it quite a lot, I don't love it. I own it for the sake of completion.

There are a number of things wrong with the original film, and some of them are still prevalent in this edit (a guy can only do so much without making the film Jarring.) TM2YC has made the best possible version of the film with there could be - without resorting to reshoots. This missing 15 minutes of Spock & Kirk, Spock & Uhara, and Original Spock are not missed. Neither is the obvious fan service scene. With the necessary cuts this feels a lot closer to 09 than the cluttered mess it originally was. Things only happen when they need to, Friendships are reinstated, Kirk is not reinstated...because he doesn't get demoted in the first place.

A/V: were prefect, crisp quality, no ghosting, audio was clear and precise.
Editing: even though I know where scenes should be I try to imagine how I'd feel if I was watching the film for the first time and I think a fantastic job has been done here. Nothing feels deliberate or out of place, the pacing is much improved.
Story: Though I wouldn't have minded to see a little more (young) spock I didn't miss the omissions. The story feels more purposed with just the right balance of exposition, action and humour, scenes such the demotion just serve to create a fake mcguffin and are not missed at all.

I think this edit is definitely worth a viewing, but for me personally it's replaced the original, even if the ending still leaves something to be desired.