Star Trek Into Darkness

If you know anything about the previous Star Trek movies, you'll know that most people consider "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" to not only be the best Star Trek movie of the franchise, but the best movie thematically ever.
That being said, does JJ Abrams' 2nd movie about the crew of the USS Enterprise make Trekkie, critic, and casual summer-blockbuster-movie-goer alike flail about in glee?
Take a trek...a Star Trek...Into Darkness...of a movie theater...

A British terrorist has not only waged on Starfleet itself, but made it personal when one of his victims is someone close to Captain Kirk. So the crew is sent on what could only be interpreted as a "black ops" mission to kill this dude and bring peace to the universe.
...
Nope. The Enterprise crew come across a massive conspiracy involving Starfleet and the evil Brit, and only they can stop it from coming to full fruition. Along the way, humor, action, high-speed chases, pathos, and moral dilemmas pop up to beleaguer Kirk, Spock, Scotty, Uhura, Bones, Sulu and the rest.

Coming from someone with only a passing knowledge of the Star Trek universe and mythos, I can honestly say that this film is greatness. It can enrapture you with the superb acting, the atmosphere from the settings these characters inhabit, and the enjoyability of each character interacting with and playing off each other. Of particular note is the terrorist John Harrison, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, as he plays one of the most competent villains I've seen in any movie. He has the chilling, sophisticated evil that is exhibited by such villains such as Hannibal Lecter, Maleficent, and, in some incarnations, Ra's Al Ghul. At the same time, he can handle himself in a fight, with such a maniacal, ferocious, pants-wetting scariness.  We are also shown his capacity for honor and reason, but at the same time, we see he's also a horrible back-stabber. No doubt he stole the show.
Aside from the characters, the grandness of space is again fully realized in this film, despite so few scenes actually being in space or alien planets (most of the action is on the ship). The humor is a bit hit-or-miss, with most of the laugh-out-loud moments coming from either the dry delivery of Zachary Quinto's Spock or Simon Pegg's Scotty antics.
Overall, great film, and definitely one to see if you're itching for a good action flick for Trekkie and casual movie-goer at the same time...although a couple of scenes might rub true die-hard Trekkie the wrong way...like REALLY wrong.

To sum up the villain, he's what happens when you mix this:

 with the ferocity of this