I, along with about a billion people I think, are pretty excited about the release this weekend of Star Trek Into Darkness.  The trouble is I will not be able to see it until Tuesday, probably, because my weekend is slammed full of stuff (UPDATE AND CORRECTION–LOOKS LIKE I WILL BE ABLE TO SEE IT THURSDAY)  What that means is nobody can tell me anything ahead of time–NO SPOILERS PLEASE!!!  After I have seen the film, I will post a review, but will warn of spoilers.  I don’t like them.

Yes, I do not want anything to ruin my experience.  As a part of the experience, though, I am trying to imagine what this story will involve–what is the darkness?

As I prognosticate, here is what we know:

1.  The Enterprise crashes into the ocean.

2.  Dr. Carol Marcus is in the movie.

3.  There is a well defined villain played by the excellent Benedict Cumberbatch (loved him in Sherlock).

4.  There is a scene in a room full of what looks like coffins, or are they cryogenic chambers?

5.  The plot seems to revolve around some kind of terrorism.

So these are the things we know, which is not much, but it is a start.  From these building block nuggets, let me make some predictions as to what will be in the movie.  Keep in mind,  I stink at making predictions but that doesn’t keep me from making them.

1.  The crash of the Enterprise can’t be real or serious.  It must be easily fixed, like, the ship just jumps out of the water after the engines kick back in.  The reason for this assumption is that destroying the Enterprise is a big deal and it would never be put in the previews.  Too much tension is released if the audience already knows it is going to be destroyed.

2.  Dr. Marcus and Kirk will pair up as a love interest.  I suspect that the Cumberbatch villain is a rival flame vying for Dr. Marcus’ attention.

3.  The terrorism will be bio/genetic.  The film will carry a similar plot of Star Trek II where Khan is the villain with an old association of Kirk’s and he uses a weapon of mass destruction.  Now, the plot will not duplicate the Khan plot, but will be familiar enough to feel borrowed and might even steal a line or two, (He tasks me?)

4.  Someone must die.  It cannot be Kirk and it cannot be Spock.  Dr. Marcus?  No, she has to have Kirk’s son David.  No, who can die?  Well, who could it be but Uhura?  JJ Abrams loves to torture Spock, this would only increase the torture.  Everyone is expecting Spock to die in this film, as homage to the aforementioned Khan film, but instead here he will have to make a choice to save the crew or save Uhura.  In this timeline, he saves the crew but kills Uhura.

5.  Klingons.  Somehow we need to see Klingons.  Lots of them.

Okay, so those are the predictions, but I also have some worries.  First, it has been terribly over-hyped.  Usually that doesn’t bode well.  Second, the trailers I’ve seen remind me of Nemesis and that is not a good thing.  Third, I am afraid they will steal too much from previous films.  I know that everyone loved the rebooted Star Trek (2009) but to those of us in the know, who look closely, we can spot that Abrams, aside from recklessly destroying Vulcan, really did nothing new but rehashed old ideas with nice camera angels.  I am afraid he will do the same again.  Fourth, I am afraid I might have to see it three or four times, just to make sure.