Their back-and-forth quips are some of the script’s highlights, though it’s Simon Pegg (“Paul”) as the outspoken, liquor-slurping Enterprise engineer Scotty who lands the most laughs.

Though it again nails the balance between nostalgia (Leonard Nimoy reprises his cameo, and a Tribble makes a brief, trouble-less appearance) and reinvention, stunning the Klingon-speaking Trekkies and a new generation of moviegoers alike, “Darkness” doesn’t possess the originality of Abrams’s first “Trek.” The sequel had to fulfill lofty expectations: For one, it’s a follow-up to what was easily 2009’s finest summer blockbuster, but it’s also a quasi-remake of “The Wrath of Khan,” a fan-favorite film in the franchise. Taking on such a huge enterprise was, admittedly, highly illogical. But Abrams calculates risk like Kirk: the bolder, the better. And even with a simple story and more action than emotion, “Darkness” boldly goes and does so at warp speed, leaving you gasping for breath.