Star Trek Beyond, 2016.
Directed by Justin Lin.
Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Idris Elba, Sofia Boutella, John Cho and Anton Yelchin.
SYNOPSIS:
The USS Enterprise crew explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a new ruthless enemy who puts them and everything the Federation stands for to the test.
To say that I was sceptical going to see the third instalment in the new Star Trek franchise is an understatement. The trailers were dull, the general marketing plan was lacklustre and news of reshoots spelled disaster. So I was happily surprised after finishing this film as I’d just sat through two enjoyable, fun hours of sci-fi action entertainment that completely surpassed my expectations.
Set 2.5 years after Into Darkness, the crew of the Enterprise are 3 years into their 5 year mission. Kirk (Pine) is doubtful of his future, Spock (Quinto) is contemplating his existence and the crew seem a bit bored as a whole. Enter the villain Krall (Elba) who attacks the Enterprise in a stunning action sequence that sees the entire crew crash landing onto a planet. With little technology and only their wits to help them, the crew have to fight against this new enemy and save the Federation.
One of the films initial successes is that it keeps the story focused on the core crew members. We have the team of Kirk and Chekov (the late Anton Yelchin), the team of Bones (Urban) and Spock, followed by Scotty (Pegg) and newcomer Jaylah (Boutella). Uhura (Saldana) and Sulu (Cho) lead the rest of the captured crew. By having these small teams each doing their own thing, it creates little pockets of action that move the story along at a brisk pace. New addition Jaylah is superb and I hope to see her in future films. She’s quick witted, self-reliant, funny and she can kick ass. As the only new team member she fits in perfectly and is given a nice bit of character development. It’s also good to see a strong female member added to the cast, as once again Uhura whilst brilliant, isn’t given that much to do. The acting as a whole is great. The chemistry between Bones and Spock is wonderful and it’s great to see Karl Urban getting more screen time. Pine also seems to have settled into the role of Kirk and delivers a great performance.
Taking the reins from J.J. Abrams must have been intimidating but Justin Lin proves he’s up to the job. The large scale action sequences are stunning and his visual flare is ever present. He does struggle a little with the one on one fight scenes as they suffer a case of too much editing. There are times when you’re not sure who’s punching who which can be a little chaotic. All in all he’s a worthy successor and a standout scene where the crew head after Krall’s men along to Sabotage by the Beastie Boys is note perfect.
Where Star Trek Beyond struggles is in its villain. Krall has an interesting back story but it’s not explored in that much detail and he appears to be quite one dimensional. Whilst people had issues with Into Darkness, you can’t deny that Cumberbatch’s Khan was a great villain and his motives were clear. With Krall, he feels more like the villain from the first film Nemo (Eric Bana), one note, angry, petty and not that intimidating. When you have an actor like Idris Elba you should use him. Here he’s stuck under prosthesis, and except for a couple of moments in the finale, he’s ultimately unmemorable.
Star Trek Beyond is also the funniest entry in the series so far. Co-written by Simon Pegg, there’s hints of his type of humour throughout, which makes it a great fun ride and a superb summer blockbuster.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Helen Murdoch is a freelance writer – Follow me on Twitter
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Originally published July 24, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
