Everyone who has read this blog (You know, all two of you) knows that I absolutely loved the Star Wars saga. And a lot of you knew about the whole “Star Wars vs Star Trek” argument: Which was better? I’ve always answered the same way: I like them both.
I was never a huge expert on the Star Trek universe and most diehards will dismiss my fandom with this statement: I was never a fan of the original Star Trek series. My fandom started with Star Trek: The Next Generation. I liked that the series was smart and didn’t always rely on big action pieces…it was about smart people thinking their way out of trouble. And The Next Generation eventually led me to revisit the original series and the movies. Finally, Star Trek was ultimately an optimistic view of the future where humanity is unified. Call me corny, but I always liked that.
I was a fan of the rebooted Star Trek movies by JJ Abrams. Most fans of the original universe decried the reboot’s reliance on big action and fast paced storytelling. But I always thought that the reboots, Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness had solid stories to raise the stakes in those big action sequences.
Fans of the original series (or The Next Generation) will be pleased that Star Trek Beyond comes off like an episode of Star Trek that was both a strength and a weakness for the movie. A somewhat pedestrian plot was bolstered by the entertaining cast.
The plot of the movie was simple and pretty much revealed in the trailers: Kirk (Chris Pine) and his crew were marooned on a planet in uncharted space by alien warlord Krall (Idris Elba). Kirk, Spock (Zachary Quinto), Bones (Karl Urban), Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Sulu (John Cho), and Chekov (Anton Yelchin) have to reunite the crew and stop Krall’s plot to destroy the Federation.
And that was about it. There were no huge revelations or big plot twists (Except one minor one that most viewers will probably figure out long before the reveal…more on that later). It was a simple adventure for the crew of the Enterprise…but it worked! Sometimes a story that we have seen so many times before is still entertaining when it’s done well. Just don’t expect an amazingly deep story.
Visually, the movie was stunning. A favorite scene for me was our introduction to the massive space station Yorktown. The size, the massive population and the beautiful futuristic architecture made my jaw drop. It was one of the coolest set pieces I have seen in the rebooted Star Trek universe.
And the action was really good. That wasn’t a surprise given director Justin Lin’s previous work with the Fast and Furious movies. Though there was one sequence that was so dark, I couldn’t tell what was going on and some iffy CGI, most of the big set pieces were fun.
And the use of The Beastie Boys’ song “Sabotage” that so many decried in the trailer? It was used REALLY well in the movie.
But ultimately, big set pieces wouldn’t be exciting if the stakes weren’t there. And they were there because of the cast.
First, let’s take a look at the newcomers: Idris Elba and Sofia Boutella. At first, I was disappointed that Elba would be under the prosthetic make-up for the whole movie, but Elba’s Krall turned into an interesting character. I figured out the “twist” behind the character early (Which the current trailers have given away!) and was intrigued by his motivation. But in the end, that motivation wasn’t all that interesting. In fact, it made very little sense when I thought about it. But Elba was still incredibly watchable as usual.
Boutella’s Jaylah was more than just a cool alien design. While her revenge motivation had been done before, it’s executed well. I was rooting for her. And she was pretty funny too. However, there was a moment with her plot payoff that felt cheated due to choppy editing.
But the real strength was the crew of the Enterprise. The movie wisely used the crew to propel the action, with Pine’s Kirk at the center of the action. Kirk was the Kirk of legend here: Cocky, charming and heroic. Quinto’s Spock did his usual great work, but I felt like he was slightly shortchanged in terms of screen time. But the rest of the cast all had their moments, more so than the previous films, especially Scotty and Bones (Who got some of the biggest laughs). And Yelchin, in what may likely be the last role mainstream audiences see him in, was really charming.
Most importantly, there was the theme of unity, fighting not just for yourself, but for your crew or community. I might sound a bit corny, but I really appreciated that somewhat heavy-handed message. For one, it was a nod to the idealistic vision of the original series. Secondly, I thought it was a nice sentiment to have at a time when society seems to be at each other’s throats. Yes, this was a fun, sci-fi blockbuster, but it’s never a bad time to deliver this message.
Some odds and ends:
- I really liked that the Enterprise was in the middle of the “Five Year Mission to explore strange new worlds.” I especially liked how the movie showed that it could get incredibly boring out in space.
- The editing seemed a big choppy in places. Sometimes I would get confused about the time and place of some scenes.
Score: 7.5 out of 10