Star Trek Beyond
Directed by: Justin Lin
Written by: Simon Pegg & Doug Jung - Based on the TV series by Gene Roddenberry
Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Idris Elba, Sofia Boutella, Joe Taslim, Lydia Wilson, Deep Roy, Melissa Roxburgh, Anita Brown
Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi - 120 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 21 July 2016
Written by: Simon Pegg & Doug Jung - Based on the TV series by Gene Roddenberry
Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Idris Elba, Sofia Boutella, Joe Taslim, Lydia Wilson, Deep Roy, Melissa Roxburgh, Anita Brown
Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi - 120 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 21 July 2016
Where 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness was a loose remake of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek Beyond feels like an extended episode from the TV series. Captain Kirk and Spock no longer must learn how to work together, they have their relationship down; in fact, everything is a bit too routine for the crew of the Starship Enterprise. Themes of restlessness and wandering affect most of the lead characters until the plot kicks in and shows us how wayward and lost one can truly end up without friends and purpose. Director Justin Lin, branching out after four Fast & Furious films, takes over for J.J. Abrams and checks all the action and emotive boxes. Star Trek Beyond does not explore any final frontiers but serves as a decent placeholder for any future stories.
Three years into the five year trip the Enterprise crew embarked upon at the end of Into Darkness, folks are getting a bit too comfortable. Spock (Zachary Quinto, Margin Call) and Uhura (Zoe Saldana, The Book of Life) call it quits again, Kirk (Chris Pine, The Finest Hours) tires of Federation diplomacy and has his eye on other gigs, and the whole crew looks forward to some shore leave on the Federation’s brand new deep space outpost, the Yorktown. This happens with any endeavor that rolls along on a predictable battle rhythm. Complacency sets in; people look to shake it up. Unfortunately for the crew, external forces scheme their way in and do far more than wake everyone up from their doldrums; they kill a chunk of the crew and completely destroy their beloved starship.
Three years into the five year trip the Enterprise crew embarked upon at the end of Into Darkness, folks are getting a bit too comfortable. Spock (Zachary Quinto, Margin Call) and Uhura (Zoe Saldana, The Book of Life) call it quits again, Kirk (Chris Pine, The Finest Hours) tires of Federation diplomacy and has his eye on other gigs, and the whole crew looks forward to some shore leave on the Federation’s brand new deep space outpost, the Yorktown. This happens with any endeavor that rolls along on a predictable battle rhythm. Complacency sets in; people look to shake it up. Unfortunately for the crew, external forces scheme their way in and do far more than wake everyone up from their doldrums; they kill a chunk of the crew and completely destroy their beloved starship.
Krall (Idris Elba, Finding Dory) has an axe to grind with the Federation. The Enterprise unwittingly holds a piece of a superweapon Krall wants to get his hands on and using an unbelievable number of suicide space planes, he tears the Enterprise apart looking for it. Most of the survivors are scooped up and put in detention on a mysterious planet’s surface deep within an unnavigable nebula and the rest, most of our lead characters, are scattered to the wind. Krall is not as intriguing as Benedict Cumberbatch’s Khan from Into Darkness, but Lin makes him a force to be reckoned with.
Written by Simon Pegg (Ice Age: Collision Course) and Doug Jung, these two give Krall a familiar lifeline. I will not solve the mystery behind who Krall is, but he likes to stay young and fresh by absorbing the life force power from other beings, quite similar to how Charlize Theron remained Cover Girl ready in Snow White and the Huntsman and the same way Gul’dan stayed winter fresh in Warcraft. This method of remaining powerful is growing stale in sci-fi/action films since so many scripts are using it. Simon Pegg, employing the benefits of being the writer, gives lead engineer Scotty a larger role, perhaps at the expense of Spock and others.
Alone and vulnerable on the planet’s surface, Scotty meets and falls in line with Jaylah (Sofia Boutella (Kingsman: The Secret Service), another stranded sole, but one adept at staying alive in the harsh surroundings and very knowledgeable of its geography. That should come in handy. Bones (Karl Urban, Priest) falls back into his comic relief role from the first two films and only gets to speak in sarcastic responses and eye-rolling facial gestures. Chekov (Anton Yelchin, Green Room) has almost nothing to do, Sulu (John Cho, Grandma) is overshadowed by Uhura, and Spock, who has been the bread and butter of this rebooted franchise, has far less going on than Into Darkness.
Star Trek Beyond acknowledges our reality referencing Leonard Nimoy’s death. Spock Prime, the link between old and new for the time travel gimmick they used to reset the Star Trek clock, dies and young Spock puzzles over what he should do with his life. Vulcan was destroyed in the first film and perhaps Spock’s greatest contribution would be to make more Vulcans; that does not leave a job opening for Uhura. No matter, the entire sub-plot solves itself because there is no time to work through it. Krall takes almost the full two hour running time to battle and prepare yourselves for The Beastie Boys coming to the rescue a full two hundred odd years after their prime. I’m not saying it doesn’t work, but I recognize a gimmick when I see one and this updated Star Trek franchise is becoming a bit too defined by their tongue-in-cheek references.
Cinematographer Stephen F. Windon, whom Lin brought over from the Fast & Furious films, circles and swirls around in 3D trying to keep the audience off balance a bit and he does; if you see Star Trek Beyond in IMAX 3D, you will tilt and lean along with the camera. Overall, Beyond fills a square and marks time as the executives work out where they want to go next. Anton Yelchin’s death is a problem as are the expiring contracts for the main cast members. The reboot has not worn out its welcome yet, but fingers crossed for meatier films like Into Darkness rather than more episodic fare like Beyond.
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