Not my most clever title. I know. But I’m writing this not even an hour after leaving the theater and the buzz is still going. Not the buzz from the drink I’m having ( A drink that I learned about from Somewhat Nerdy Radio Issue 5), but the buzz from watching something that’s a true immersive joy. In the age of flashy CG filled blockbusters, it’s so easy for a movie to get so into looking good, that it doesn’t have any heart. That was one of the biggest problems with The Hobbit movies. They were terrible because it was just a CG fest (and not even a good one at that). Star Trek Beyond, however, was in a league of it’s own so let me end this rambly opening paragraph and get on with the review. Set your phasers to awesome. Here we boldly go.
This movie was a long episode of the TV show. No no. That’s not a bad thing. It’s exactly what the franchise needed. It needed to get back to it’s roots. I LOVED the first Star Trek in the new timeline (The Kelvin timeline) and thought the second one was really good but this one is where they found themselves. Star Trek has always been about the five year mission and this movie captured that feeling. It starts a lot like Into Darkness did but from there it takes off in a different direction. Sure, the bare bones of the plot is the same. Movie starts while the team is on a mission, mission ends, little down time, new bad guy rears his ugly head. But there was so much more between the lines and each character had more depth than before. Kirk, Spock, and Bones were still the biggest characters but each person had their role to play in the movie. There were quite a few side missions going on but it never felt scattered. Simon Pegg (who wrote as well as stared) was able to keep Star Trek Beyond from having the same problems as Batman V Superman did.
I’m a CG snob. You all should know this by now. If you’re going to pour tons of money into a movie to make it worthy of being a summer blockbuster or the annual huge Christmas season movie, then you better damn well make it good. So many movies are mediocre at best with some beautiful CG and scenes that are absolute garbage. A movie doesn’t need fancy graphics, but if they’re going to try, they should get it right. Star Trek Beyond was almost perfect. There was only one scene that looked shoddy, and it was a very short and unimportant scene, which is exactly what I expect from a movie with a 150 million dollar budget. There were quite a few amazing spectacles in the movie with awe inspiring visuals drew gasps from the crowd. Good visuals (CG or practical) are the key to the suspension of disbelief when it comes to Sci-Fi. It’s an awful feeling when you’re immersed in a movie and something rips you out of the moment. You’re just left sitting in your seat trying to get into the movie again.
Let’s get into the plot itself. If you’ve seen a trailer then you know the basics. On what should be a routine mission to an uncharted sector of space, the enterprise gets attacked and destroyed by an unknown threat. The crew is separated and stranded on an alien planet and must come together to find a way to defeat a dangerous new foe. It’s a straight forward plot that was even quite predictable at times but the good news was that it wasn’t so predictable that it became boring. It was just a little heavy on the foreshadowing is all. It was formulaic but that just helped capture the feeling of the old TV show. Sure, it’s not JUST like the show. This is a huge movie after all. But the spirit of Gene Roddenberry’s brain child sparkled through the shiny new exterior. Star Trek Beyond clocks in at two hours and two minutes but I would rather have had it run longer. Make it an even two thirty just to stretch out certain parts more. Midway through the movie I started to think that it was all moving a little fast. When it ended I accepted that it was a nice fleshed out story from beginning to end and I wasn’t left wanting… not really. I did want the struggle on the build up to the struggle on the planet, as well as the struggle itself, to be a little more drawn out. But as it was, the movie was complete with no loose ends.
The actors were fantastic. Out of the main seven the best was Zachary Quinto (Spock) and his ability to subtly show his human emotions while wearing his Vulcan mask. But we all already know the returning cast is good at what they do so lets talk about the new faces. Sofia Boutella (Kingsman: The Secret Service) did a solid job as Jaylah. I’m not terribly familiar with her work seeing as she hasn’t done a whole lot yet, but so far I like what I’ve seen. Jaylah was a good character who bounced off Scotty and Kirk with sometimes humorous results. Her own story had small parallels with Kirk’s and her more serious moments were honest. Idris Elba (Luthor, Thor)… He was in it. That’s all I should have to say. The man is a fantastic actor and much like Midas, everything he touches turns to gold. If I didn’t already know he was going to be the bad guy, I’d have no idea that Krall was Elba. Sure, the make up helped, but Krall was a far cry from Heimdall, Luthor, or the Commandant from Beasts of No Nation. There were some surprises in the movie as far as actors go. The most notable was Greg Grunberg (Heroes, Star Wars:TFA). Trek fans will find his being in Beyond funny because he was the voice of Kirk’s stepdad in 2009’s Star Trek. He’s a friend of JJ Abrams and thanks to that he tends to pop up in small roles in some of Abrams movies.
Onto a somber topic. Star Trek Beyond dealt with the passing of two of the Trek family’s actors. Leonard Nimoy on February 27th 2015 at age 83 and Anton Yelchin on June 19th 2016 at the age of 27. The movie had time to work Nimoy’s passing into the film but they couldn’t do that for Yelchin. The send off for Spock couldn’t have been handled better. It was done with respect and honor worthy of the legend. It wasn’t a big spectacle. No gaudy pomp and circumstance. Just a silent nod. I wouldn’t be surprised if Anton Yelchin’s send off is going to be included in the next Star Trek movie, but as for Star Trek Beyond, it was simple yet beautiful. When celebrities die their dirty laundry tends to come out into the open. Just like Leonard Nimoy, nothing but love and sadness has come from the untimely passing of Anton Yelchin.
Now that we’re all good and sad, let me finish up my review. Star Trek Beyond is a fantastic film that should be seen by anyone who loves movies. You didn’t like the Star Trek TV shows? That’s fine. You’re wrong. But that’s fine. The movies have been an entirely new beast that’s been able to pay proper homage to those that came before. Like I’ve said time and again, a movie like this isn’t going to win any Academy Awards save for best visual effects. Movies like this are made to be fun. Go see this on the big screen. IMAX if you can. Get some popcorn, a drink, your favorite candy, and sit back enjoy the ride. Star Trek Beyond is the epitome of why summer blockbuster season is so great. It’s the perfect mix of flash and heart that will leave you with a smile on your face and maybe even a tear in your eye.
Star Trek Beyond gets an 11 out of 11