After Star Trek Into Dumbness, the franchise needs redemption. Is director Justin Lin of Fast and Furious fame the one to give that to us?
Star Trek has taken a turn in the last few years, from cerebral science fiction to action movies in space. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. The franchise had fallen on hard times after the end of Enterprise with little going on. Then J.J. Abrams showed up and an epic reboot returned the franchise to box office glory.
The follow up, Into Darkness, had mixed reviews, in part due to the crew of the Enterprise solving death and in part to the recycling of the epic villain Khan.
Some loved it.
Some didn’t.
But it was more than enough to prompt a third movie in the rebooted franchise. This time, it’s directed by Justin Lin who made a name for himself by helming four of the Fast and Furious movies. An announcement like that did not excite some Star Trek fans. They weren’t interested in the style of action and story Lin might bring to the film.
But that concern turned out to be unfounded. Star Trek Beyond is one hell of a film, a lot of fun to watch, and highly engaging, though not without its flaws.
At this point, the crew of the Enterprise are a few years into their extended stay in deep space. Kirk is questioning his purpose in life as they arrive at Yorktown, the Federation’s new starbase that looks like something out of an M.C. Escher dream. While there, Spock finds out that Ambassador Spock has passed away and that starts him down a similar mental path as Kirk. The next mission arrives with the ship’s captain and first officer not sure about their future with Starfleet.
And then the Enterprise blows up. Don’t act surprised. It’s in all the trailers. They go into an unexplored nebula to save a stranded crew and get straight up ambushed. Not unexpectedly, the mission teaches Kirk and Spock how much they need each other, the Enterprise, and Starfleet. Blah, blah, blah, happy ending.
While there are aspects of the plot that are extremely predictable, it really does work. It moves along at the perfect pace with the right balance of action and dramatic moments to keep the watcher hooked. The cast is, as always, on point and continue to gel wonderfully. Chris Pine does a fantastic job in the moments where Kirk is questioning his life, giving us moments of vulnerability we haven’t seen in the character before. Zachary Quinto is also amazing in scenes where his Spock remembers the late Leonard Nimoy’s Spock. It’s an oddly poignant subplot where reality and fiction cross that’s handled well.
A quick aside here. In addition to being dedicated to the late Leonard Nimoy, Star Trek Beyond is also dedicated to the late Anton Yelchin. The young actor played Chekov and died in a tragic mishap related to a recall his Jeep was subject to just before the movie was released. Hopefully this was an oversight on the part of whoever makes these decisions at theatres but there was a commercial for Jeep products immediately preceding a film starring an actor killed by a Jeep. It was more than a little uncouth.
And back to the review.
Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldana, and John Cho continue to be great but honestly don’t get as much screen time as you’d hope. It’s still the Kirk/Spock/McCoy show for the most part. But it is hard to argue with the chemistry between those characters, particularly Spock and McCoy. Karl Urban just keeps getting better and better in this role.
Idris Elba plays the movie’s villain Krall, a menacing character who hides a big twist as usual. But unlike the Benedict Cumberbatch turning out to be Khan twist in the last movie, this one isn’t telegraphed from the earliest trailers. Elba is, as always, superb. That being said, Krall’s plan is essentially the same as the last two movies. His motivation is, once again, visiting revenge on the Federation and Starfleet by destroying them both. This time he’s targeting Yorktown rather than Earth but it still feels quite similar.
One of the smarter moves the film has in it relates to another new character, Jaylah. Another victim of Krall trapped on the planet, she helps the crew survive and defeat him. She’s a solid and interesting character but the initial fear is that she’s created to be sacrificed to the story. Instead, she plays a big role and even makes it through the end, hopefully as a permanent new member of the crew. And since Carol Marcus didn’t return after Into Darkness, another permanent female character would be more than welcome.
It’s actually quite surprising how little impact the events of Into Darkness seem to have had on Beyond.
More Klingons, please.
Some reviews have described this movie as a Fast and Furious film in space, a reference to Justin Lin’s previous work. While there are certainly elements of that franchise here, it’s still more Star Trek than that. It has the science fiction heart and soul that you expect from it but definitely has the action edge of Fast and Furious. Lin, with a screenplay from Simon Pegg and Doug Jung, found a nice balance between the two elements.
The climactic battle against Krall’s swarm ships doesn’t do the film any favors. It’s epic fun to watch while still being too ridiculously convenient to be believable. Not to put too fine a point on the ins and outs of the scene, the crew is vastly outnumbered but manages to defeat the overwhelming numbers of the swarm by blasting the Beastie Boys to disrupt their communications. It’s a fun scene in the best of ways and a silly scene in the worst of ways, vaguely reminiscent of Jeff Goldblum defeating the aliens of Independence Day with his Mac. That being said, the Star Trek Beyond scene makes a lot more sense than the Independence Day scene.
I honestly can’t imagine a lower hurdle to get over.
This is definitely not classic Star Trek but it is still a great movie that’s fun to watch on a big theatre screen. And it’s a movie that’s actually worth watching in 3D for once. With the fourth movie already on its way, there will be more adventures of Kirk and company to enjoy. Just don’t expect old school cerebral Star Trek to reemerge on the big screen anytime soon.