Star Trek Beyond

Score:  ***1/2 out of ***** (B-)

Directed by Justin Lin
Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Idris Elba, et. al.
Running time: 122 minutes
PG-13

Long Story Short:  The third installment of the rebooted Star Trek franchise sees Kirk and Spock thrust into perhaps their most dangerous - and action-packed - adventure yet.  The crew is still awesome, though none get to shine quite as they should and some are altogether ignored.  There's too much action in this one, even if some of it is pretty well done.  Recommended if you're looking only for adrenaline backed by fun characters; otherwise, proceed with caution.


After years on the frontier of known space, the crew of the Enterprise is weary and in need of rejuvenation as the ship comes to port at a gigantic new space station.  Captain Kirk (Pine) feels adrift in his Starfleet career, and explores other options while at the station.  Commander Spock also looks in other directions, for other reasons, particularly when he learns of the death of someone close to him.  The rest and rethinking process is interrupted, however, when a strange alien ship stops at the station in distress.  Its sole inhabitant begs Starfleet for help, as the rest of her crew is stranded in a nearby nebula.  Kirk takes the Enterprise and its crew back out into space to assist, but finds the mission more complicated and dangerous than expected.

Much of the Enterprise crew becomes captured by a hostile, vampire-like alien.  In addition to saving them, Kirk and a few of his free crew must prevent the enemy from obtaining and using a weapon with catastrophic potential - a weapon that the Enterprise itself has unwittingly put within the enemy's reach...

The whole crew of the Enterprise - the crew of the franchise rebooted in 2009 - returns, along with some new and intriguing faces.  Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto take on the spotlight once again as Kirk and Spock, and prove as adept and entertaining as ever - and even more comfortable in their iconic roles.  Although their contrasting personalities - Kirk's passion and loyalty versus Spock's reason and calm - are no longer at the forefront, they still provide nice variety for the film's tone.  Among the supporting cast/crew, Simon Pegg's Scotty and Karl Urban's Bones get the biggest parts and do quite well with them.  Perhaps the most humorous members of the crew, Scotty's ingenuity and Bones's abrasive care play key parts in the story.  Others, like Zoe Saldana's Uhura and John Cho's Sulu, find little to do.  Sofia Boutella is featured as an alien ally named Jaylah, a charismatic loner who has a nice combination of ignorance of Federation/Star Trek custom and gritty know-how.  The villain is played by Idris Elba, who seems to be getting used to the dark side - and he's darn good at it.  His intimidating presence and ruthless efficiency make him a formidable foe for Kirk and co.

Star Trek Beyond inherits some considerable strengths from its predecessors, but it veers the franchise away from some of those albeit in a frequently entertaining adventure.  The cast itself has been the best part of this rebooted Star Trek series, with Pine and Quinto brilliantly taking on the Kirk and Spock roles as only the top of a very sharp collection of actors, from Pegg to Saldana.  They all have such energy, humor and vigor that they bring the occasional remoteness of the Trek universe back to humanity and keep it there.  The crew is all still there, but they are not given the chance to shine - as some just plain get back-burnered - and the focus, which should always be on them, strays too often.  Largely this lack of focus is due to too much action; director Justin Lin seems to have carried over a fondness for stunts from his experience with the Fast and Furious franchise.  Star Trek certainly has room for the incredible, but used more sparingly and tied closer to the story or themes rather than as pure spectacle.  There are some fun and/or tense sequences, certainly - like the lethality of a swarm of bee-like vessels in space - but it also veers into the absurd such as the "strategic" use of pop music.  There is a good bit of humor, but it too is a little cheapened by the lack of character and story focus and instead constant, eventually numbing motion.

***

Star Trek Beyond is an entertaining film, but it represents a step back for the franchise in its current form.  As a thrilling film in several ways, I left the film with a high opinion of it but the more I think back on it the lesser it seems.  While this may lose the attention of teens and others, Star Trek would be much better off by slowing down and going back to basics by really digging into its phenomenal characters.  There is rich potential for meaningful stories here, and from them much more tense and rewarding conflict and action can arise.  It doesn't always have to be (and shouldn't be) about the latest threat to the entire galaxy.  So ironically, Beyond might be best for specifically non-Trekkies, at least those who just want an exhilarating two hours with high production values.  Which is fine, too - but not what I was hoping for.  Still, live long and prosper, Trek!



By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50376447