Growing up my friends would ask, “Are you a Star Wars fan or are you a Star Trek fan?” This question was always hard for me to answer, because in essence I was both. The original Star Wars movies were thoroughly enjoyable and I have come to like most of the newer franchise offerings. I also enjoyed the Star Trek TV series, and only liked the Star Trek movies. It was a case of Star Trek offered more for my imagination as a TV series, and Star Wars offered more as feature films.
Not much has changed in my opinion. Star Trek needs time for you to become invested in its characters. To the point where you want to be a part of the Enterprise crew, to understand them. Whereas with Star Wars you want action, and predictable characters, you know who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. When Paramount Pictures released the next instalment of the Star Trek franchise, I was excited but a bit apprehensive, about the portrayal of these well-known characters.
Star Trek Beyond continues the story of Captain Kirk (Chris Pine, Horrible Bosses 2) and his crew aboard the iconic USS Enterprise. After many adventures the Starship Enterprise finally has some downtime. The crew earns some rest and relaxation at the Federation Star Base of Yorktown. Sometime during their stay, Yorktown receives a distress call from a lone spaceship requesting immediate assistance to recover crew which crashed on a planet in an uncharted Nebula. Captain Kirk and his crew are once again called to duty to rescue the missing crew, because of the Enterprise’s capabilities.
Whilst charting their course through the Nebula, the USS Enterprise is attacked and boarded by a large alien force led by the formidable Krall (Idris Elba, Mandella: Long Walk to Freedom). Unable to stop the invasion, Captain Kirk sounds the call to abandon ship. The crew eject in the escape pods to make their way to the planet’s surface. Before they make it to land, Krall’s ships start capturing the pods to enslave the Enterprise crew.
Only three pod groups escape. Scotty, Enterprise’s Chief Engineer (Simon Pegg, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation) finds himself alone before encountering Jaylah (Sofia Boutella, Kingmen: The Secret Service) a previous alien victim of Krall’s aggression and ambition. Jaylah and Scotty agree to help each other, by recovering Scotty’s crew of the Enterprise in return of fixing Jaylah’s ship. The second group of 1st Officer Spock (Zachary Quinto, Heroes) and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Bones (Karl Urban, The Bourne Supremacy) try to work together to find Captain Kirk and the others. Finally of course there is Captain Kirk himself and Chekov. (Played by the late actor Anton Yelchin who tragically died in a motor vehicle accident in June 2016).
Star Trek Beyond, directed by Justin Lin, is a good but not an outstanding film. It offers Star Trek fans another instalment into the lives of Captain T Kirk and his ever reliable crew. Watch out for the dedication to Leonard Nimoy, the original Spock in the TV series. It will honour his memory indefinitely. The cinematography is well done and the combination of animated action sequences with live motion is seamless.
Justin Lin’s direction, and telling of this story is okay. There is clearly a beginning, middle and end to the story. If you’ve seen many of the series episodes it is a well recycled storyline in regards to Star Trek, as it is their tried and true formula.
It might be me, but I do struggle with the rehash of the classic characters. My life has been so ingrained with the original series cast. So when you see reference to the older characters, I seem to struggle to work through it. If you are new to the Star Trek franchise then I am sure you will learn to enjoy these characters and I hope you will love them like so many other Star Trek fans have done before you.
Rating 1-10 ( 1 = very poor, 10 = excellent)
Cinematography/Animation = 7
Storyline = 6
Characters & Acting = 6
Overall = 6.5
