Star
Trek Beyond (2016): Written by Simon Pegg and Doug Jung,
directed by Justin Lin. Starring: Chris Pine, Simon Pegg, John
Cho, Sofia Boutella, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin,
Idris Elba. Running Time: 122 minutes.
Rating:
3/4
Although
it’s really only been a few short years, it feels like ages since we last had a
Star Trek film. After my review of the last one kind of wentoff the rails, I was in forced detox mode for some time, and could only
be spoken to about the original series (and Next Gen, obviously). But now that ol’ J.J. has scampered off to
leave his prints on another pillar of modern Sci-Fi (and has proven to be
markedly better at it that he was at making Star
Trek), and after nearly a decade of this series officially existing, we
finally get a movie worthy of this franchise’s remarkable cast.
The
last film left off with the Enterprise about to set off on its 5-year mission
to explore the cosmos, and we start off here after 3 of those years have
passed. In need of a bit of “shore
leave,” the ship docks in the latest, most technologically advanced outpost the
Federation has yet built, a marvel of buildings and homes spiraling around each
other inside a massive glass shield. After
a great introduction to the Federation version of the Elysium Fields, a
broken-down ship with a single passenger comes tumbling out of a nearby nebula,
seeking help for her crew stranded on a massive planet in the nebula’s
center.
As
required by official Star Trek law,
the Enterprise is the only ship in the vicinity, and is dispatched to locate
the planet and the crew. Right after
locating the planet(the nebula is as disappointingly easy to traverse as the
God Fog from Star Trek 5), though, a
strange fleet of swarming, bee-like ships attack, literally tearing the
enterprise into pieces and forcing the entire crew to evacuate ship, only to
have most of them swooped up by the enemy ships and taken prisoner.
Separated
into several groups, the crew must struggle to find their way back to each
other and stop a looming threat to the Federation that, they learn, has been
festering on this world for a long, long time.
Kirk, Spock, Bones, Scotty, and Chekov are able to escape capture, but
Urahara and Sulu are part of the surviving group taken by the forces of Krall
(Idris Elba), a strange being with a power that lets him literally drain the
life out of others. What (and who) he
constitutes a late plot development, so all I will say here is that Elba
succeeds in making Krall by the far the most interesting, engaging, and
intimidating bad guy in this entire trilogy.
Another
unforgettable new character (who I expect will become a new cosplay standard for
Cons) is Jaylah, a warrior stranded on the same planet who, after meeting Scotty,
agrees to aid him and the others in their attempts to rescue the remaining crew. She is a legit scene-stealer, a perfect foil
for Scotty and the others, and getting to see her kick more ass is the only
remaining reason I have to want to see another film in this franchise.
With
Abrams off the set, there’s also a blessed absence of lens flare, making this
the best-looking and best-shot film of the trilogy as well, and Michael
Giacchino’s score wonderfully accompanies the slick visuals. While the film does feel a bit rushed at
times (there are a few story parts that don’t add up, and it feels like some
stuff with Jaylah and Krall got cut for time’s sake), it mostly jives along at
an expertly brisk pace. It even finds
room for a hilarious musical scene that might be the funniest visual sequence I’ve
seen so far this year. It’s a great
example of the kind of cheesy, off-the-wall cheekiness that used to be a
hallmark of the original show, but that had been mostly missing from this reboot.
Star Trek Beyond is an immensely fun
time, easily the best Star Trek film
to hit theaters since the original cast hung up their Starfleet uniforms, and
well worth a viewing for any devoted Trekkie.
May the world of Gene Roddenberry continue to live long and
prosper.
-Noah Franc
No comments:
Post a Comment