STAR TREK: BEYOND (2016)
Hey, everyone! Elijah Anderson here, with another new film
review!
Y'know, there was a funny line in the otherwise forgettable X-Men:
Apocalypse: “The third movie is always the worst!” Well, that may have been
the case for a lot of film trilogies (including, unfortunately, Apocalypse)....but
it's definitely not the case with Star Trek: Beyond! Not only is this
film the best one out of the whole reboot trilogy, but in my opinion, it might
be one of the best films of the summer, if not the entire year. In fact, I'll
see if I can save a space for this on the Best Of list. Why? Well, I'll
tell you after a short plot synopsis.
Story: It's been three years since the USS Enterprise embarked
on its five-year voyage into the unknown. They decide to resupply and take a
brief shore leave on Starbase Yorktown, a futuristic sphere-shaped
habitat enclosed in glass, which is home to both aliens and humans alike.
However, a distress call about a stranded spaceship leads the crew of the USS Enterprise
– including Captain Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), Uhura (Zoe
Saldana), Sulu (John Cho), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Chekov (Anton Yelchin, in one
of his last film roles), Bones (Karl Urban), and a host of others – into an
unknown part of the galaxy, where they are ambushed by a race of lizard-like
aliens led by Krall (Idris Elba). As a result, the USS Enterprise crash
lands on an unknown planet. Kirk, Chekov, Spock, Bones, and Scotty are
separated, while Uhura, Sulu, and the rest are capture by Krall. It's up to
Kirk and the rest, along with a new ally named Jaylah (Sofia Boutella), to use
their wits and the power of music (no, I'm not joking, they actually use music)
to stop Krall from accomplishing his evil plan to destroy Starfleet.
So, now for a bit of context. The Star Trek reboot
series is something that people either really like or really despise. Those who
despise it feel that way because they aren't a huge fan of how J.J. Abrams and
the screenwriters have dumbed down the “Thinking Man's Sci-Fi show” into a
generic action franchise (those are not my words, by the way). Me, personally,
I liked them fine. They weren't awful or anything, but they just never had that
big of an impact on me. However, I sympathize with the haters a bit. For a TV
show that, by all accounts, was about exploring the vast reaches of space and
encountering new planets/species, Star Trek (2009) and Into Darkness
focusing mostly Starfleet, Earth, and Kirk's character growth do seem like
legitimate criticisms.
But Beyond deals with this by blazing its own trail
with a plot mostly centered on an alien planet, a vibrant color palette, and
actual chemistry between the main crew of the Enterprise. The last
aspect that I mentioned is really the strength of this film; this time, instead
of just focusing on Kirk and his inner demons, every member of the main Enterprise
crew gets their fair share of development. We get to see Sulu and his
family life, the combination of Spock and Bones results in some hilarious and
touching moments, and Scotty has his own fair share of funny scenes with
Jaylah, an alien who also has a personal score to settle with Krall and his
crew.
What I'm basically getting at is the camaraderie between the
crew in this film seems like a vast upgrade from the first two. And part of the
reason that this works so well – aside from great cast performances and a smart
script by Simon Pegg and Doug Jung – is the director, Justin Lin. Now, Lin
definitely has some great action chops because of his work on the Fast &
Furious franchise, but what he's really great at is directing an ensemble
of actors. The reason that the F & F films he directed (especially Fast
Five and Fast & Furious 6) work so well is because Dom Toretto's
team felt like a real surrogate family, who occasionally got on each other’s'
nerves, but would sacrifice themselves for one another at the same time. He
brings that talent to Beyond and it works like gangbusters. I really
felt a sense that the Enterprise crew felt like a real crew, helping
each other out, pissing each other off, but ultimately being there for each
other (the last scene of the film really cemented it for me...and no, I won't
spoil how).
All the technical elements are great and get the job done.
Michael Giacchino is back as the composer and he really does a good job, using
the same themes he composed for the first two films, while amping them up with
a big choir and more use of percussion. The cinematography by Stephen F. Windon
is definitely an upgrade (no more lens-flares this time, thank the Lord) and
really gives the size and scope of the environment, especially Yorktown, while also making the action
scenes feel tense and exciting. Sometimes the action succumbs a bit to shaky-cam
(which I like in small doses), but fortunately it doesn't ruin anything. And
the production design is great and aids in the illusion of an optimistic,
open-minded future while giving a vast size to the spaceships
Now, let's talk about the absolute best element of this film:
the villain, Krall. Mind you, for the first two acts of this film, I was really
bored by him. Granted, he had a unique design and Idris Elba was going for
broke with his performance. But the whole time, I was thinking “Oh, here we go
again. It's gonna be another Apocalypse (see my review for X-Men: Apocalypse
if you want more info on that) and he's gonna be the weak link of the
film”. Even when Uhura said that “There's something more to [him]”, I was
afraid that the film was gonna gloss over that and never bring it up again. But
when they finally reveal what the deal with Krall is, it was a really great
twist. Not only did it legitimately surprise me, but it immediately added depth
and even a bit of sympathy to Krall's character. What's so good about this
twist, however, is how late in the game it comes. In any other film, this twist
probably would have come in either at the middle or tail end of Act 2. But
putting it in Act 3 has the effect of pulling the rug out from under the
audience, and it also feels organic to the story instead of feeling like a
twist for twist's sake (*cough* Hans from Frozen *cough*).
Honestly, folks, I could go on and on about why Star Trek:
Beyond is great. But, let's break it down to bullet points, shall we?
•
It's fun and exciting
•
The characters are great
•
It expands on its universe
•
The villain is interesting
•
It's colorful
Those bullet points alone are why you should definitely see
this film. It's everything a summer blockbuster should be. In fact, I'm excited
by the prospect of a fourth Star Trek film, which they're apparently
already working on. Let's see how much further they go with this new franchise
(oh, and seeing Chris Hemsworth come back to the franchise that started his
career would be cool as well).
Bottom line: see this movie. If you're a hardcore Trekkie or
just an average moviegoer looking to have a good time, see this movie! You
won't regret it!
Oh, and one more thing.
RIP, Anton Yelchin. No one could replace you as young Chekov.
And thanks to J.J. Abrams, no one WILL replace you.
Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for my next Throwback Review!
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