*MAJOR SPOILERS*
Wow. Okay, I’m pretty mixed about this movie. Not in a bad way, heck, not even in an alright way! This movie was pretty good, but how good was it, you may ask? Well, I guess it’s time to review it!
Star Trek Beyond is a 2016 action/sci-fi film directed by Justin Lin, and is the third installment in the in the reboot series following the events of Star Trek Into Darkness. The film stars Chris Pine as Captain James T. Kirk, and Zachary Quinto as Commander Spock. After the events of Into Darkness, the USS Enterprise crew explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a new ruthless enemy who puts them and everything the Federation stands for to the ultimate test.
Let’s start things off by talking about the elephant in the room. Yes, I know that saying is suppose to have a negative connotation, but hell, this is my site and I can say whatever I want.. So. Let’s talk about the positive elephant in the room.. The visuals. Wow. Hands down some of the best CGI I have yet to see. This film does such an amazing job with visuals that it really blew me away at first. The visuals really show the sci-fi nature of this series in such beautiful light, and is by far one of the best CGI movies I have ever seen. Not only does the CGI look great, but the sets are filled with huge amounts of detail and life. There is so much diversity in these films that it puts my high school’s multicultural club to shame! There were some moments where the excessive CGI did take me out of the movie, but for the most part it was pretty good.
Now this is where I think Star Trek Beyond not only succeeds, but soars above most film franchises (except Marvel.. they do a great job at this as well), and that is with its characters. This film has such a huge ensemble of grade A cast members that you would think they would miss out on certain character’s story arcs. Nope, not this film. This movie nails providing a great amount of screen time to each character, and in turn helps produce a greater connection between them and the audience. Sofia Boutella’s character was awesome, and really added to the entirety of the ensemble. Not to mention her addition to the crew is one I’m excited to see in the next film. All that being said, the real rock star of this film (at least for me) was Anton Yelchin. Now I’m not just saying this because of his recent passing, since this kid rocked the screen, but I will say seeing him on screen for the final time was pretty hard. Anyways, his character had so much screen time in this film it was amazing, and I’m glad they decided to go that way with his character. It’s truly sad to see him go, and my prayers are for his family. Rest easy, Anton.
Now no movie goes without flaws, and Star Trek Beyond definitely has some issues. The issue that really grabbed my attention was Idris Elba’s character, Krall. The thing that really bugged me about his character was that there was no real motive as to why he was evil. I mean, sure he killed a bunch of innocent people and tried to take over a huge space station, but it really never felt as if he was an actual threat. Now that’s not my only issue with the character, as I also thought the twist in the end with him being a part of the original crew on board the Franklin wasn’t as dramatic or revealing as I indended it would be. I mean, if he was really aboard that ship and was the captain for that matter, then he would have known where the U.S.S. Franklin was the entire time! I smell a plot hole! Not only did I have a hard time with the villain in this film, but also the lack of danger. For example, Spock gets impaled one second and then like a day later (in movie time) he’s back up and running again! That just makes no sense. You can definitely tell this movie lacks a sense of danger when everyone assumes that everyone is alive. Not one character thinks that Kirk is dead after the Enterprise crashes, which is pure nonsense since he barely escaped! Come on writers, you could have done better than that.
Now before I finish things up I would like to talk about one other thing that I found extremely enjoyable about this film, and that was the space fights. Holy hell, were they good! The battle when the U.S.S. Enterprise is first introduced to Krall is extremely suspenseful and well paced. But boy oh boy does the destruction of the Enterprise rip your heart in two. Not only was that scene extremely enjoyable to watch, but also the battle above Starbase Yorktown. The scene where the U.S.S. Franklin is blasting Beastie Boys’ Sabotage while surfing a wave of bad guys just brought an absolute smile to my face. That right there was one of the most entertaining scenes in any movie I’ve seen, and was a pure joy to watch.
Alright! To wrap things up, Star Trek Beyond was a beautiful, amazingly cast, hilariously enjoyable film with some minor issues regarding the villain, and lack of danger. I am truly torn on what to give this movie and will probably change my decision three or four times before I publish my review.. So after all that being said, I decided to give Star Trek Beyond a “Good” on theVade Review Bar. This film has such great parts, yet the little things like lack of danger and weak villain are definitely holding me back from posting it with a “Very Good” at the bottom of this page. This is a good film, don’t get me wrong, and if it is still in theaters by the time you read this then go see it! It’s worth your money. Is it better than the original (2009) Star Trek? No. But what I can say is that this film should exceed all of your expectations for a good sci-fi film.
Rest easy, Leonard Nimoy and Anton Yelchin.
“Live long and prosper.”
