Friday, 29 July 2016

The Final Frontier: Review of Star Trek Beyond

Star Trek Beyond

Director: Justin Lin

By Alex Watson



Star Trek Beyond is a fun and entertaining ride, but nonetheless, there are bumps during this voyage. After the backlash of Into Darkness, new director Justin Lin along with co-writers Simon Pegg and Doug Jung have paid close attention to fans criticisms. Confining the action mainly to the Enterprise crew being stranded on an uncharted planet stays true to the origins of Roddenberry. Director Lin has been a fine replacement for the departing Abrams and shows his flair for the exciting during the fine set pieces. The Enterprise may stray off course in places, but such mistakes can be forgiven.

James T Kirk (Chris Pine) is still debating his place in the world and his lengthy time in space makes him wonder if he still wants to be captain? When the Enterprise receives a distress call from deep space, the crew are suddenly ambushed by the vengeful Krall (Idris Elba), a creature who is out for Federation blood. Stranded on a foreign planet in the Nebula, Kirk and crew must navigate carefully to ensure their safety.

Star Trek Beyond is just a slice of good fun, it doesn't concern itself with overthinking its sometimes sloppy plot and just seeks to entertain. One major plus is that Lin gives the adequate screen to time to Spock (Zachary Quinto), Bones (Karl Urban) and Scotty (Simon Pegg) who each have given this franchise its humour and heart. Reduced to being little more than cameos in Into Darkness, in this installment, they show just how vital they are to this ship. Spock and Bones, in particular, make a fine double act when facing unstable odds together. Facing certain death together, Spock suddenly is teleported cue the doctor grumbling "Well that's just typical!" To a degree, this picture is all about characters wrestling with their demons, Kirk is still haunted by the memory of his late father and is pondering his next move. Spock is considering abandoning Star Fleet due to the death of someone particularly close to him- his loyalty conflicts with his determination to serve his fallen Vulcan's.

However, despite this being a thrilling outing this picture loses points due to a rather flat and underwritten villain. Krall looks the part and his cold-blooded and ruthlessness does excite during his daring first attack. Watching the Enterprise trying every manoeuvre in the manual to try and get away is vintage Lin and the resigned look on Kirk's face as he watches his beloved ships plunge into the depths is heartbreaking. Before long, the inconsistencies in Krall's character show through and this is the one place where Pegg and Jung's script becomes unstuck. We get that he hates the Federation, but for what reason exactly? When the big reveal happens our reaction is more one of confusion that shock. Also, this will lead to a series of questions about how precisely does he keep changing his look? Krall might have some fine monologues, but he lacks any plausible threat.

The action taking place in Star Trek: Beyond makes this worth the price of admission. One sequence guaranteed to thrill is during Krall daring attack on Star Fleet base Yorktown. Without giving too much away- Sabotage by the Beastie Boys is guaranteed to be featuring on many iPods on the way home. The addition of Nebula native Jaylah (Sofia Boutella) works wonders during the movie's middle sequence as her tech wizardry gives us the movies stand out sequence. Seeing Kirk riding an old style bike gives us a Great Escape style nostalgia as through Jaylah's clever device they execute a bold rescue on Krall's camp. Lin's picture might not be perfect, but he has recaptured the wit and the joyful feel that made the 2009 reboot so memorable. Kirk is firmly back in the captain's chair again and hopefully, any kinks will be fixed for the next installment.

Chris Pine once again is the standout and he has come to be the perfect choice as the conflicted Kirk. Showing us a cocky boy who has grown into a tough and assertive man, Kirk may still be a restless soul, but Pine gives him so much charm it is hard to notice. Zachary Quinto again show us just what depth he can add to Spock, here we see his more human side coming through as he feels regrets coming through and begins to wonder if his future lies with his friends? As Krall, Idris Elba is utterly wasted in a flat bad guy role. An actor able to conjure up menace at the drop of a hat (his voice alone in Jungle Book was terrifying), Elba is given little to do other than giving threatening speeches. Krall should have been a more physical and clever monster, instead, we are given a creature whose intentions make no sense.

Star Trek Beyond picks this franchise right back up, hopefully, Justin Lin will be there for any future outings because this is one commander Enterprise desperately needed.

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