Star Trek Beyond Movie Review

Released: July 22nd 2016 (UK and United States)

Length: 122 Minutes

Certificate: 12A

Director: Justin Lin

Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, Karl Urban, John Cho, Sofia Boutella and Idris Elba 

With thirteen main entries over half a century, Star Trek has enjoyed a strong success on the big screen. The reboot series (which began in 2009) has proven to be an imaginative and thoughtful update. Putting aside much of the celestial extravagance of the first two films in favour of mostly planet side action, Star Trek Beyond is a wildly enjoyable flick which successfully avoids the number three curse.

Following 2013’s Into Darkness, Star Trek Beyond picks things with up with the crew of the Enterprise as they traverse through space on an exploratory mission. Three years into its latest voyage, the ship suffers a devastating attack by a vicious swarm of vessels, crash landing on an unknown planet which stands on the other side of a perilous nebula. With most of the crew rounded up and captured by a sinister alien race, Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) and company must find a way to reunite, rescue the crew and put a stop to the enemy race, led by an imposing leader named Krall (Idris Elba). Star Trek Beyond plays like a classic episode of the TV series; any pre-conceived notions that the film would be too action heavy can be put to rest. In between the many roaring action scenes, there’s a sense of mystery and intrigue that builds for the villain and his band of green suited brethren. With the crew of the Enterprise forced to improvise after losing their ship, the tension brought in by the film’s predecessors is still on top form as well. Star Trek Beyond certainly has plenty of action but it also remembers that the series goes further than that, maintaining the formula of exploration and wonder that has persisted for decades.

The characters of Star Trek Beyond don’t falter one bit for this outing; Captain Kirk’s dutiful attitude, Uhura’s (Zoe Saldana) considered approach, Chekov’s (the late Anton Yelchin) quick thinking, Scotty's (Simon Pegg) fiesty quips and Sulu’s (John Cho) collected mannerisms. They’ve all become staples of the reboot series and the ways they play off another once again work to keep things engaging. They are played relatively safe for this film in that the characters aren’t all that progressive in this iteration, not really having particular arcs or conflicts to keep track of. That is except for Spock (Zachary Quinto) who is having a few personal doubts, having learned that his senior counterpart has passed away. This in itself is a poignant tribute to the late Leonard Nimoy which hangs over specific scenes.  Instead the cast falls back on some charismatic banter to keep the audience engaged and this works very well, thanks to Simon Pegg’s brilliant writing. Spock and Bones (Karl Urban) in particular make a great duo, bouncing between logic and sarcasm with humorous results. Newcomer alien Jayla (Sofia Boutella) is a brilliant addition to the cast; she brings both fierceness and a well-developed backstory to bear and is never shoe-horned into a romantic subplot. Kraal is heavily imposing both in appearance and look, even if his motivations feel rather basic at first; he’s the kind of villain that you have to stick with all the way to the end, rather than writing off at first glance.

There are definitely a few hints of Justin Lin’s bombastic action to be found in Star Trek Beyond, particularly with one explosive scene involving the 1994 Beastie Boys song “Sabotage” but for the most part Beyond remains faithful to the source material. Dazzling effects are still just as effective as they ever were and there’s also an incredibly creative set of shots and transitions at play that the previous two films didn’t really have, often shifting and twisting to convey the feeling of space. Combine this with a diverse range of environments on the alien planet and things become that much more engaging. The designs and makeup work on the alien characters and their technology are spot-on, particularly on Jayla and Krall who make their presence felt throughout the film. Michael Giacchino returns to compose the score for Star Trek Beyond and much like the plot; it’s able to move past the somewhat lacklustre promotion, providing another fitting backdrop to the sci-fi action.

Star Trek Beyond is another brilliant entry in the long running sci-fi franchise; one which proves doubters wrong while also making a strong case for reflecting on the franchise’s fiftieth anniversary. It’s only real drawback is the static character development which makes it significantly less accessible if you haven’t seen the first two films in the reboot series.

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars