Were this a J.J. Abrams film, this self-aware setup might lead to a string of winking meta commentaries on the series’s progression up to this point.
Advertisement
Star Trek Beyond is a vast improvement from the sloppy Into Darkness, bringing it on par with the excellent “09 reboot in terms of sheer quality and chemistry”. Simply called Star Trek, he took audiences where no man (or director) had gone before, back to the very beginning of the story before James Tiberius Kirk bore an uncanny resemblance to T.J. Hooker.
The first thing you notice about Star Trek Beyond is that, for all its bombast, the film’s scale is refreshingly small.
He will be seen in the third film – Star Trek Beyond – when it is released on Friday, but with a fourth film recently confirmed, JJ told Postmedia Network that his role won’t be filled by a new actor in the future. Captain Kirk (Chris Pine), on a diplomatic mission, appeals to a snarling beast looming above him in a crowded amphitheater. Enraged at Kirk’s offer, the alien beast hurtles down upon him, only to turn out to be no more monstrous than a feisty bulldog.
The film finds a bored Enterprise finishing up a five-year tour in deep space. The (albeit brief) change of pace is immediately appreciated.
Like its recent predecessors, “Star Trek Beyond” is mostly an assortment of effects-heavy scenes with bits of talking in between.
Later, young Spock goes through Spock Prime’s effects, finding a photograph of the original Star Trek crew – William Shatner, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols etc – paying tribute to Nimoy’s “family” on the show as well as the 50th anniversary of the original series.
Spock wants Bones to “locate any surviving crew”.
It’s at this juncture that Pegg and Jung’s writing really shines.
As the baddie, Idris Elba initially seems to be wasted under heavy make-up, but towards the end a surprising revelation makes his casting worthwhile and his Krall winds up being the best of the Abrams-era Trek villains.
Yelchin, 27, sadly died in a freak accident last month when his auto rolled down his driveway at his home and pinned him against the gate. For those who didn’t place his baritone earlier, the reveal comes as a disappointment. “You know? And his opinion was important to me, and I would have rather had him support the decision than not, so I wanted to reach out to him”.
Advertisement
While the Enterprise crew forges an alliance with feisty alien warrior Jaylah (Sofia Boutella), Kirk holds firm to his moral compass, defiantly informing Krall that it’s “better to die saving lives than to live taking them”.
