While the “Star Trek Beyond” cast and crew knew going in that Leonard Nimoy would not be part of their latest journey, they were shocked and horrified to learn that their young colleague Anton Yelchin, the 27-year-old portrayer of Pavel Chekov, was killed in a freak Jeep accident on June 19. Luckily it looks like they will get that chance in Star Trek Beyond. The Star Trek movies have been a decidedly mixed bag, the best still being the 1982 “The Wrath of Khan”.
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There was no information as of yet regarding who would direct the film.
But rather than a series-defining self-examination, this is Star Trek by numbers, rarely rising above the ordinary nor sinking below the watchable.
What did you think of the Spock and Bones clip from Star Trek Beyond? Captain Kirk pairs up with the earnest Chekov (the late Anton Yelchin). Because Star Trek is @#$ing bad a not small portion of the time. Each time Anton is was on screen it brought us a pang of sadness, but also a feeling of pride to see him performing so tremendously well in what is undoubtedly his most famous role. But unlike the previous film, 2013’s bloated “Star Trek Into Darkness”, not everything is quite so much of a life-and-death issue (the exhausting de facto pitch of today’s summer blockbuster). In-a-rut Kirk early on complains of space life having become “a little episodic” (wink, wink), although in some ways that’s the movie’s strength, extending the franchise by another reasonably entertaining, if disspiritingly disposable, “episode” and one that’s just slightly more evocative of the Star Trek roots than Abrams’ pseudo-“Star Wars” entries. Star Simon Pegg joked about it ahead of the film’s release, but it really did look like the curse had been reversed.
Kirk, Jalah and Chekov, mid-debate.
The film finds a bored Enterprise finishing up a five-year tour in deep space. This is where we meet who we feel is the film’s greatest strength – the character of Jaylah (Sofia Boutella).
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We went in with high expectations and we were underwhelmed with Star Trek Beyond, after watching all three films back to back.
