In discussing Hemsworth’s possible return during a Star Trek Beyond press conference last week, Abrams said, “The answer is 100 percent yes, and it’s incredibly exciting”. Said struggle also involves a lovely, rogue, hip hop-loving alien named Jaylah (the Algerian dancer and actress Sofia Boutella, who played the whirling, blade-footed assassin Gazelle in Kingsman: The Secret Service), an old space ship, a vintage motorcycle, some creative teleporting and judicious use of the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage”, which may be the unofficial anthem of the rebooted Star Trek movies. The crew of the Enterprise truly is one big family, and the film proves that they don’t need the tie of the ship to have each other’s backs anymore.
Advertisement
Now, producer J.J. Abrams says, it’s the last we’ll see of Chekov, period. It allowed me to have this relationship with “Star Trek'”.
But persevering in the face of hardship and loss is in the fabric of “Star Trek”, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with this new tale of hope and unity in the federation.
Director Justin Lin is most recognizable for his work on The Fast and the Furious franchise, and while there some concerns about whether or not this movie would come off like a “Fast and Furious set in space” when the first trailer was released, Star Trek Beyond doesn’t earn that comparison.
It might seem desperate or foolhardy to turn to Star Trek to show us what we’re capable of, but that’s what Star Trek already did.
It’s unlikely we’ll ever see William Shatner in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek movies, Abrams himself has revealed.
That’s why it’s so weird it took so long to get to this point in the movies. Speaking of the villain, this is where Star Trek films usually fail, but bringing personal motive into the story, this villain was more interesting than I believe many viewers were expecting at the time. Instead of looking backward, next time Paramount should reach forward, seek out new life in an old franchise, and go where no Trek film has gone before. But I feel like my approach to this film, which was the first one we’ve made without Leonard, was to really just honor him and carry on his legacy as best I can.
Advertisement
The crew finds a new friend in Jaylah (Sophie Boutella), leading to some light comedy, but not enough to save this meandering wreck of a film. They just seem to have done everything right with this reboot.
