The third film in the rebooted Star Trek franchise had a lot to live up to. It comes on the heels of Into Darkness, a film that many enjoyed at first. But once the hype settled down, its flaws stood out in full force. At one point it might have been the last gasp in a rebooted franchise that seemed to be winding down. And finally, to top it all off, 2016 was the 50th anniversary of Star Trek.
Thankfully, Star Trek Beyond is an enjoyable spectacle whose themes capture much of the spirit of the original series. It's not the best of the Star Trek films, but it's good enough to duke it out with the best of them.
Simon Pegg and Doug Jung get out of the rut caused by Into Darkness by 1) ignoring the events of that movie and 2) moving out of the origin story vibe that the first two films had. They instead throw us deep into the middle of James T. Kirk's legendary five year mission. He's going through the motions now, and is accustomed to the goings on of long term space travel. After a pretty disastrous diplomatic mission, he's in dire need of a break. Soon, however, events conspire to take him to a remote planet where he and his crew have to brave the wilderness and an enemy that wants to destroy what the Federation stands for.
The movie isn't as epic as the previous two films, and that's fine. Star Trek Beyond features action, but its progression is gradual and gives you space to breathe, unlike the two Abrams movies whose action scenes came one after the other. Instead of action we get character development and an expansion of the dynamic between Kirk and the other characters. Previously it's always been Spock and Kirk, but this time we find our crew paired up in unconventional ways, including a Spock - McCoy pair that's quite a genius move. There's humor in spades - probably the most humorous Trek film since The Voyage Home - and the films humor plays on each character's eccentricities, giving the film a natural flow.
There's actually an interesting philosophical conversation in the film with regards to the Federation and its guiding principles, and it extends to the very idea of Star Trek itself. Star Trek Beyond's villain, a large, menacing creature played by Idris Elba, is every bit as tragic as any great Trek villain. His philosophy is that division is far more effective than the unity of species in the Federation. His fleet of attack ships, small personnel-sized craft that attack en masse, is a reflection of that philosophy as well as an ironic mirror. He is a soldier with no war to fight, and he struggles to create the conflict that he craves. But the film reminds us that above all else, Star Trek is a series about explorers, not soldiers; a stark contrast to the militarization of science fiction stories in contemporary media. That's what set it apart from the rest of the series 50 years ago, and that's what sets it apart even now: some of the best episodes of Trek were always about understanding alien races and venturing into the unknown, instead of wantonly blowing everything up. It's a concept a lot of people, even fellow Trek fans, forget these days.
The rest of the character development depends on our understanding of the series; of course we don't see these characters develop during their five year mission in the movies. Instead, we rely upon our knowledge of the original series to know that this crew isn't just a crew during these five years - they're more of a family. The one downfall of the film is that the character motivations of the villains are not as fleshed out as I would have liked - a victim of keeping certain plot details secret. The main antagonist's raison d'etre feels feeble compared to Khan's destructive revenge, or Soran's desperate attempt to 'turn back time,' or Chang's adherence to the old ways of the warrior.
The movie scales back on the fanservice, which had reached unreasonable levels in the previous film. But the small moments of fanservice that remain, including references to both Star Trek Enterprise and the Original Series, hit at just the right moments. There are also tributes to Leonard Nimoy and Anton Yelchin, who both passed away before the movie could be shown. One very poignant scene has McCoy and Kirk drinking a bottle of booze from Chekov's stash, and there's one extra glass in there as they drink together - a subtle nod to absent friends.
There's one scene in the movie that really broke me emotionally, and it's near the end when Zachary Quinto's Spock looks at a particular photograph. At that very moment in the cinema I remembered all of the people - whether cast or crew or fans - that have left us ever since the first episode of the Original Series premiered 50 years ago. I remembered my aunt, herself a big Trek fan, the one person who introduced me to Trek, who died a month before this movie was shown in theaters. That scene did me in. It's a rare moment in cinema when you can encapsulate all those 50 years of history and fandom into one movie, one scene. I think, at least in that respect, Pegg and company nailed it.
Thankfully, Star Trek Beyond is an enjoyable spectacle whose themes capture much of the spirit of the original series. It's not the best of the Star Trek films, but it's good enough to duke it out with the best of them.
Simon Pegg and Doug Jung get out of the rut caused by Into Darkness by 1) ignoring the events of that movie and 2) moving out of the origin story vibe that the first two films had. They instead throw us deep into the middle of James T. Kirk's legendary five year mission. He's going through the motions now, and is accustomed to the goings on of long term space travel. After a pretty disastrous diplomatic mission, he's in dire need of a break. Soon, however, events conspire to take him to a remote planet where he and his crew have to brave the wilderness and an enemy that wants to destroy what the Federation stands for.
The movie isn't as epic as the previous two films, and that's fine. Star Trek Beyond features action, but its progression is gradual and gives you space to breathe, unlike the two Abrams movies whose action scenes came one after the other. Instead of action we get character development and an expansion of the dynamic between Kirk and the other characters. Previously it's always been Spock and Kirk, but this time we find our crew paired up in unconventional ways, including a Spock - McCoy pair that's quite a genius move. There's humor in spades - probably the most humorous Trek film since The Voyage Home - and the films humor plays on each character's eccentricities, giving the film a natural flow.
There's actually an interesting philosophical conversation in the film with regards to the Federation and its guiding principles, and it extends to the very idea of Star Trek itself. Star Trek Beyond's villain, a large, menacing creature played by Idris Elba, is every bit as tragic as any great Trek villain. His philosophy is that division is far more effective than the unity of species in the Federation. His fleet of attack ships, small personnel-sized craft that attack en masse, is a reflection of that philosophy as well as an ironic mirror. He is a soldier with no war to fight, and he struggles to create the conflict that he craves. But the film reminds us that above all else, Star Trek is a series about explorers, not soldiers; a stark contrast to the militarization of science fiction stories in contemporary media. That's what set it apart from the rest of the series 50 years ago, and that's what sets it apart even now: some of the best episodes of Trek were always about understanding alien races and venturing into the unknown, instead of wantonly blowing everything up. It's a concept a lot of people, even fellow Trek fans, forget these days.
The rest of the character development depends on our understanding of the series; of course we don't see these characters develop during their five year mission in the movies. Instead, we rely upon our knowledge of the original series to know that this crew isn't just a crew during these five years - they're more of a family. The one downfall of the film is that the character motivations of the villains are not as fleshed out as I would have liked - a victim of keeping certain plot details secret. The main antagonist's raison d'etre feels feeble compared to Khan's destructive revenge, or Soran's desperate attempt to 'turn back time,' or Chang's adherence to the old ways of the warrior.
The movie scales back on the fanservice, which had reached unreasonable levels in the previous film. But the small moments of fanservice that remain, including references to both Star Trek Enterprise and the Original Series, hit at just the right moments. There are also tributes to Leonard Nimoy and Anton Yelchin, who both passed away before the movie could be shown. One very poignant scene has McCoy and Kirk drinking a bottle of booze from Chekov's stash, and there's one extra glass in there as they drink together - a subtle nod to absent friends.
There's one scene in the movie that really broke me emotionally, and it's near the end when Zachary Quinto's Spock looks at a particular photograph. At that very moment in the cinema I remembered all of the people - whether cast or crew or fans - that have left us ever since the first episode of the Original Series premiered 50 years ago. I remembered my aunt, herself a big Trek fan, the one person who introduced me to Trek, who died a month before this movie was shown in theaters. That scene did me in. It's a rare moment in cinema when you can encapsulate all those 50 years of history and fandom into one movie, one scene. I think, at least in that respect, Pegg and company nailed it.
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