Star Trek Beyond - movie review

Star Trek Beyond

Plot: The USS Enterprise crew explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a new ruthless enemy who puts them and everything the Federation stands for to the test.
Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban
Director: Justin Lin
Rating: 12A (moderate violence, threat)
Runtime: 2hrs
Release Date: Friday 22nd July 2016

As of now, I think 2016 has had a mediocre summer. There have been some great films but there is an emphasis on 'some'. Most have been mildly entertaining or just plain bad. Fortunately, my luck has changed with Star Trek Beyond as this film delivers a great summer blockbuster. I am that rare individual that likes both Star Wars and Star Trek. There seems to be this belief from some people that you can only like one or the other much like the Marvel and DC debate but I grew up on both. My dad had Star Trek: The Next Generation on repeat when I was young so I have come to know the lore. Going back to the films, the most recent two films directed by J.J. Abrams have been phenomenal and now handing over the reins to Justin Lin, Star Trek Beyond doesn't let me down.


The crew of the Starship Enterprise all return for the third outing and they are fantastic as always. One of the best things about each cast member is that they never try to do a cheap imitation of their predecessor from the original series. Chris Pine had the opportunity to copy William Shatner's bizarre speech pattern but he never does that. He gives us his own interpretation of Captain James Tiberius Kirk. As for him in Beyond, Pine is the best he's been as the Captain. Joining the crew three years into their deep space mission, Kirk is struggling to understand what he wants to do. He has a great conversation with Bones (Urban) about how his father gave his life for Starfleet and how he pretty much joined on a dare. That whole concept of fulfilling his own legacy is something that Kirk deals with throughout the film and it makes for a really nice character piece amidst all the action. Whilst Pine excels in the more intense action sequences, my favourite moment of his is as he watches the Enterprise slowly get destroyed (before anyone starts complaining, the Enterprise's destruction is NOT a spoiler, it's been shown in every trailer and TV spot). That whole scene stings because we've grown to love the Enterprise as a character and it is just completely wrecked. Continuing as Kirk's second in command is Zachary Quinto as Spock. This was an incredibly poignant performance by Quinto due to the unfortunate passing of Leonard Nimoy. They do address this in the film in a beautiful and quiet way and it truly makes for a heart wrenching moment whether you're a fan of Star Trek or not. Quinto isn't down in the dumps for the whole film though as he shares much of his screentime with Dr. 'Bones' McCoy (Urban). A great part of Beyond is that there are multiple adventures taking place at once with pairings that have never been all that prominent before. Spock is with McCoy, Kirk is with Chekov, Scotty is with a new character and Uhura is with Sulu. The Spock and Bones team up is by far my favourite because of their love-hate relationship (mostly hate) but yet they work together to survive. Karl Urban is as great as ever as Bones with his multiple metaphors and laugh out loud quotes and he doesn't sit by during the action scenes. Urban definitely gets his hands dirty. She plays Gamora and Neytiri but for me, Zoe Saldana's greatest role is as Uhura. She isn't featured as prominently as past movies but whenever she is onscreen, Saldana just owns it. The action scenes, the great chemistry and humour all seem like a walk in a park for her. 

Simon Pegg doesn't only just deal with his role as Scotty but now, he is a credited writer for this film. It's got to be an absolute dream for Pegg; stars and writes Star Trek and has a foot in the door for Star Wars. If he gets cast in a Marvel and/or DC film, he is the luckiest guy in film, ever. But how is Pegg as Scotty? Much like Pine as Kirk, this is the best he's ever been. Almost every line out of his mouth was a joke that had me howling. Pegg might have given himself the best lines but who cares? Him as Scotty is pure perfection and this reinforces that idea. I've already mentioned the emotional realisation about Leonard Nimoy and how they treated his passing, but perhaps the most bittersweet moments of Star Trek Beyond is seeing the late Anton Yelchin as Chekov. For those of you who don't know, Yelchin tragically died (at the young age of 27) weeks before the release of this film. Not only is Yelchin yet again on top form as Chekov, but his pairing with Kirk is fantastic. It's such a shame to know that this will be one of his final performances and a true tragedy that took a terrific actor too soon. That completes the returning cast but introduced in Beyond are two excellent brand new characters. Firstly, the villain of our piece is Krall, a new alien warrior who has been attacking various ships for his own sinister intentions. Krall is played magnificently by an unrecognisable Idris Elba. If it weren't for me already knowing his casting and his distinctive voice, I wouldn't have known it was Elba under the prosthetics. Whilst Elba is brilliant as Krall, the actual character isn't the most complex of bad guys. He has his motives and intentions but it does edge towards a 'been there done that' scenario. That's not to say that Krall isn't an awesome villain (because he is) but I doubt he'll rank highly compared to other Star Trek villains. After her star making turn as Giselle in Kingsman, Sofia Boutella has yet another badass chick under her belt as Jaylah. Boutella kicks so much alien ass in this role but what impressed me more, she has range. Her role in Kingsman was pretty basic as a bodyguard but in Beyond, Boutella displays her great acting talent in humourous scenes and emotional ones too.

Beyond has a very different feel to the previous Star Trek films. There is so much more action but yet it takes the line from the infamous quote "to seek out new life and new civilisations" and runs with it. Exploration is a huge part of this Star Trek film and harkens back to the original TV show which is exceptional considering this marks the fiftieth anniversary of Star Trek as a whole. We meet new worlds, new alien races and even a cool new Starfleet port but everything new eases into the formula making it feel like it was always there to begin with. The action is something I want to touch on. When I had heard that Justin Lin was given the directing chair after Abrams, I was a little unsure as to how this would all turn out. His most recent films were Fast and Furious 5 and 6. Even though I love those two films, especially Fast Five, Lin didn't seem like the right fit. I'm all for highly adrenaline fuelled action scenes in my Trek films but Fast & Furious in space didn't seem that appealing. Thankfully, I love it when I can say that I was wrong in the best way possible. Every action sequence is unique and different to the one before it but all of them are so epic and memorable. When the Enterprise crumbles, it's painful to watch but sadly beautiful at the same time. The hand to hand combat and shootouts are intense like always and the aerial battles... WOW! Without giving away spoilers, the third act of Beyond blew my mind and has got to have some of the coolest Star Trek moments of all time. Like I explained earlier, something that Lin was able to nail was the quieter, more subdued moments between characters and the new and never before seen pairings highlight that brilliantly. The plot itself is pretty basic, it isn't pushing the boundaries on what Star Trek is but it's effective as hell. The best way to explain Star Trek Beyond is that it's so much fun, you forget and forgive it's very insignificant issues.

Even though Abrams wasn't at the helm, Beyond still feels like a Star Trek film through and through. Emotional at points and action packed from start to finish, this ranks just above Into Darkness but below the 2009 reboot and is the definition of a summer blockbuster. The cast are all on their A-game and we bid a touching farewell to two actors who revolutionised the Star Trek universe. May you both live long and prosper wherever you may be.

My Verdict: 9.5/10

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