Today’s quick review: Star Trek Beyond. Three years into their five-year deep space mission, the crew of the Enterprise has fallen into a rut. Kirk (Chris Pine) is considering transferring to a position closer to civilization, Spock (Zachary Quinto) is preoccupied with the fate of New Vulcan, and the extended stay in deep space is beginning to get to the crew. But when an alien warlord named Krall (Idris Elba) attacks the Enterprise with overwhelming force, the monotony turns into a life-or-death struggle and the crew is forced to evacuate the ship. Marooned on a remote planet and isolated from each other, the crew of the Enterprise must find a way to stop Krall before he uses an ancient superweapon to bring the Federation to its knees.
Star Trek Beyond is the third installment of the modern reboot of the classic sci-fi series. Beyond takes the Enterprise to deep space for the first time in the new canon, a welcome step for the new series. The film continues in the vein of its predecessors: tense action and sleek, modern visuals coupled with loving callbacks to the original series. The cast continues to show their worth through strong character interactions, giving the scenes a vibrancy and sense of humor that keeps audience engagement high. The tone is consistent with the previous two films: grittier and more visceral than the original series, but fundamentally fun-loving and hopeful. Beyond does a good job of balancing peril with adventure, and the somewhat darker opening to the film gives way to increasing optimism as the crew rallies.
Star Trek Beyond is a great watch and plenty of fun. The plot is not particularly deep but has a few good layers to it. Character development is split between the sizable cast, but the film does a good job of making each character’s scenes count. In particular, Beyond does a good job of capturing the spirit of the original series and transplanting it to the new universe; heightened peril aside, Beyond could easily have been a longer version of an episode from the original series. Fans of either of the last two Star Trek movies or action sci-fi in general won’t want to miss Star Trek Beyond. Those who dislike the flavor of the new Star Trek should steer clear.
7.5 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it an 8.0 for high production quality, solid writing, and good fun.