Star Trek Beyond
(2016 review)

4 outta 5

Having been around for hundreds of episodes, thirteen movies and five decades, Star Trek has had various different takes.  The most recent movie, Star Trek Beyond, instead of trying to sum 50 years it goes back to basics for a classical, fun Star Trek story.   While director J.J. Abrams didn’t return (he was busy directing the other big “Star” franchise) Fast and Furious director Justin Lin delivers a piece of stirring space adventure.

In the 23^rd Century, the crew of the starship Enterprise and Captain James Kirk (Chris Pine) are getting worn out by the void.   When the Enterprise investigates a distress call, they’re attacked by the alien Krall (Idris Elba) and his swarm of ships which tear apart the Enterprise and strand the crew on an unknown planet.  With Sulu (John Cho), Uhura (Zoe Saldana), and most of the crew captured, it’s up to Kirk, Ensign Chekov (Anton Yelchin), Commander Spock (Zachary Quinto), Doctor McCoy (Karl Urban) and Engineer Scotty (Simon Pegg, who also co-wrote) to save their shipmates with some unexpected help from a tough local, Jaylah (Sofia Boutella). 

Abrams’ last two movies, Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness, played with the new Star Trek reality, bending expectations based on previous Trek history.  This movie isn’t quite as ambitious, settling on a standalone adventure. There is some welcome fan service, referencing the original crew, a wacky misadventure from the original series where the Enterprise got caught by a giant space hand, and, surprisingly, there are a lot of continuity bits from the series Star Trek: Enterprise. 

The Star Trek trope of “Crew ends up abandoned on hostile world, have to escape unfriendly natives” is a mainstay of every Star Trek TV series.  Aside from a sequence or two, the crew stranded on a hostile alien planet has never been a plot of a movie.  By marooning the characters with a planet of new aliens it does feel very much like the show, which works for the anniversary.   

The different pairings are interesting, Kirk spends a lot of time with Chekov and it’s great to see Yelchin play Chekov one final time with exuberance.   Kirk and Chekov get a gangbusters action scene at the wreckage of the saucer section of the Enterprise that has a explosive progression.  The most fun stranded duo is Spock and McCoy as the two trade quips as Spock is badly injured.  One scene when the detached Spock shows some emotions a shocked McCoy proclaims “My God, you’re delirious!”

Another scene that has occurred in previous Star Trek movies is the destruction of the Enterprise.  The Enterprise generally gets beaten up but it’s rarer when the ship is destroyed, as it has only happened in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek: Generations.   The destruction of the big E in Beyond is a menacing, jaw dropping shocker sequence.  When the Enterprise encounters the Swarm, the ship’s nacelles are almost immediately torn off and slowly the Enterprise falls apart piece by piece as evil aliens board.  It’s easily the best action scene in the movie, possibly of the last few movies, and it’s so well done inevitably some action pales in comparison. Not to say the other action scenes are awful, they’re pretty good.  Lin’s action may not have the kinetic kick that Abrams did but he does throw in some nifty scenes. The movie opens with a hilarious bit of Kirk negotiating with overtly aggressive aliens that goes wrong quickly.  Kirk ridding in a dirtbike to save his crew is odd but it is zippy and compliments a concurrent battle Jaylah is engaged in.  When the crew once again takes on the alien ships their solution is so deliriously wacky it’s awesome.  The make-up effects are nicely done with some weird creatures added to the Enterprise crew roster and Krall morphs some different looks as the movie progresses. 

All of the actors have settled into their parts nicely, although Saldana’s Uhura seems a bit snippier than usual.  Pine gets to show Kirk with the pain of losing his ship weighing heavily.  Urban’s McCoy has some of the funniest reactions in the film.  Quinto’s Spock is mulling mortality after hearing about the passing of his older, time-travelling self which also serves as mourning for the death of original Spock, Leonard Nimoy.  Krall enters in the fantastic Enterprise destruction sequence although he spends most of the middle section delivering monologues about how he’s stronger than the Federation.  The reveal of Krall’s history does make him interesting for the finale, adding a Star Trek style moral quandary.  Boutella’s Jaylah is a fun addition as her outcast is living in a crashed, older model starship, listening to “classical” Earth 20^th century music saying she “likes the beats and the shouting”.  She has one of the best lines when she tells Scotty “You take my house and you make it fly!” which thematically sums up the film.  

Star Trek Beyond manages to celebrate Star Trek by contributing an engagingly entertaining instalment that feels like a classic, mysterious alien planet episode of the original series.  It may not be the most ambitious Star Trek movie ever but it certainly has flair.