I’ve been a fan of Star Trek since 1986– So believe me when I say it pains me to admit I walked out of the theater last night feeling extremely disappointed in ‘Star Trek Beyond’. I suppose that puts me in the minority of those voicing displeasure with the 13th film in the long running franchise, but honesty is still the best policy….
What worked? I’ll say this for Simon Pegg and Doug Jung’s script, it had a lot of the classic Trek “humor” that had been only seen in spades in the previous two outings. So that was definitely something that saved the film from being a complete wash in my eyes. Bones, played by Karl Urban, in particular, had several great one liners and zingers that left the crowd roaring. The same can be said with Simon Pegg’s Scotty character. This was definitely happy go lucky Trek on the big screen, and the last time this amount of humor had been injected into a Star Trek film was probably ‘Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home’, aka the whale one. Additionally, the first ten minutes of the film was a nice snapshot into the day in the life of a Starship Captain, and his crew– From Kirk’s captain’s log, to seeing him coming back from a separate mission, and from other various shots of crew-members doing their thing, it was a welcome and needed touch for a Star Trek film.
I’d say overall, the main crew finally gets to have some interactions that fans of the original series will certainly appreciate in the film’s second act. They get to work together in ways that the previous two Treks haven’t afforded, so a job well done in that department!
Lastly, there’s a wonderful nod (easter egg) at the very end of the movie that should leave many die-hard Trekkies grinning ear to ear.
What didn’t work? Many of the action scenes were so dimly lit, it was very difficult to decipher who was punching who, let alone who shot who with phaser fire. And that’s simply inexcusable–Why drop $150 million on a Star Trek film if you’re going to make it difficult for the audience to track what the hell is going on in a given action sequence?? It just made me miss action and sci-fi films from the 80s that much more. The whole shaky cam, and trying to make those watching feel like they should be getting motion sickness comes off as tacky and ineffective at best.
Then you have the film’s primary villain, Krall. (played by Idris Elba) This is another example of something that simply failed to leave its mark within the context of the 2 hour running time. His character had virtually no known motivation throughout most of the film, and only until near the very end do we learn about why he had such disdain for Captain Kirk, and the rest of the Federation. What’s the point in featuring a main baddie if the character development isn’t going to be in place??
Lastly, not only do some of the film’s special effects look a little too much like fake CGI, but the film’s story itself comes off as very formulaic and basic from start to finish– this idea that by comparing it to a 1960s original series episode makes it OK to give the film a pass with its one dimensional story isn’t something I agree with. Dare I say that Star Trek Beyond felt almost like a bigger budgeted version of 1998’s Star Trek Insurrection with some cheap looking set pieces, episodic like story, and some very suspect special effects shots. In the end, something felt like it was missing from latest Star Trek feature film.
Worth seeing? With all its warts Beyond manages to conjure up enough laughs, and enough in the way of action to make the 2 hour running time fly by. In the end, it may not be a great and mostly forgettable Star Trek film, but it’s still probably one of the better escapes that can be had in cinemas this summer. Nuff said.
2.5 out of 4 stars
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