It appears J.J. Abrams might have righted the ship on the odd-numbers-bad/good-numbers-good rule of thumb for Star Trek films.
Star Trek Beyond is technically the 13th film in the franchise and sees the universe of Kirk, Spock and Bones return to the sense of fun and action of the 2009 reboot, and for that we have to thank some talented filmmakers who shamelessly admit to being Trekkers.
Producer Abrams stepped back to direct the latest Star Wars film, and the captain’s chair was filled by Justin Lin (of The Fast and the Furious films).
The heavy on the action trailers leading up to the release of Beyond suggested Lin transported the mayhem and casualties into space for what many feared was a Trek and the Furious mash-up. However, Lin and writers Simon Pegg and Doug Jung have assembled a film that gives the crew of the Enterprise more breathing room than we’ve seen in a long time.
Lin doesn’t seem to appreciate the ubiquitous use of lens flare that is part of Abrams’ auteur bag of tricks, but his lingering beauty shots on starships and space stations begin to border on the leering.
The story picks up three years into the Enterprise’s five year mission to seek out new life and new civilizations. Kirk and Spock struggle with their own existential crises; indeed the crew seem bored, and thoughts of moving on are entertained when they reach the “Snowglobe” Yorktown Starbase; brand new yet fully populated, including Sulu’s (John Cho) same-sex partner and their daughter. There’s no time for bar fights or trouble with Tribbles, however, as the Enterprise is called to a nearby nebula to rescue aliens under attack.
The nebula is rather, well, nebulous; so full of dust that the Enterprise “cannae” even get a cell signal. That’s right, uncharted space, no bars, unknown alien threat – everything seems primed for an attack. So let it be set up, so shall it pay off; swarms of ships from all directions attack the Enterprise like intergalactic bees. When it’s all said and done, the ship’s complexion makes Tommy Lee Jones look like a baby face.
The crew becomes scattered and deals with their situations and each other in small groups. Spock and McCoy (Zachary Quinto and Karl Urban) bicker like an old married couple, but really we know there’s a bromance under the surface. Chekov (the late Anton Yelchin) proves himself to pseudo father-figure Kirk (Chris Pine) by showing off his previously, never before seen MacGyvering skills. Uhura (Zoe Saldana) is at her feistiest, as she and Sulu go face-to-face with the vampiric alien Krall (Idris Elba). And Scotty befriends a rough and tumble alien named Jaylah (Algerian-born Sofia Boutella, of The Kingmen) who also possesses MacGyvering skills.
The film pays tribute to the passing of Leonard Nimoy, who played the original Spock, as well as a dedication to Yelchin, who died in a bizarre car accident last month. There is an odd poignancy to Chekov, who gets enhanced screen time here.
Co-writer Pegg infuses the team chemistry with fun, wit and laughs a plenty; he firmly keeps one foot in the Original Series with a plethora of callbacks and exchanges of dialogue. He also references previous films, and seems to have kept the best lines for himself and Boutella, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
But all that glitters, alas, is not gold – nor a snowglobe starbase. While there are great action scenes to compliment the character interaction and chemistry, something that was missing in Star Trek Into Darkness, there’s something not quite right with the story. Who Krall is, naturally, is a slow burn reveal. When the reveal does come it’s a bit of a hard swallow, for it borrows on elements we have seen in previous Trek films. Indeed, many elements of Beyond have their roots in previous franchise movies. And Trekkers have swallowed worse, if one is to be honest.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say Pegg did a cut-and-paste job with previous films to stitch together this one, but any hardcore Trekker (and perhaps a casual one) will pick up on this. That said, it isn’t a remake like Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode VII is.
Pegg is a Trekker, after all, and clearly has his finger on the pulse of pop culture, as can be evidenced in his Three Flavors Cornetto Trilogy of films: Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), and The World’s End (2013), as well as his TV series Spaced (1999-2001). While big elements may have been borrowed from earlier Trek films, Beyond includes a lot of McGuffins, MacGyvering, and emotional investment that was missing from Into Darkness, which was a Bizzaro-style, Wrath of Khan remake.
There is also a character in tough-as-nails warrior Jaylah worthy of continuing in the series. Alice Eve was a great addition to Into Darkness as intelligent and engaging scientist Carol Marcus, so to see her not return was disappointing.
Without calling for a spoiler alert, it was cool to see the Beastie Boys’ Sabotage play an integral part of saving the universe, and I liked it.
