As Pauline Kael famously wrote in her review of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, now that's more like it.
I approached Star Trek Beyond with very little enthusiasm, having been so completely underwhelmed and disappointed on all levels by its immediate predecessor, Star Trek Into Darkness. After a reasonably hopeful start to the entire re-boot franchise with Star Trek (2010), I felt STID was nothing more than a Transformer flick with Star Trek uniforms. I thought it was awful, to be honest, so awful that I didn't even bother to buy the DVD/Blu Ray nor watch it when it came out on Netflix.
It is, honestly, the only Star Trek movie in history that I have only watched once.
Now, it might have been the fact of my low expectations that has helped me to respond so positively to Star Trek Beyond. I mean, it's not a perfect movie by any stretch of the imagination but, on the other hand, it's better than average for Star Trek cinematic releases.
Simon Pegg and Doug Yung have fashioned a fun, fast-paced script that manages to find a Trek-worthy balance between action and character. They have also done a nice job of giving all of the major characters reasonable screen time and useful roles in the plot, which is something that few Trek movies seem able to accomplish.
I'm not sold on Chris Pine as Kirk and I find Zachery Quinto's Spock to be much too willing to show emotion (though that seems to have been a decision of the directing minds of the reboot as a whole, not of the actor) but I find the rest of the cast to be very capable and admirable re-creations of the original. This is made especial poignant in the scene where Quinto draws out a photo of the original cast midway through the film, a scene which demonstrates the writers' laudable understanding of the emotional attachment of the Trek fanbase to that original cast and crew.
Even the guest stars are well cast, including two strong females. Sofia Boutella is especially impressive as the powerful but vulnerable Jaylah, who proves key to both the action and emotional plots of the film.
And I like the fact that the film incorporates, without comment and with evident affection, a same-sex partner (and child) for Mr. Sulu. It is completely suitable for the universe that Gene Roddenberry created that such a relationship would be unremarkable, as common as any other relationship, and Star Trek Beyond presents it as such.
I am still trying to figure out if there are any significant Trek-lore issues with the film. To do that, I will probably need a better grasp of the pre-Kirk timeline and of the series Enterprise, which is my least favourite of the television shows. That being said, here are some preliminary thoughts.
From what I understand, the re-boot occurs as a result of the arrival of the Romulan mining vessel from the future on the date of James Kirk's birth. That should mean that everything that happened before that moment has not changed while everything that happened after that moment could have changed.
Enterprise takes place before Kirk's birth. Therefore, nothing that occurred in that series (or that was established by that series) should change. Yet Star Trek Beyond introduces the U.S.S. Franklin, which is identified as one of the original "Warp Four" ships. If memory serves, the "Warp Four" ship was never a recognized level of Star Fleet's engine development. The "Warp Five" ship is the major development, pushing Star Fleet past the Warp Two ships that had dominated until then.
The writer's do, however, make nice use of pre-Warp-Five technology on the Franklin, equipping her with appropriate weaponry for the time and early versions of the medical technology with which we have all become familiar. The seat belts on the ship made me laugh but in a good way.
The transporter, which plays such a huge role in the plot's outcome, is problematic, however. It is clear in the first couple of episodes of Enterprise that the mere fact that the new NX-01 comes equipped with a transporter is very advanced to the crew. The NX-01's transporter is tiny and has just been approved for bio-transport.
The Franklin, which is apparently an earlier model, comes equipped with a massive transporter pad and a mechanism that can be easily adapted for bio-transport. It's not a huge issue but it is a question mark.
A few other quibbles:
1. Kirk's Enterprise is identified as the only ship at Star Fleet's massive new space station with the agility to navigate the dangers of the nebula yet the ancient, battered Franklin seems to handle it with ease;
2. Why are 23rd century builders of space stations still using glass?
3. A motorcycle? A motorcycle?
4. Isn't the idea that earth music (in this case, the Beastie Boys) destroys marauding aliens somewhat "borrowed" from Mars Attacks?
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