Third Time's A Charm: Star Trek BEYOND
[A Review]
In the mere blink of an eye, fifty years can pass before you know it: cities spring to life and crumble, empires rise and fall, and people come and go. But through time's brutal, unforgiving assault on your sanity (at least since 1966), one solid rock remains: Star Trek - easily among humanity's most valuable and most cherished stories. But what makes Trek so universally appealing? And how, for so long, has the franchise managed to maintain the same sense of awe, of wonder, of discovery?
Trek, brainchild of visionary Gene Roddenberry, has indeed gone where no one has gone before - and it's done so with the help of thousands of brilliant, talented, and energetic creators and entertainers, most of whom have poured their entire souls into their work. Where does this passion originate?
Star Trek is unashamedly optimistic about our future, yes, but that's not all: it teaches us that our minds are the most powerful tools we have for understanding reality, that problems are solvable, that the universe is knowable, that the scientific method is the only proper means to gain such knowledge, and that the essence of the human spirit - that unquenchable thirst for exploration and discovery - cannot be broken, no matter the obstacles fate has thrown in our species' path. Exploring highly philosophical, social, economic, and political concepts, Trek elevates its plots to nearly metaphysical levels; this unique approach makes Trek "the thinking man's sci-fi," as so many have categorized it. In a cynical, dark, and jaded modern life, this worldview is more than just hard to come by: aside from Trek, it's downright non-existent, making the franchise an ideological oasis for millions, by default.
Beyond serves up cinematic ecstasy in accordance with this philosophy, reviving that old-school charm that made it all so appealing in the first place, while simultaneously dishing out massive doses of serious action, tension, and spectacle - in what could easily be crowned the most visually arresting science-fiction film yet created. In terms of visual effects, its sleek, polished beauty might be rivaled only by one other recent sci-fi/adventure behemoth: Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
With the same cast, the same Enterprise, and the same producer as its predecessors, Beyond conveys a familiar flavor - and yet it differentiates itself beautifully from the first two under the watchful eye of director Justin Lin, who is to be commended for creating a modern classic with an insanely high replay value. An action director by trade, Lin (Fast and Furious series) handles philosophical sci-fi astonishingly well. While some fans were initially nervous about JJ Abrams' hand-off to Lin, the release of Beyond erased any doubt viewers may have had with his professional competence.
Luckily for Lin, however, writer Simon Pegg (who also plays Scotty), a decidedly talented hard worker who, as a Trekker, understands clearly the responsibility of writing such material, has penned a superlative script in accordance with this understanding. As Lin pulls Pegg's story from paper to celluloid, he does so with a finesse and cunning that few directors today possess. The plot is fairly straightforward, but the execution of this plot is where Beyond truly excels; because trailers divulge anyway, I can tell you about the destruction of the Enterprise: the epic first showdown between Enterprise and Krall's swarm of battle drones entails the single most visually astonishing - and best-paced - outer-space sequence ever implemented.
After this sequence blows viewers away, the crew is scattered across Altamid, an M-class planet within an uncharted nebula and, incidentally, the home of the villainous and crafty Krall, played to perfection by the irreplaceable Idris Elba. The crew discovers that he has been pursuing an ancient artifact known as the Abronath, a mysterious technology that, although having been carried by the Enterprise all along as a diplomatic token, was never fully understood by Kirk and company. Krall, on the other hand, knows full well what the Abronath can do and, as such, pursues its power with all the sinister ruthlessness of a classic Trek villain; indeed, Elba shines in the role, providing ample resistance for our heroes to overcome. "This is where the frontier pushes back," Krall taunts Uhura with a brilliantly written monologue that both conveys a substantial threat and pays tribute to Trek's classic opening, "Space: the final frontier."
Another fantastic aspect of this story is the pairing of crew members: we see unlikely couples who shared little to no screen time in previous reboots: Spock and Bones, Sulu and Uhura, and Kirk and Chekov. These new circumstances give the actors some breathing room, and really allow their skills to radiate. The introduction of Jaylah, an alien from another planet who had also been lured to Altamid by Krall, is a true pleasure; she is tough, resourceful, sassy, and a fierce fighter, but her vulnerability and connection with the Enterprise crew are what really matter here. Sophia Boutella's professional competencies, physical and emotional, are put to the test in Beyond - and she delivers like a seasoned pro.
Although the first thirty minutes are utterly spectacular and set the stage for all else, even better is the final starship battle of Act III: a dazzling inferno of chases, torpedoes, collisions, evasions, explosions, and naturally, mass chaos - all of which are purposeful, meaningful, and cleverly choreographed. For those old-school Trekkers who feared Lin's action background would drown out any deeper meaning so essential to Star Trek's mode of operation, you can rest easy; he has struck a fine balance between popcorn and philosophy, an admirable feat, especially when it involves the third film of a trilogy.
Universally regarded as the worst of any given series, the third installment of any franchise typically suffers from fatigue or laziness - not so with Star Trek Beyond, a delightfully enjoyable, technically marvelous, and astoundingly solid modern science-fiction classic.
FINAL SCORE: 9.3 / 10
In the mere blink of an eye, fifty years can pass before you know it: cities spring to life and crumble, empires rise and fall, and people come and go. But through time's brutal, unforgiving assault on your sanity (at least since 1966), one solid rock remains: Star Trek - easily among humanity's most valuable and most cherished stories. But what makes Trek so universally appealing? And how, for so long, has the franchise managed to maintain the same sense of awe, of wonder, of discovery?
Star Trek is unashamedly optimistic about our future, yes, but that's not all: it teaches us that our minds are the most powerful tools we have for understanding reality, that problems are solvable, that the universe is knowable, that the scientific method is the only proper means to gain such knowledge, and that the essence of the human spirit - that unquenchable thirst for exploration and discovery - cannot be broken, no matter the obstacles fate has thrown in our species' path. Exploring highly philosophical, social, economic, and political concepts, Trek elevates its plots to nearly metaphysical levels; this unique approach makes Trek "the thinking man's sci-fi," as so many have categorized it. In a cynical, dark, and jaded modern life, this worldview is more than just hard to come by: aside from Trek, it's downright non-existent, making the franchise an ideological oasis for millions, by default.
With the same cast, the same Enterprise, and the same producer as its predecessors, Beyond conveys a familiar flavor - and yet it differentiates itself beautifully from the first two under the watchful eye of director Justin Lin, who is to be commended for creating a modern classic with an insanely high replay value. An action director by trade, Lin (Fast and Furious series) handles philosophical sci-fi astonishingly well. While some fans were initially nervous about JJ Abrams' hand-off to Lin, the release of Beyond erased any doubt viewers may have had with his professional competence.
Luckily for Lin, however, writer Simon Pegg (who also plays Scotty), a decidedly talented hard worker who, as a Trekker, understands clearly the responsibility of writing such material, has penned a superlative script in accordance with this understanding. As Lin pulls Pegg's story from paper to celluloid, he does so with a finesse and cunning that few directors today possess. The plot is fairly straightforward, but the execution of this plot is where Beyond truly excels; because trailers divulge anyway, I can tell you about the destruction of the Enterprise: the epic first showdown between Enterprise and Krall's swarm of battle drones entails the single most visually astonishing - and best-paced - outer-space sequence ever implemented.
After this sequence blows viewers away, the crew is scattered across Altamid, an M-class planet within an uncharted nebula and, incidentally, the home of the villainous and crafty Krall, played to perfection by the irreplaceable Idris Elba. The crew discovers that he has been pursuing an ancient artifact known as the Abronath, a mysterious technology that, although having been carried by the Enterprise all along as a diplomatic token, was never fully understood by Kirk and company. Krall, on the other hand, knows full well what the Abronath can do and, as such, pursues its power with all the sinister ruthlessness of a classic Trek villain; indeed, Elba shines in the role, providing ample resistance for our heroes to overcome. "This is where the frontier pushes back," Krall taunts Uhura with a brilliantly written monologue that both conveys a substantial threat and pays tribute to Trek's classic opening, "Space: the final frontier."
Another fantastic aspect of this story is the pairing of crew members: we see unlikely couples who shared little to no screen time in previous reboots: Spock and Bones, Sulu and Uhura, and Kirk and Chekov. These new circumstances give the actors some breathing room, and really allow their skills to radiate. The introduction of Jaylah, an alien from another planet who had also been lured to Altamid by Krall, is a true pleasure; she is tough, resourceful, sassy, and a fierce fighter, but her vulnerability and connection with the Enterprise crew are what really matter here. Sophia Boutella's professional competencies, physical and emotional, are put to the test in Beyond - and she delivers like a seasoned pro.
Although the first thirty minutes are utterly spectacular and set the stage for all else, even better is the final starship battle of Act III: a dazzling inferno of chases, torpedoes, collisions, evasions, explosions, and naturally, mass chaos - all of which are purposeful, meaningful, and cleverly choreographed. For those old-school Trekkers who feared Lin's action background would drown out any deeper meaning so essential to Star Trek's mode of operation, you can rest easy; he has struck a fine balance between popcorn and philosophy, an admirable feat, especially when it involves the third film of a trilogy. Universally regarded as the worst of any given series, the third installment of any franchise typically suffers from fatigue or laziness - not so with Star Trek Beyond, a delightfully enjoyable, technically marvelous, and astoundingly solid modern science-fiction classic.
FINAL SCORE: 9.3 / 10
I'm excited to see it!
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