Star Trek: Beyond

Kirk: “We got no ship, no crew...how are we going to get out of this one?”
Spock: “We will find hope in the impossible.”

release year: 2016
genre: science fiction action
viewing setting: home Bluray 11/13/13

synopsis: The Enterprise ventures into a nebula to help a stranded ship, but all is not as it appears, and much destruction follows.

impressions: These movies just keep getting...further from the old Star Trek stuff. I'm sensing some themes among the three films in this rebooted series...the main one being that the Federation should worry more about violent enemies than space exploration. A second one would be that it's not that rare for a foe or alien species to have technology (or weapons) that can easily beat those of the Federation. Whatever. There's all kinds of action here, including space battles with numerous hull breaches and deaths. Hell, the entire ship gets destroyed early on. Most of the plot and action here take place on a planet, and there's an awful lot for each of the main crew to do. There's also a nice tribute to the original Star Trek main crew, near the end. Random note: the starbase Yorktown just looks incredible.

acting: Chris Pine's Captain Kirk still doesn't seem seasoned or wise. Everyone else does a great job with their characters' quirks and strengths. Sofia Boutella (who was a knife-footed assassin henchwoman in Kingsman: The Secret Service) plus a lot of white makeup equals a bad-ass alien scavenger ally here. Idris Elba plus a ton of makeup equals the bad guy here.

final word: Good third movie in this rebooted universe.

back to the main review page