Star Trek Beyond (2016)
Director: Justin Lin
Genre: Science Fiction, Action
Running Time: 120 minutes
Genre: Science Fiction, Action
Running Time: 120 minutes
Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Idris Elba
I loved the new Star Trek! I was quite skeptical after finding out that J.J. Abrams would not direct the third film in the rebooted series and the first trailer was not very convincing for me, but I enjoyed myself immensely in the theater! It was fun, it was esthetically pleasing, it was just really exciting!
The cast is, just like in Star Trek (2009) and in Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013), a huge asset. First of all: Chris Pine is enormously charismatic as Captain Kirk. Zachary Quinto and Karl Urban are hugely amusing as Spock and Bones, who form a brilliant couple stranded on a deserted planet. Simon Pegg as Scotty seems to have been bumped from supporting character to one of the main characters (it's very coincidental that that would happen in this film, as Pegg co-wrote the script). Zoe Saldana's Uhura is the only character I felt was let down a bit, in comparison to the rest she didn't have much to do here. Newcomers Idris Elba as the bad guy and Sofia Boutella as Jaylah (who is apparently based on Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone (2010), according to Pegg) are also very solid, but the chemistry of the familiar cast is what's the heart of the film. For that reason I got quite emotional when I saw Anton Yelchin as Chekov, because the young actor passed away a little while ago. Abrams has (fortunately) stated that Chekov won't be recast, but that he'll be written out of the story.
Enough about the cast! The film itself is quite good as well. The story was, for me, not as inventive as the first or the second one, but the film felt like a very authentic Science Fiction film. Going back to its Sci-Fi roots, so to speak. In comparison to Star Trek: Into Darkness, this film doesn't have a lot of twists and turns, but an excessively difficult story is not needed for a brilliant film (ask Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)). I do think it's a little unfortunate that Justin Lin didn't take any risks, something that I'm missing in almost all recent blockbusters. To be honest, considering the immensely hateful reaction to a 'risky' decision such as a female cast of Ghostbusters (2015), it's quite understandable that filmmakers stay a little safe. The 'coming out' of Sulu was even criticized by the original actor. Am I the only one who doesn't really care about the personal appearance/life/preferences from a character?
Nonetheless, it's a good film that continues the high quality of the 'new' Star Trek films. The cast is outstanding and it looks beautiful. I would like to see more risks in the next one, but I was very happy and content with Star Trek Beyond.
★★★★☆
I loved the new Star Trek! I was quite skeptical after finding out that J.J. Abrams would not direct the third film in the rebooted series and the first trailer was not very convincing for me, but I enjoyed myself immensely in the theater! It was fun, it was esthetically pleasing, it was just really exciting!
The cast is, just like in Star Trek (2009) and in Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013), a huge asset. First of all: Chris Pine is enormously charismatic as Captain Kirk. Zachary Quinto and Karl Urban are hugely amusing as Spock and Bones, who form a brilliant couple stranded on a deserted planet. Simon Pegg as Scotty seems to have been bumped from supporting character to one of the main characters (it's very coincidental that that would happen in this film, as Pegg co-wrote the script). Zoe Saldana's Uhura is the only character I felt was let down a bit, in comparison to the rest she didn't have much to do here. Newcomers Idris Elba as the bad guy and Sofia Boutella as Jaylah (who is apparently based on Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone (2010), according to Pegg) are also very solid, but the chemistry of the familiar cast is what's the heart of the film. For that reason I got quite emotional when I saw Anton Yelchin as Chekov, because the young actor passed away a little while ago. Abrams has (fortunately) stated that Chekov won't be recast, but that he'll be written out of the story.
Enough about the cast! The film itself is quite good as well. The story was, for me, not as inventive as the first or the second one, but the film felt like a very authentic Science Fiction film. Going back to its Sci-Fi roots, so to speak. In comparison to Star Trek: Into Darkness, this film doesn't have a lot of twists and turns, but an excessively difficult story is not needed for a brilliant film (ask Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)). I do think it's a little unfortunate that Justin Lin didn't take any risks, something that I'm missing in almost all recent blockbusters. To be honest, considering the immensely hateful reaction to a 'risky' decision such as a female cast of Ghostbusters (2015), it's quite understandable that filmmakers stay a little safe. The 'coming out' of Sulu was even criticized by the original actor. Am I the only one who doesn't really care about the personal appearance/life/preferences from a character?
Nonetheless, it's a good film that continues the high quality of the 'new' Star Trek films. The cast is outstanding and it looks beautiful. I would like to see more risks in the next one, but I was very happy and content with Star Trek Beyond.
★★★★☆
