MOVIE REVIEW: STAR TREK BEYOND

Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise encounter an alien warrior race when marooned on a distant planet after the destruction of their spaceship in this thrilling sequel directed by Fast & Furious director Justin Lin. ~ Violet LeVoit, Rovi

Director: Justin Lin

Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, John Cho

Release Date: Jul 22, 2016

Rated PG-13 Sequences of Sci-Fi Action and Violence

Runtime: 2 hr. 2 min.

Genres: Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Review:

Star Trek Beyond feels like an extended episode of the non existent rebooted series and not a particularly good one.  That’s not to say it isn’t a fun film because it’s an enjoyable lightweight romp which comes and goes with little of consequence really happening.  Justin Lin’s direction is action heavy as expected with lots of big set pieces which are fun and well choreographed.  The biggest asset of the rebooted series has always been the cast and the best thing Beyond does is it gives each of them their time to shine.  Clearly most of the actors have settled into their roles.  Karl Urban has always been a personal favorite of mine as McCoy and here he’s given a much larger role which is to the film’s benefit.  Pine and Quinto are solid as Kirk and Spock with their personal story lines feeling well thought out and meaningful.  Sadly, the overall story is fairly weak even though there’s some nice fan service written into the script, an NX class ship! yelled those few Enterprise fans, but ultimately it’s a waste of Idris Elba as the villain.  Elba is a fine actor wasted underneath a ton of make up and a thinly written character which is really a massive shame.  As is Star Trek Beyond is a mindlessly fun film but one that isn’t terribly deep or meaningful like some of the Trek films in the past.

C