Movie Review: Star Trek Beyond

I was turned off of Abrams Trek by Star Trek Into Darkness, but I'd heard some positive reviews about this newest film, so I decided to put off my dissertation writing yesterday morning and catch a cheap matinee showing.

Obligatory Question: Is there cursing in the film? Yes, Bones and Spock discuss the relevance of horse shit to their current situation at one point, and Bones has a few more weak swears he uses. Not much, really. Probably not enough to worry about letting your kids see it or not.

So, I"m going to give a quick capsule review without spoilers here, then a break, and then a full review with spoilers, as I don't think I can talk much about the movie without spoiling it.

Was it entertaining? Yes, but not amazingly so. The good thing was that this Abrams movie finally felt like honest-to-Q Star Trek. The initial movie went out of its way to be different. The second was bipolar, trying to be different while also trying to be like older Trek. This one was firmly in the traditional Trek zone.

The bad thing was that the plot was just a conventional generic action movie plot. Like, take any Lethal Weapon movie's basic plot, put it in space, bam, there's this movie.

Is it worth seeing? If you're a Trekkie, I'm sure you've already seen it (it released late in Korea). If you're Trekker like me, you'll also probably want to see it for completionist purposes. If you're just in the mood for some summer popcorn action movie fare, sure, why not? If you're looking for intense drama, or thoughtful science fiction, this isn't the movie for you.


BEWARE! HERE BE SPOILERS!

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Is that enough of a break? OK, spoiler time.

There were some things that really bugged me about the movie, even though in the end I thought it was OK. I think if these things had been addressed, it could have been a much better Star Trek movie (although not as good as Wrath of Khan or Generations Whoops, meant First Contact. That was the good TNG movie.).

First of all, Spock. His motivations were clear, but every single significant choice he made in the movie was to choose the ILLOGICAL option. Or maybe, if you look at it a certain way, there was a warped personal logic to it, but considering Vulcan Logic, he was the most illogical he's ever been portrayed. Yes, he's got the hots for Uhura, and yes, BBEG had her close by so he could explain his evil plans to her (and us). But Spock's been wounded severely, could help Scotty just as well as Checkov, but has to go on the rescue mission because his girlfriend's in danger. Then he's got to pilot the stolen "bee" craft with Bones, except Bones does all the flying and Spock is there (still wounded, no medbay on the USS Franklin) for moral support? The only logical thing he did was consider leaving Star Fleet to help repopulate New Vulcan (and even that, in the end, gets overridden by the picture of Old Spock with Old Kirk, Old Scotty, Old Sulu, Old Uhura, etc. circa Star Trek 4?).

Next, I love Idris Elba, but could he have been playing a more generic villain? He's motivated by hate. Only hate. He hates the Federation. That's all he's got. Seriously boring. I was hoping he'd pull a last minute turn, and help Kirk shunt the alien bioweapon McGuffin into space. That would still have been cliche, but at least it would have shown something to motivate him besides hating the Federation for being soft. And the whole big reveal, that he was a former Star Fleet captain, was pretty much for nothing, character wise. It did explain why he was so familiar with English, Federation technology, etc. But it did nothing to affect his motives, actions, or development. Lame bad guy is lame, even with Elba behind the makeup.

Kirk actually had a decent (if predictable) character arc, but again, watch any Lethal Weapon movie and compare. "I'm getting too old for this shit." "One last mission." "Hey, you know what? I actually enjoy doing this after all and will continue."

Oh, and if I have to see that 'ship/airplane in freefall, dives down behind mountain between ship and camera, then zooms up from behind that mountain' scene again, I'm gonna puke. They really were taking all their cues from other movies plotting this one weren't they?

I did like how they set the film three years into the five year mission, implying that this crew may (or may not) have gone through events similar to the TOS episodes. There's even one point where Kirk jokes about how life on the ship is feeling "episodic." Well except for Space Seed, since they already mangled the Khan plotline in Into Darkness. But well, you can assume that this version of the crew tangled with Klingons, Gorn, Romulans, tribbles, and all that if you like. The film makers can do whatever they like from now on -- which was the promise of the first movie, which they reneged on in the second, and have now artfully bypassed the issue with a time jump.

So again, as I said above, it's not a bad movie, but it's not a great one, either. Unless you're a huge Trek fan, you won't miss much by waiting to see this on VOD or whatever cheaper option than seeing it in the theater, if that's your thing.