DVD Review: Star Trek Beyond
I wasn’t sure what to think when I found out Justin Lin was taking over the director’s seat for Beyond, I’m not really a big fan of the Fast and Furious movies and I didn’t think his particular set of skills would cross over to Sci-Fi convincingly. As is often the case… my doubts were proven wrong and Star Trek Beyond may be my favourite instalment so far!
I’ll get the negative stuff out the way so I can start gushing and not stop! The main element lacking from this Star Trek film, was any real depth or significant character development. I felt like the first two films were really good at getting you emotionally invested in the characters and even asked some big, ponderous questions. Beyond is more focussed on giving the audience an exhilarating ride than getting you emotionally invested.
Simon Pegg coming on as a writer also had it’s pros and cons. Some great comedy and dialogue shone through, but also a much larger focus on his own character in the movie, Montgomery Scott. Don’t get me wrong, I love Scotty, but apparently there’s such a thing as too much Scotty!
Now for the gushing. OMGOMGOMG IT’S SO GOOD. I was actually on the edge of my couch the whole time. I feel like I’ve never seen a movie with so many miraculous escapes from precarious situations crammed in. That might sound over the top, but it was CRAZY-FUN! So much ridiculous action, at times even nonsensical (Kirk’s endless confusing motorbike scene – who is even controlling the illusion things??) The use of the Beastie Boys – Sabotage in a particular scene was probably my favourite part of the whole movie. Insane and totally unrealistic, but beautiful and amazing anyway!
The cast all bring their A-game (as per usual) and no one particularly stood out to me because they were all so good. Sofia Boutella, as the badass alien girl Jaylah, was a welcome addition to the team and her relationship with ‘Montgomery Scotty’ was pretty dang cute. Idris Elba was awesome as the villain Krall. His way of speaking and appearance was very striking and he had a very menacing on screen presence and a pretty twisted backstory. Karl Urban and Zachary Quinto’s characters, Doctor McCoy and Spock, got a chance to shine and finally developed a nice little bromance.
Complete with a heartfelt tribute to Leonard Nimoy and Anton Yelchin (I can’t believe we’ve lost our Chekov), Star Trek Beyond has all the necessary elements for an epic SciFi action film and is the perfect addition to the franchise.
Rating: M Violence.
FILMGUIDE rating:
