Okay, I have gone to the theater and, in a rather more crowded theater that I expected, seen Star Trek Beyond. I am going to try to present my thought here is a semi-organized manner.
What Star Trek Beyond got right (lead with the positive):
First, it is a MUCH more coherent and logical story than its predecessor (Star Trek Into Darkness). For once, it was not an Earth centered story and never involved a threat to Earth. It also did not have unexplained story elements and did not feel like an episode of Lost. The story is pretty straightforward and unfolds logically. It has a couple of surprise revelations as it goes on but NONE of them are the kind of nonsensical name dropping (like Khan) that sank Into Darkness – here they make sense in the context of the story.
Second, I liked the much reduced amount of “fan callbacks”. Really there was just a very well played small tribute to the passing of Leonard Nimoy in the form of having Spock Prime pass away, and two or three minor name drops of alien races that had been encountered in the past.
Third, the portrayals by the cast this time out were WAY improved. The characters felt more like their actual Trek counterparts than really they have in any of these films. In particular, Kirk came off as much more mature and was believable as a Captain. Also Spock was much more Vulcan like this time out, and Bones as usual was so on it was spooky (Karl Urban has managed in all three films to feel like he was channeling DeForrest Kelley). Sulu was Sulu. Uhura and Chekov I will speak about later.
Fourth, this movie actually felt more like a Trek series two-parter than any of the Trek films. It had the quiet moments, which to me were where it did the best, and the alien girl they encounter is played well and she was a highlight of the film (and no, she did not hook up with Kirk).
I think this is the place to talk about the motorbike, and by extension the USS Franklin. The motorbike was aboard the Franklin, which was a crashed old NX ship the crew discovered on the planet and with Jaylah's aid got to fly once more. Kirk uses the bike in what was actually a fairly clever diversion to cover a rescue raid for captive crewmates.
The Franklin was pretty cool actually. It was rendered nicely as just a slightly updated NX look and in a way I almost wish they kept it.
What Star Trek Beyond missed on:
Uhura and Chekov. I’m not sure if it is the casting or the writing, but these two just do not feel like their Trek counterparts. I think it is in part because they keep trying to make Uhura an action hero and part because she and Chekov really were minor characters in Trek, leaving writers less to work with.
Action scene overload. While the CGI was well done, both of the big battle scenes left me fatigued because they were almost TOO intense to the point of sensory overload. In a way, with the character focus and straightforward story in this film going with a more minimal effect approach would have enhanced things.
Overdoing the climax. This seems to be a constant issue in recent films, where you have a final battle and then AFTER the battle there is a chase, then a fight, then another chase and so on. And it isn't just Star Trek that is guilty here - this seems to be a Hollywood gimmick the past couple of years. These winding conclusions do nothing but rob films of their story momentum. Please, give us back true finales!
And of course, the “Is it Trek” question.
I’m still thinking on that.
On the one hand, the feel of the characters and the general pace and atmosphere did feel WAY more Trek than Into Darkness. On the other hand, the weapons and such still have that “Star Wars” feel, and while this time we are not dealing with yet another revenge plot the questions it raised (mainly what do soldiers do when the war ends) were on the simplistic side. However, when I stopped to think about it NONE of the Trek movies have ever raised more complex questions; maybe it is a limitation of the movie format?
This I can say already - even if ultimately I decide that to me it is not Trek it is MUCH closer to being Trek than any of the new films so far.
Overall, this was a massive improvement over Into Darkness. That said, they still have the problems of all the weird things that Into Darkness introduced (like Khan’s blood) into this Trek universe, so it likely is still necessary to engineer another soft reboot to let them fully correct the problems Damon Lindelof and Roberto Orci wrote into the setting.
What Star Trek Beyond got right (lead with the positive):
First, it is a MUCH more coherent and logical story than its predecessor (Star Trek Into Darkness). For once, it was not an Earth centered story and never involved a threat to Earth. It also did not have unexplained story elements and did not feel like an episode of Lost. The story is pretty straightforward and unfolds logically. It has a couple of surprise revelations as it goes on but NONE of them are the kind of nonsensical name dropping (like Khan) that sank Into Darkness – here they make sense in the context of the story.
Second, I liked the much reduced amount of “fan callbacks”. Really there was just a very well played small tribute to the passing of Leonard Nimoy in the form of having Spock Prime pass away, and two or three minor name drops of alien races that had been encountered in the past.
Third, the portrayals by the cast this time out were WAY improved. The characters felt more like their actual Trek counterparts than really they have in any of these films. In particular, Kirk came off as much more mature and was believable as a Captain. Also Spock was much more Vulcan like this time out, and Bones as usual was so on it was spooky (Karl Urban has managed in all three films to feel like he was channeling DeForrest Kelley). Sulu was Sulu. Uhura and Chekov I will speak about later.
Fourth, this movie actually felt more like a Trek series two-parter than any of the Trek films. It had the quiet moments, which to me were where it did the best, and the alien girl they encounter is played well and she was a highlight of the film (and no, she did not hook up with Kirk).
I think this is the place to talk about the motorbike, and by extension the USS Franklin. The motorbike was aboard the Franklin, which was a crashed old NX ship the crew discovered on the planet and with Jaylah's aid got to fly once more. Kirk uses the bike in what was actually a fairly clever diversion to cover a rescue raid for captive crewmates.
The Franklin was pretty cool actually. It was rendered nicely as just a slightly updated NX look and in a way I almost wish they kept it.
What Star Trek Beyond missed on:
Uhura and Chekov. I’m not sure if it is the casting or the writing, but these two just do not feel like their Trek counterparts. I think it is in part because they keep trying to make Uhura an action hero and part because she and Chekov really were minor characters in Trek, leaving writers less to work with.
Action scene overload. While the CGI was well done, both of the big battle scenes left me fatigued because they were almost TOO intense to the point of sensory overload. In a way, with the character focus and straightforward story in this film going with a more minimal effect approach would have enhanced things.
Overdoing the climax. This seems to be a constant issue in recent films, where you have a final battle and then AFTER the battle there is a chase, then a fight, then another chase and so on. And it isn't just Star Trek that is guilty here - this seems to be a Hollywood gimmick the past couple of years. These winding conclusions do nothing but rob films of their story momentum. Please, give us back true finales!
And of course, the “Is it Trek” question.
I’m still thinking on that.
On the one hand, the feel of the characters and the general pace and atmosphere did feel WAY more Trek than Into Darkness. On the other hand, the weapons and such still have that “Star Wars” feel, and while this time we are not dealing with yet another revenge plot the questions it raised (mainly what do soldiers do when the war ends) were on the simplistic side. However, when I stopped to think about it NONE of the Trek movies have ever raised more complex questions; maybe it is a limitation of the movie format?
This I can say already - even if ultimately I decide that to me it is not Trek it is MUCH closer to being Trek than any of the new films so far.
Overall, this was a massive improvement over Into Darkness. That said, they still have the problems of all the weird things that Into Darkness introduced (like Khan’s blood) into this Trek universe, so it likely is still necessary to engineer another soft reboot to let them fully correct the problems Damon Lindelof and Roberto Orci wrote into the setting.
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