Star Trek Beyond

Steve West: “It was ok.”

This review contains spoilers. Reveal it.

− July 24, 2016 • more by Steve • log in or create an account to reply

Want to join the discussion? Log in or create an account to reply.

Evie Totty: “It ruled.”

This movie is INCREDIBLE. Jam-packed full of action, good non-action scenes. Some terrific musical nostalgia that played a major point in the film.

Bones and Spock were stuck together much of the film so that back-and-forth was hilarious. A new character introduction that was fabulous - looking forward to seeing her in the future. Idris Elba did pretty well given the massive amount of prosthetics that he had on him.

I had to suspend my disbelief multiple times. Especially the believe-ability of what set all of this in motion.

Regardless - I'd like to see it again. We'll see. Lots of films releasing in the coming weeks.

− July 24, 2016 • more by Evie • log in or create an account to reply

Want to join the discussion? Log in or create an account to reply.

Erik Bates: “It was ok.”

By comparison to the first two installments of the rebooted franchise, this one paled in comparison.

Must like Star Trek: Insurrection felt like it would have been better as a 2-part television arc, I had the same feeling about Beyond.

On the whole, I'm very happy with the direction they're taking the franchise. You can't win them all, right?

− December 12, 2016 • more by Erik • log in or create an account to reply

Want to join the discussion? Log in or create an account to reply.

Scott Hardie: “It was ok.”

If I rated this on the visuals alone, it might be the best film of the year. This movie looks incredible, with the camera zooming past and swooping through highly detailed close-ups of the Enterprise and an enormous metropolitan space station. Director Justin Lin and cinematographer Stephen F. Windon put a lot of thought into new ways to look at the sort of things we've seen before, even just using spinning Dutch angles to disorient us in scenes with a demented villain, and it pays off in big ways.

But the script is a disaster. I have a lot of fondness for Simon Pegg, who stepped up to write the script when the original writing team departed and the production was in danger (and whose sci-fi fandom credentials were proven long ago with Spaced), but the rushed timeframe did him and his co-writer Doug Jung no favors. There are dozens of plot holes and unanswered questions and elements that make no sense and plot contrivances and improbable mischaracterizations. The movie doesn't hold up to any scrutiny at all; barely a single scene goes by without some problem. And even looking at the big picture, the story feels very familiar to various Star Trek films we've seen before. The movie was clearly thrown together in a hurry; the script needed several more drafts at a minimum.

I wouldn't mind as much if the movie were more entertaining, but there is too little humor (which is weird given Pegg's background in writing comedies) and the action scenes are only so-so (which is weird given Lin's background in directing action movies). There is one truly great action sequence at the end of the first act, but the movie loses its momentum afterwards and never quite recovers. It's not a bad movie, but it is underwhelming, and a missed opportunity that another 6-12 months of development could have vastly improved upon.

− February 26, 2017 • more by Scott • log in or create an account to reply