Based upon "Star Trek" created by Gene Roddenberry
Screenplay Written by Simon Pegg & Doug Jung
Directed by Justin Lin
***1/2 (three and a half stars)
RATED PG 13
You know, I did not have the highest of hopes when I headed into the theater this afternoon.
Dear readers, it has been quite a lousy Summer Movie Season. As I was scrolling through my entries of this year, I realized that for most of the films that I have seen, they have been disappointments in one way or another and lately, I have been going through quite a bad streak as "Finding Dory," "The BFG" and "Ghostbusters," all were sadly underwhelming. Not terrible by any means but not very good, all of them signifying precisely what happens when the movies become more homogenized, either through the presence of unnecessary sequels and reboots, to ones that possessed a more sanitized presentation.
With "Star Trek Beyond," the third installment in the rebooted "Star Trek" film series as helmed and overseen by J.J. Abrams, I did find myself in a bit of a quandary. Now don't get me wrong, I was (and remain) ecstatic about both of Abrams' high velocity entries but for this episode, and certainly more than a little busy working on the latest "Star Wars" trilogy, he has turned over the directorial reins to Justin Lin, most famously known for helming four installments of the improbably long running "Fast And The Furious" franchise. While Abrams has remained as Producer, I was concerned about a certain quality control and those reports of extensive reshoots for this new film didn't help matters either. So, I suppose that as I entered the theater, I was nervous about being let down again.
Most thankfully, "Star Trek Beyond" is a winner. No, the film doesn't break any new ground but it is also not a mere placeholder either. Justin Lin has delivered a rock solid entry, from beginning to end, that often feels like an extended episode of the original series, but in all the very best ways as character development and some political commentary carries the day, giving fuller weight and grit to the spectacular action sequences, and one undoubtedly jump-out-of-your-seat-and-cheer sequence. No simple summer's evening diversion, "Star Trek Beyond" more than earns our good will and undeniably delivers the goods and then some.
"Star Trek Beyond" opens three years into the five year mission of the Starship Enterprise and at this stage of voyaging through endless space, Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) is caught within a phase of existential restlessness. His birthday approaching, also the day on which his own Father perished, Kirk is ensconced with emotions of self-doubt as well as uncertainly to the meaningfulness of the Enterprise's mission, to the point where he strongly considers leaving the Captain's chair for a desk job promotion to Admiral on the Federation Starbase Yorktown, where the Enterprise stations for the crew's much deserved shore leave.
While at Yorktown, the station receives a distress call from an escape pod dispatched from a nearby nebula. The sole survivor claims that her ship and its crew are stranded on the planet Altamid, housed deep inside the nebula. Kirk and his crew suit up once more for a rescue mission only to find themselves ambushed by the alien commander Krall (Idris Elba), on the hunt for an artifact known as the Abronath, an object the Enterprise had obtained from a recent mission.
During the melee, the Enterprise is destroyed, the crew captured, separated and marooned upon Altamid, leaving our heroes to try to escape and reunite to somehow defeat Krall and his apocalyptic plans for the Federation and the universe.
Justin Lin's "Star Trek Beyond" is a more than worthy installment as well as a seamless addition to J.J. Abrams' adrenalized, alternate time line vision. Filled with brains, brawn, heart and soul, Lin has devised a lusciously visualized adventure that puts his action film credentials to excellent usage. The outstanding, pulse pounding ambush sequence from Krall's army of ferocious "bees" that buzzsaw their way through the Enterprise and viciously snatch away escape pods is...well...furiously paced and executed. And furthermore, the film's climax, during which Idris Elba feels to be fully unleashed, is unabashedly white knuckle.
But, rest assured, "Star Trek Beyond" is not entirely about bombastic explosions and empty CGI pyrotechnics. In fact, it is the film many quieter moments that really make this film sing and more than reminiscent of the original series as the majority of the film takes place while the crew is marooned. The full performances of the entire returning cast remain steadfast with Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto as Mr. Spock and Karl Urban as Dr. McCoy expertly continuing their terrific work which eerily emulate their originators but also provide some new, humorous, delicate and some deeper existential notes to play. Quinto, in particular has some truly lovely silent moments, as the film honors the memory of the late Leonard Nimoy (to whom this film has been dedicated alongside Anton Yelchin who, in one of his final roles, again portrays Lt. Chekov).
It is fully within those meditative moments and scenes throughout "Star Trek beyond" where I felt that Lin constructed the perfect bridge between Abrams' ore whiz-bang aesthetic to Gene Roddenberry's original and unquestionably more cerebral vision, as the overall humanity of the piece provides the sumptuous core of the story and film. For all of the intergalactic battles, Lin utilizes "Star Trek Beyond" to have all of the characters relate to each other in ways that explore various sides of the human condition, and how we either succeed or fail at our own hands and intents.
I loved the film's primary theme of solidarity, especially during times of tremendous adversity and the possibility of ultimate defeat. Like Ridley Scott's "The Martian" (2015), Lin also utilized his film to showcase a collective of characters caught in the throes of problem solving and the act of thinking one's way out of a desperate situation. Yes, there are many battles within the film. But what really carries is how we regard characters working together to reach a common goal, something that works in complete contrast to Krall, who operates under a singular vision with an army of unthinking drones to mercilessly do his bidding.
Furthermore, the theme of solidarity also works its magic as we find nearly all of the film's characters caught within a state of being lost, much like the cast of characters upon Abrams' groundbreaking television series "Lost." Certainly, the Enterprise crew is physically lost on a planet contained inside of an unexplored nebula. But, several characters are emotionally lost as well, from Kirk's ennui, to Spock's grief and mourning of his mentor Ambassador Spock's passing in the original timeline, to the character of the scavenger Jaylah (Sofia Boutella), another figure long marooned on the planet due to Krall, who is himself lost within his own unrepentant rage and madness.
And still, I do think those themes of being emotionally lost fuels the relentless action handsomely, relentless action that does indeed carry a specific purpose. Working with Roddenberry's original vision of using his series, stories and characters to comment upon mid to late 1960's society, just as with Abrams' "Star Trek Into Darkness" (2013), the dark chaos and looming violence and destruction presented with Lin's film, whether by accident or design, certainly made me think of the current state of affairs in our very real, dark, chaotic landscape with police brutality, mass shootings, domestic and foreign terrorist violence and increasingly rampant racism all occurring from a weekly to nearly daily basis.
Krall's nefarious plans, once fully revealed, are secessionist at their most extreme and certainly present an exaggerated mirror version of the recent Brexit vote and controversy in Europe, for instance. Additionally, the film is indeed brave enough to ask the question of what precisely does peace time mean to a person who has only known war. But, also, and to a stirring degree, by regarding Kirk and his crew, and against all adversity, somehow retain their collective sense of humanity and overall connection to each other and the human community in which they all share to combat facing the universe alone.
It felt to me to be more than perfect to have seen this film smack in the middle of both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, as the tonal quality of each were polar opposites and also, provided a perfect real world mirror to the space fantasy on display in "Star Trek Beyond." Just go with me and think about it for a moment. With both conventions, we have seen Republicans present a "vision" (such as it is) of a nearly post-apocalyptic landscape where violence and chaos runs rampant and in order to make America "great again," all we need is a thin skinned demagogue who proclaims himself to be the ruler of law and order and that he, all alone, will restore that very law and order. In the film, Krall represents such a figure as he is willing to end the universe itself in order to prove his existential viewpoint ultimately correct.
By contrast, Kirk, the Enterprise crew, Jaylah and the Starfleet Federation are committed through an understanding of a symbiotic existence, how one depends upon another and another in order to fully flourish and ascend, much like what has been on display during the Democratic convention in which the word "we" has been spoken constantly, where unity is stressed, where diplomacy is favored over the most vicious form of singular frontier justice.
Trust me...I'm not getting myself carried away for this is truly the purpose of the entire "Star Trek" universe. We are being asked, and sometimes implored, to make these sorts of connections between these very different worlds, so wondrously fantastical and so precariously real. Justin Lin's "Star Trek Beyond" continues to pay warm and reverential homage to the original while also boldly blazing ahead on its own confident path at warp speed, all the while armed with intelligence, skill, heart and just a blast of absolute fun.
For all of my fatigue with most films of the sequel,prequel, remake, reboot, re-imagining variety, if the new collection of "Star Trek" movies remains at this level, then all I am able to say say is, of course...Live Long And Prosper!!!!
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