One of the chief complaints with J.J. Abrams' relaunched Star Trek franchise is that it's so heavy on
action that it neglects some of the humanist, philosophical aspects that made
Gene Roddenberry's creation great. That's a fair point, and the difficult
balance has always been between those thoughtful touches and the required
blockbuster action. As the franchise celebrates its 50th year, Star Trek Beyond arrives with a purely action-oriented
director in Justin Lin, best known for demolishing cars in the Fast & Furious franchise. Now he gets to crash entire
starships in the most explosive, intense Star Trek yet, and it's so relentless
you don't have time to worry about what's missing.
“Things are starting to feel a little
episodic", grumbles Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) during the film's
somewhat melancholic opening sequences. It's possible Lin and co-writers Simon
Pegg (who also plays "Scotty") and Doug Jung are remarking on the reboot
itself, which got out of the gate hot with 2009's film then faltered with Star
Trek Into Darkness. More likely it's just a nod to the 50-year history these
characters and the oft-battered Starship Enterprise have endured. Either way,
that feeling of gradual unease as a ship captain on an endless voyage has Kirk
thinking of a career change. "What are we trying to accomplish?” he
wonders. But of course, a dangerous mission and a new foe put any answers
on hold.
An answered distress call lures the crew
into an unknown nebula where they are attacked by a new enemy, Krall (Idris
Elba), an evil warlord with plans to destroy everything Starfleet stands for.
Isn't that always the case, though? Krall's attack force, a buzzing swarm of
fighters, engulfs the Enterprise as if it was caught in a whirlwind of bees.
The ship destroyed in epic, Lin-endorsed fashion, the team is separated on
Krall's planet, with a handful such as Sulu (John Cho) and Uhura (Zoe Saldana)
captured. Spock (Zachary Quinto) suffers grievous injury, but that's okay
because he's got Bones (Karl Urban) around to patch him up and exchange witty
banter with. If you're looking for the kind of team camaraderie seen in the
prior movies, it's only here in measured doses, but the interactions between
Bones and Spock are the movie's highlight, with Pegg adding many light touches
to the screenplay. It's safe to say this is the funniest Star Trek has ever
been.
What's missing is a sense of higher
stakes. Krall's plan is pretty thin, "destroy Starfleet", targeting
one specific outpost that he sees as a symbol of their unity. Yeah, okay, but
what else? Not much. There is a reveal about him later that arrives too late to
matter much to the plot, and after the big battle things just sort of come to
an end, a sign that there wasn't much in the way of repercussions. The
other major new character introduced is treated much better. Sofia Boutella
(who played the razor-legged villain of Kingsman:
The Secret Service) brings much-needed spark as Jaylah, a fierce warrior
with her own beef against Krall, but she's content to survive out on her own
rather than seek revenge...at least until Scotty, Kirk, and the gang come
calling. With her fighting ability and knack for creating invisibility fields,
she proves a match for pretty much the entire crew. Good thing she's on their
side. 
The rest of the crew doesn’t get a lot to
do. The relationship between Spock and Uhura has hit a rocky stage but other
than a few humorous jabs by Bones we don't see much of it. A lot has been made
of Sulu's newly-revealed sexuality, and in the screening I attended it earned a
round of applause, but it's merely background color. You'll get a pang of
sadness every time Anton Yelchin warbles through his Russian accent as young
ensign Chekov. We see more of the late actor this time than in previous films
and it's a treat that should be savored. The role won't be recast in future
movies so this is the last
time we'll see Chekov at all in this Star Trek canon, unless it's in flashback.
The emphasis is more on spectacle this time around than ever before, and Lin
delivers the dazzling array of action we'd come to expect from him. Think the
gravity-defying madness of Fast
& Furious was wild? Think
of what Lin can do when there is no gravity at all. It's pretty spectacular,
with Kirk literally flying into battle at one point. 
Whatever one thinks of the
story, Lin accomplished what he was brought in to do, and that is entertain. Star Trek Beyond doesn't have much complexity, and
that may rankle fans who were hoping for a bit more depth and humanity, but
it'll just have to wait until the next voyage.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
