Star Trek Beyond
Director: Justin Lin
Talent: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana
Released: 21st July
In 2009, JJ Abrams successfully managed to push the reset button on the ailing Star Trek film franchise while also remaining faithful to its long history, thus allowing new stories to be told unhampered by nearly 50 years’ worth of continuity. However, a lot of this good work was undone by 2013’s Into Darkness which, despite Benedict Cumberbatch’s sterling villainous turn, was a joyless affair that bore little resemblance to the original series.
Beyond is a mostly effective correction of course. Picking up halfway through the Enterprise’s legendary five year mission of exploration, the plot brings the crew into conflict with a warmongering alien race in a desolate corner of the galaxy. Apart from the state-of-the-art special effects and a couple of bravura set pieces ably orchestrated by newcomer director Justin Lin (of The Fast and the Furious series fame), this feels like a particularly eventful episode of the old TV show. Buried under several layers of prosthetics, Idris Elba makes for a humdrum antagonist, but the rest of the cast have grown into their roles and are a pleasure to watch, with special mention going to Zachary Quinto’s Spock and Karl Urban’s McCoy. Good fun.
Words: Felipe Deakin
