The crew of the USS Enterprise is back in Star Trek Beyond heading out into the far reaches of space on a routine mission. An unwarranted attack from a mysterious alien race suddenly leaves them stranded on a foreign planet with little hopes of escape or survival.
This time around under the direction of Justin Lin the film takes more of an action-oriented approach. Viewers coming to see some awesome sci-fi battles will not be disappointed as the action is way more noticeable than in the first two films. Lin uses the scenes to properly establish and dictate mood. You'll feel overwhelmed watching as the Enterprise has to cut its way through thousands of alien ships that literally come together to form what looks like a bee swarm. Tension rises within as Captain Kirk is creeping down a red-lit hallway with a blaster in hand while trying to hunt down the enemy. Death-defying drops. Last-minute rescues. Explosions! Explosions! Explosions! You name it, the film has it.
The entire cast is back and is in rare form yet again. Three films in, Chris Pine seems to have matured in the role of Captain Kirk, both in the comfort level of playing the role and within the confines of the role itself. You're getting to see Kirk grows as his mission count rises and his knowledge of space expands. He's starting to lead less by emotion and more by practicality. In terms of other mentionable actors, I appreciate the fact that they gave Karl Urban more screen time in this installment. After all, you can never have too much Bones. While he typically shines in the way of comic relief, this being no exception, Bones got to put on more of the hero hat which definitely lightened the mood at some points.
Where the movie fell short for me comes partly in the way of how it handles the science fiction side of things at times. There are moments when someone is explaining a plan and discussing all the technical nuances and you're sitting there scratching your head. Then, when the plan is actually executed, you think, "Oh, is that what they meant?" On the flip side, I think the movie suffers from not being sci-fi enough at times. I loved how the first movie explored other worlds by showing you a few different creatures not of Earth. It's quite the opposite in the third film which is suprising because they spent the majority of the movie on a low-populated planet. You would think there would be creatures of some sort lurking around somewhere. To some of you, I probably sound like Ebert when he criticized the tripod alien attack pods in the 2005 version of War of the Worlds ("Why balance these towering machines on ill-designed supports?"). I love the man vs. beast aspect of sci-fi and I didn't get my fix, unfortunately. However, I'm hesitant to deduct too many points for that as it could be very much just a personal preference.
When JJ Abrams left the Star Trek series, I think the emotional umbilical cord went with him. Star Trek Beyond has great action that gives it a pulse, however there aren't any emotional stakes to give this movie a true heartbeat. At the end of the day, it is a very fun summer movie, but don't go see it if you are expecting deep substance. I give it an 87.
P.S.--As I was hunting for an image to add to this review, I read that Karl Urban almost passed up his role for this film. What a shame that would have been.
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