'Star Trek Beyond' - Movie Review

Star Trek BeyondUA Scifi ActionDirector Justin LinCast Chris Pine Zachary Quinto Zoe Saldana Simon Pegg Anton Yelchin Karl Urban John Cho Idris ElbaRatingThis one is basically preprogrammed to keep the fans whetted Notwithstanding their previous follies and misadventures which eventually come good in the unknown space the Starship Enterprise and her crew set out on another deep space missionThe Star Trek franchise was lying dormant for a long time before it was propelled alive by JJ Abrams 2009 origin Story lsquoStar Trekrsquo but the subsequent lineup lsquoStar Trek Into Darknessrsquo just did not have the required energy or intriguing dynamics to retain interestWatch the trailer of Star Trek BeyondThe franchise now appears to have gotten into episodic mode This is Chris Pinersquos third outing as Captain James Tiberius Kirk and therersquos already a sense of ennui both within and without in the experience The movie begins with Captain Kirk originated by William Shatner on TV as well as in the earlier films ndashnow ably replaced by Chris Pine musing in his Captainrsquos log as his birthday approaches and then cuts to a event where the Captain finds himself fighting off alien gremlin like creatures before being teleported back into the ship Itrsquos probably a symbolic assimilation of the Captainrsquos stateofmind which he verbalizes in his log The thrill of adventure appears to have palled and the newness of the experience has been wearing thin Therersquos a hint that an instation admiralrsquos position is being vacated for him to step into So this could well be his last trip into the unbeknownstThis outing appears to put nostalgia upfront by paying tribute to legendary Vulcan Leonard Nemoy and recently deceased in an accident young actor Anton Yelchin who plays Chekov in the film This is in fact amongst Antonrsquos last roles before his untimely death So those two tributes are guaranteed to bring on some emotional affect The script by Simon Pegg who also plays engineer Montgomery Scott and Doug Jung who shows us his face as Sulursquos gay partner reaffirms the traditional ideals of Utopianism propounded by the Federation The 1960s vision continues to ring true while postmodern interpersonal developments have been written in without much of a song and dance heralding it The gay leanings ascribed to Sulu John Cho are in fact germane to the liberal spirit and tone of the seriesTherersquos not much variation in theme and tone here Itrsquos a big budget action adventure existing within scifi frames and as such goes into destructive mode before righting the imbalance brought on by a revenge seeking Krall Idris Elba a fearsome alien eager to poach an lsquoancient death machinersquo artifact from under the captainrsquos nose But thatrsquos just a knuckle warmer Therersquos more intrigue and subterfuge to comeKrall does not believe that unity gives strength So his attack on Star ship Enterprise just when Kirk and Spock Zachary Quinto are in the midst of introspective crises and career shifts bears fruit Kirk is approaching a coming of age that will make him older than his father lived to be while Spock is compelled despite his feelings for Uhura Zoe Saldana to return to his people Both those concerns get dashed in the force of Krallrsquos vicious attack that leaves the Enterprise crew stranded without a vessel on the rocky desert terrain of Altamid an inhospitable planet surrounded by an unstable nebulaThe ensuing realignment also involves a suspicious alien Lydia Wilson Bones Karl Urban Scotty Simon Pegg and new entrant Jaylah Sofia Boutella a zebrafaced alien also stranded on the planet and living in an abandoned Federation shipWith the climactic sequence pumping up the action and destruction you are quite guaranteed a swell experience ndash especially since itrsquos quite bloodless and catering largely to boyish fantasies James Lin returned from helming the lsquoFast and Furiousrsquo series makes his entry into the scifi realm heartfelt His action is quite vigorous and entertaining and keeps you engrossed despite the science of it being a little suspect The ensemble cast also manage a smooth enough delivery towards a wholesome engagement