STAR TREK: BEYOND

“This is where it begins, Captain. This is where the Frontier pushes back!”

It’s pretty much a fact that the 2009 soft reboot of Star Trek, and it’s sequel, Into Darkness, were both huge successes, both commercially and critically. J.J. Abrams made Star Trek cool. However, because he was busy with The Force Awakens, it’s up to Justin Lin to continue that trend with Star Trek: Beyond.

Written by Scotty himself, Simon Pegg, Star Trek: Beyond sees the continuation of the Enterprise’s five year mission, as it delves into deep space and comes under attack from the villainous Krall, played by Idris Elba. Downed on an unknown planet without a ship, the crew of the Enterprise must fight to survive. Compared to the other two films in the new series, Beyond has a surprisingly simple, yet effective plot. It’s essentially a survival and rescue film, filled with Star Trek-y goodness. There’s no time-altering black holes or that sort of thing, it’s just simple story telling, and it works well.

Whilst Krall might not be the fiercest or most deadly opponent faced by the crew of the Enterprise over the years, Elba does a good job in carrying over the emotion behind him, especially in the final act of the film.

Krall could be under-developed when compared to other villains, but his presence in the film never wavers from where it should be. He doesn’t have un-needed scenes, nor is he over-looked to give the heroes more screen time. Plus, his character's twist adds another layer of emotion to him,

Beyond’s other new addition to the crew comes in the form of Jaylah, a badass alien who fights on the side of Kirk and his crew, played by Kingsman’s Sofia Boutella. While she may have been different to how I initially expected her to be, Beyond does a new job in setting up a new character for the series, without having anything to base her on.

Boutella brings both wit and emotion to the role, and I’m glad her part played out differently to how I thought it would, it played out better. Whereas I was expecting some un-stoppable badass, Jaylah has clear emotional weaknesses, and those help ground the character. However, the similarities between her and Rey from The Force Awakens are questionable, given her home, choice of weapon and general role before the plot gets into full swing. But that's not the point...

As for the rest of the crew, they've pretty much mastered their roles by now, but it's Karl Urban's Bones and Zachary Quinto's Spock that win the round this time. The scenes shared by these two, whether action sequences or smaller moments, never disappoint. Chris Pine's Kirk has changed from the last two films, and you can see him learning from past mistakes. He's not as head-strong as he once was, but there's still leadership and humour there.

Actually, there was one other change to the crew. Beyond sees the revelation that Mr Sulu is gay. Whilst it's not a huge moment in the film, it does have an important message. The Original Series was a metaphor for equality. This is Beyond's way of continuing that message, and it helps add more diversity to the story.

Perhaps it’s due most to the change in director, but you’ll notice this movie has a very different feel to the other two in the new series. One noticeable up side of this is the now lack of lens-flares. Beyond is definitely easier on the eyes than the other two films, however there are shots in the film that do make it difficult to tell what’s going on, and could do with a zoom-out. Don’t get me wrong though, the CGI, as ever, is very, very good, whether it's the shots of Yorktown, the destruction of the Enterprise or this shot right here...

Warp just got a lot cooler...

Despite the fact his background features a more Fast & Furious theme, Justin Lin appears to have no problem changing course. Yes, the film feels very different when you’re watching it, but it’s not a bad different. It’s getting someone else’s perspective on the same characters. And like the other films in the series, Beyond is by no means short of jokes when it needs them, nor smaller, more emotional moments, that really do help the film thrive.

I’d have to say Beyond’s biggest weakness comes in the form of a single scene towards the end of the film, where style seems to completely take over from substance. While playing Sabotage at the highest possible volume in the cinema is good fun, story-wise, perhaps there were more sci-fi-ish ways to go about doing things.

Is Beyond Star Trek at it’s best? No, probably not, but it's close. Make no mistake, Star Trek has had far worse done to it over the years, and Beyond is a great 50th anniversary present to the series. It has simple, effective storytelling, a well-played villain and good action sequences to carry the plot to the end. The plot itself never runs too slow, and while it may not be the saga’s greatest offering, it’s thoroughly enjoyable, far more original than Into Darkness, and features lots of nods to the Star Trek of old, which is something the new films are consistently good at: Appreciating the influence of the source material while evolving the new material along it’s own path, leading it’s stories and characters where no Star Trek has gone before…

“We will find hope in the impossible.”