Star Trek Beyond

seen on 28 July 2016

The third of the 'new' or 'rebooted' Star Trek franchise is directed by Justin Lin and stars Chris Pine as Captain Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Doctor Spock and Karl Urban as 'Bones' McCoy, with Idris Elba as Krall, Simon Pegg as Scottie, Sofia Boutella as Jaylah, and the late Anton Yelchin as Chekov (he receives a dedication in the credits, alongside Leonard Nimoy).

It's all very predictable but nonetheless enjoyable (nb this is the verdict of a non-trekkie). The sets are lit as if artificially, with no sense of any moisture in the atmosphere, and sometimes the backgrounds look far too obviously matte-painted, reminiscent of classic SF paperback covers. One or two of the special effects betray computer simulation in a way that can only be regarded as slapdash considering what is possible these days. Possibly they would look more convincing in 3D, but then it is a technical demerit if the results cannot stand up to 2D viewing as well.

The story is typical action adventure stuff with the brave captain and crew put in grave danger and rescued by Kirk's almost unflappable calm (fiely portrayed by Chris Pine) and the ingenuity of his officers. Luckily the Federation is extraordinarily naive in assessing distress calls from unknown and unexplained ships approaching their R&R planetoid 'Yorktown', or else there would be no story at all, or at least no 'when did you first suspect ... ?' subplot.

The sparring between Spock and McCoy provides the best humour - the Scottishness and nervy panicking style of Scottie (who nevertheless always delivers the technical goods) becomes a bit wearing. Perhaps a stronger editorial hand on Simon Pegg, who was a scriptwriter as well as the actor playing the part, would have been in order. The earnest appeals to the best side of humanity - peace, united action covering individual weakness, devotion to duty, etc, etc, are par for the course, but the evil Krall attacks these ideals with rather clumsy viciousness which is not really vindicated by the denouement of his back story. However, real depth and real moral turpitude were hardly the strengths of the Trek universe, so perhaps this is not at all surprising. Much better to dazzle the enemy and the audience with virtuoso and dimension-shifting motorcycle daredevilry.