Star Trek Beyond is the third film in the current avatar of the iconic franchise. The Trek world is seeing changes. Captain James T Kirk (Chris Pine) is looking for a promotion; Spock (Zachary Quinto) and Nyota Uhura (Zoe Saldana) are on the verge of breaking up. But they have to keep their personal issues aside when duty calls. After answering a distress call and saving an alien ship commander – Kalara (Lydia Wilson), the Federation decides to send the Enterprise to save the others who are captive. And that is when they face the enemy Krall (Idris Elba).
The script of this Star Trek film is standard adventure fare. There is betrayal, love, bravado, that twist nobody saw coming, the good guys using brains to defeat the evil intentions of the bad guys – all of it. In that respect, Star Trek Beyond has a very subtle emotional quotient. Which is not a bad thing, because the original series was high on science and action with a little bit of emotion mixed in.
The actions employed by the crew to defeat the enemies are literally science lessons, which only add to the ‘ooh’ factor.
Without the emotional heft, the actors have little scope to show off their acting prowess, making this an entertaining, albeit light watch. But that doesn’t mean anyone does a bad job here. Those bromance scenes between Spock and Karl Urban’s Leonard McCoy are chuckle-worthy. Simon Pegg as Montgomery Scott is in crackling form and Saldana’s Uhura kicks some butt. Chris Pine as the boy who grew up to be commander is endearing.
The visual effects are top of the line. The audience is bound to feel a connect with all those planets that end up being destroyed. Director Justin Lin is enjoying his graduation from smashing cars to smashing spaceships.
The screenplay is a bit on the boring side though and the twist comes too late in the film to make the audience wonder about its repercussions on the storyline.
Star Trek Beyond is one of those rare third parts of a franchise that is undeniably fun. This one is a smart, cool film. Catch it in the theatres.
Image Source: facebook/OfficialStarTrekMovie