When done well enough, the action and adventure seen in movies can sometimes be worth buying a ticket on its own. Not only can they satisfy the audience, these elements can also hide some of the issues that a movie might have. That’s kind of what happens with Star Trek Beyond. While it isn’t the greatest of action movies, it’s certainly the kind of movie that very few will regret watching.
Led by Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise find themselves in grave danger as they stare down Krall (Idris Elba), a new enemy with a sordid past. One of their main goals is to survive, but they may also be forced to prevent the destruction of what they love by the hands of this menacing foe with a world shattering agenda.
This is a solid action movie with some of the kind of science fiction aspects people may expect. It’s not memorable or fantastic in any way, but it’s a nice piece of cinema that works well enough for audiences to enjoy. To some, this may actually be the type of summer movie that people would be wise to invest their time in if they’re looking for harmless entertainment at the theater.
One of the only issues that I have with Star Trek Beyond are some of the scenes that aren’t built on or around the action. It’s here when the movie slows down as you’ll be asked to sit through what is essentially filler that only serves to artificially lengthen the run time. These types of non-action scenes aren’t always bad or a complete waste here. That’s mainly due to the witty lines of dialogue we sometimes get.
It’s also unfortunate that Idris Elba as Krall is underused quite a bit here. While he is the lead antagonist, he’s way down on the pecking order when it comes to the characters being featured in the movie. Even the start and conclusion of his part of the story is quicker than they should have been. You want to begin his arc earlier and make him seem at least a little more threatening. Doing so makes things more interesting and raises the stakes. It also gives the audience an actual story to follow.
The main story is thin, but it’s not completely necessary when you look at the structure of the movie. In Star Trek Beyond, we spend much of our time following our heroes trying to get a handle on dire situations and regrouping from some dangerous scenarios presented by the villains. This goes on for a decent amount of time, but it’s never boring and rarely ever feels empty. The only time those feelings may creep in is when we’re left with those filler scenes that I spoke of not too long ago.
What aids Star Trek Beyond and prevents it from being just another big budget action film is that it’s kind of a couple of buddy movie’s wrapped into one. Multiple characters form these small teams of two to three people who journey into their own mini-adventures. This gives the movie more variety and more to do as these guys venture into the unknown.
With both its humor and action, Star Trek Beyond provides what’s needed for it to be absorbing and delightful. I can’t understand why Paramount didn’t want to show this to press originally. It has a bunch of things that will surely give people some great value. As a matter of fact, I’d say that this is one of the better movies that we’re probably going to see during the summer of 2016.
Rating: PG-13
Director: Justin Lin
Cast:
Chris Pine
Simon Pegg
John Cho
Zachary Quinto
Zoe Saldana
Karl Urban
Anton Yelchin
Idris Elba
Film Length: 122 minutes
Release Date: July 22, 2016
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
