Spoilers STAR TREK BEYOND - Grading & Discussion

It's odd; I left this site because I was tired of all the negativity and found the subreddit much more positive. Now it seems to have reversed.

 

Wow, one bad review and the score goes from 7.5 to 7.2. 92% RT!

 

I gave it a B-. It's a much, much better movie than I expected after reading the early reviews, which sounded kind of reserved, and it's obvious that there was a strong theme somewhere in there at some point, with multiple characters echoing what's going on with Kirk, but it never really gets fully articulated. I didn't like it more than ST09 on the whole, but it did a much better job than both previous films developing real, compelling, grown-up character dynamics without just falling back on humour, throwbacks and excessive cuteness. A+ for that.

The main problem I have with Beyond is that it spends way too little time with Krall and his backstory and way too much with Jaylah, who is more or less a nails-on-chalkboard cartoon, written to be liked by children and not really to contribute anything interesting to the franchise. There was a moment in the mid-section where I wished we could see more of Lydia Wilson's character instead, who is at least more distinctly alien, because I really liked the storyline involving her, Kirk and Chekov -- it felt like the old Trek.

I hope there is an extended cut somewhere with a bunch of scenes with Idris Elba because, as far as mad captains go, even the flaming zombie in Sunshine got to state his case more clearly. The final scenes with Krall and Kirk were done brilliantly, but like Kirk's central dilemma, they felt more like an extended teaser than anything else.

Other stuff I liked:

Enterprise getting as many close-ups as any other character at the beginning.

The nods to Nimoy, TOS and Yelchin. The theatre was crammed and people were losing their $#it, especially after Kirk's toast.

Aliens from the opening scene and, generally, both the humour and the movie itself being more self-referential and self-contained than the previous two.

Those moving sets really were a great idea. Maybe it's partly because I saw it in 3D, but there were a bunch of scenes where I could really feel the gravity counteracting the characters' every move.

"Space, the final frontier" being all about the team.

The 3D (which was the only option for today) didn't look like $#it. (It was maybe a little dark, but other than one jumbled fight scene, the perspective mostly stayed intact.)

Stuff I could have lived without:

Jaylah. Sabotage. The swarm going down too easily.

 

It's also the oldest story in the book so to speak. I mean, just about every mythology has a revenge story as its focal point.

 

I skimmed through the review at Ex-Astris-Scientia. I had an impression that Bernd has issues with the Kelvin Timeline films. Nevertheless, he mentioned an interesting fact - a starship with the registry NCC-2893 was mentioned in a PA for Starbase Yorktown.

 

SPOILER.

I'm surprised to see him refer to the Ent-A as "the same design as the previous ship (perhaps with a few tweaks)." ...I found it to be quite noticeably different, and I'll wager he agrees when seeing it again.

 

I'm shocked he gave it an 8. Such a dour fellow.

RAMA

 

OK spill the beans.

________________________________________________________________

Ok I thought this was the Onion:

Star Trek Beyond: An unwatchable steaming pile of tribble dung

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/07/20/istar_trek_beyondi_an_unwatchable_steaming_pile_of_dung/

 

What kind of beans, specifically?

Oh, I forgot to mention how much I love that they brought back the subtitle typeface from TMP and WOK. Just updated the tiniest bit by having them "flicker" away rather than disapearring instantly.

And that review is utter garbage. I can see people being disappointed, but "incomprehensible and unwatchable"? Jeez.

 

Demonstrating why deranged haters should not review for the mainstream press.

The original Star Trek series and subsequent sequels stubbornly and persistently refused to frame their dramas in black-and-whites.​

Khan was a complete villain from the start, and most of the movies have villains.

"incomprehensible" -

"too slow" -

"the three reboot films seem to be more about retracing old grounds than exploring strange new worlds. So far we've had an origin story, Wrath of Khan 2.0, and now the train wreck of Beyond."

 

Alright, I just got back home from watching Beyond.

My grade: 6 out of 5 stars.

My Non Spoiler Review

This is speaking as someone who grew up on Star Trek and has watched TOS, TAS, TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT and every single god damned movie, this is the best of the best Star Trek movie that's been made.

I have always been in the group of fans that says Star Trek movies can be a summer blockbuster while still retaining it's uniqueness as Star Trek. And I am one of those who have been critical about Star Trek 09 and Into Darkness as being blockbusters without the soul of Star Trek .Well, Star Trek Beyond finally delivered on both. Not only is it a proper Star Trek movie, it's a terrific summer blockbuster too! Out of the movies I have seen this year, I would rank this one right at the top, even above Marvel's "Captain America - Civil War".

Finally, a Trek movie with an overarching theme "Strength in Unity and Diversity". Finally, a Trek movie where action set pieces actually serves a purpose and drives the plot forward. Finally, a Trek movie where everyone has a role to play. Finally, Chris Pine's Kirk and Zachary Quinto's Spock actually learns what it means to be Captain and First Officer of a Starship.

Spoilers Below!

Spoiler: ENT Spoilers

There are links to the Federation's past, where mentions of Captain Archer, the Xindi, MACO, Romulan War actually serves a purpose in the plot.

If you've watched Enterprise, you will understand where the villain Krall is coming from. I'm a little worried that audiences who don't know the Federation's past would just see Krall as a typical mustache stroking villain.

 

Just got back from a screening. A. I loved it. Fun for hardcore fans, and for newcomers alike

 

I’m sorry, I could and should have omitted the “for children” part.

I’m sticking by “cartoon,” though, because I felt that everything about her (orphan/ninja/survivalist/aspiring engineer/magic alien/resident badass) was just a contrivance designed to make her likable and, in their attempt to create a strong female character, they ended up with one who is neither distinctly female nor alien and, to me, feels completely out of place in Trek. I like to find my own rock star characters and not have them pushed on me so aggressively and, even though Boutella did bring some unexpected layers to her, the character, as written, strikes me as a convergence of affectations more than anything else. Between a captain and first officer who aren't all that invested in being there and a bad guy who doesn't get properly explored, I just can’t believe how safe they played it with her, and on how many fronts!

 

I have watched Enterprise and he still came across to me like a "typical mustache stroking villain". I still don't think his turn from good guy to totally bad guy was really plausible.

By the way do we still have to use spoiler tags in this thread? I haven't in previous posts here and I thought that was ok?

 

I'm just being cautious as Beyond does not start in the US for another day or two.

Spoiler: ENT, Krall

Krall wanted to bring humanity back to a time when it wasn't part of a Federation of Planets. So in many ways, I was reminded of the pro-human faction Terra Prime who wanted to build a human-only star empire.

 

Saw the movie three times yesterday in less than 20 hours in Sweden. First at the midnight premiere arranged by a local Star Trek club, then at a press screening in the morning and finally in the evening again with a friend.

The movie gets better and better with each time. I recommend everyone to see it at least twice. Definitely an A movie.

 

5 more reviews at RT. 93%

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_trek_beyond/