Spoilers STAR TREK BEYOND - Grading & Discussion

[M-Red]

Beyond also possesses the widest variety of alien life in any Trek film or series I can remember.

Yorktown is a fully integrated multi-species society. The first scenes of ordinary life were great, with people going about their everydayness together. The scene where the alien steps into the transporter and presumably beams away to some other place within Yorktown...excellent stuff. Futuristic realism that reall worked.

And I like how the non-humans were distinctly alien and not just ridged-foreheads. A lot of creativity and make-up work to demonstrate a wide variety of species. A huge plus for Beyond.

 

[HaventGotALife]

Beyond also possesses the widest variety of alien life in any Trek film or series I can remember.

Yorktown is a fully integrated multi-species society. The first scenes of ordinary life were great, with people going about their everydayness together. The scene where the alien steps into the transporter and presumably beams away to some other place within Yorktown...excellent stuff. Futuristic realism that reall worked.

And I like how the non-humans were distinctly alien and not just ridged-foreheads. A lot of creativity and make-up work to demonstrate a wide variety of species. A huge plus for Beyond.

Nice that they called it "Yorktown," too, Gene's original name for the "Enterprise."

 

[Makarov]

I think the villain had a fine motivation but the problem is they don't do anything interesting with it. He barely says anything in the first half of the movie and it seems they were just saving him for the twist (which was very obvious before the reveal). His origin barely plays a role and could easily have been left out. At that point the movie is almost over and there is nothing left for him and Kirk to do except beat each other up. Idris Elba can do so much more than what they let him do in this movie.

That's disappointing compared to Khan who had a ton of great dialogue, and compared to Nero as well.

 

[Oso Blanco]

And I like how the non-humans were distinctly alien and not just ridged-foreheads.

That's actually a part that I didn't like that much ... those aliens looked too much like Star Wars for my taste. I prefer the classic forehead aliens in Star Trek.

Another thing is that those aliens were there just for the sake of looking cool and alien ... we'll never know from what planet they are from, and we will never see any of them again. Rather pointless in my opinion.

 

[M-Red]

That's actually a part that I didn't like that much ... those aliens looked to much like Star Wars for my taste. I prefer the classic forehead aliens in Star Trek.

Another thing is that those aliens were there just for the sake of looking cool and alien ... we'll never know from what planet they are from, and we will never see any of them again. Rather pointless in my opinion.

Well, YMMV.

I quite liked it, and I was even thinking this morning how I appreciated that all of those details were not explained or detailed. It was a depiction of Federation society portrayed purely through visuals. The details didn't matter. The broader point is expressed nicely, and it really worked for me.

 

[CaptainDonovin]

Is it bad that I found it slightly humorous that the announcement of Ambassador Spock's death said 2230-2263 suggesting he was only 33 years old? Of course I understand that 2230-2385-2258-2263 would look weird and confusing as fuck...

It was odd but like u said, to a non Vulcan the 2230-2385 (which should be 2387)-2258-2263 would make eyeballs pop out.

 

[Malformed]

I kind of did, too. And I'm not sure why, either. Maybe the story was too heavy for the light touch the movie seemed to have? Maybe there wasn't enough sense of peril? Things happened too easily for our heroes? Too conveniently? Too linearly? Will have to see it again and sort through some of this.

Please come back and share your thoughts, as will I.

 

[Harvey]

I liked it. Anyone notice where Cupcake was in this one? I didn't notice. Guess I'll have to see it again!

 

[Franklin]

So I watched it a second time last night. Appreciated noticing some new little details (including the green hand in the credits) and I still love the movie.

I found Krall's motivation not 100% convincing the first time around but after thinking about it some more it really worked for me this time.

The whole "warrior who doesn't know how to live in peace"-thing obviously works already anyway. The only way he knew for species to interact was through conflict and violence. But then there's also the fact that he chose conflict and violence as a means to extend his life span, too. He decided to use a technology that let him consume other species and integrate them into his own body. But since the way he chose was violent it just resulted in more conflict.

The Federation in general and the Enterprise crew in particular are the exact opposite to that. Peace, cooperation and teamwork.

Since the movie was about the teamwork of the crew and people needing each other I thought that Krall was the perfect villain.
Based on the things he learned in the military he could only think of violent ways to deal with other species (war, conflict, the technology he found to consume people).
The Enterprise crew on the other hand stands together, leaves nobody behind and even welcomes new people like Jaylah.

That makes sense. It's hard to compare how things are handled in TV shows to movies limited to two hours, but I just thought the "warrior living in, or adjusting to, peace" thing in Trek was better and more realistically done in DS9 with O'Brien and his former captain (the name of the episode escapes me). Considering that just three years earlier Kirk had to deal with Section 31 and war-mongering Admiral Marcus, I also wonder just how far some in the Federation/Starfleet had come in adjusting to a role of peace and diplomacy.

Krall was TWOK Khan. Deserted on a not entirely hospitable planet, forgotten and fending for himself, with a lot of time to stew about it, he slowly grows crazy and wants to seek vengeance against the world that left him behind and the system that's made him expendable. Except for Krall, it isn't about one person, it's about the entire system. Another guy who just wants to see worlds burn.

 

[Pauln6]

I enjoyed the movie. They did put more effort into the team dynamic, which made it feel less like the Kirk and Spock show. Even to the point where they call for help that either works or doesn't due to some simple plot points. Simple tweaks like this would have made the first two far more palatable.

Pine was great again but I felt that Quinto was lacking a bit of self control - we can pass that off as Spock's injury so it's all good. Jaylah was indeed a great character. She had a great combination of action heroine, improvisor, and vulnerability. I'd be happy if she came back in the next movie but I still want Chapel and Rand to get their chance too dammit! Actually, a lot of how the Jaylah character comes across is how I always felt Saavik should have been handled post-Alley.

Pegg put in some clever nods to the fans. Incorporating Spock's death into the plot made it a very fitting tribute to the 50th anniversary and the toast at the end was very, very poignant give what was to come. I did tear up during the credits I confess.

The limitations on the Franklin were a fun way of Pegg saying yes, modern spaceships can be built on Earth and still fly into space :-P
I am such a fuddy duddy though because a part of me would rather see the crew on a clunky old ship with limited transporters - must be the Firefly fan in me or possibly Blakes 7 (actually the Liberator was state of the art, it was the special effects that were clunky)? I'm not sure I like the pulse effect of the phasers though.

The cast was far more balanced in terms of gender than the previous efforts. It was a nice touch to see Uhura take the wind out of Spock's sails by rescuing herself. A proper female villain for once. A female commodore.

I would have liked to see more familiar alien races in the crew (Andorians please!). The only one I spotted was another female Orion, which I actually find more annoying, since they are not even part of the Federation. However, since she has appeared in the comics, I am happy to tell myself this is Gaila being played by a different actress ;-P

The alien device plot was a bit non-sensical but I can forgive it because it's less daft than red matter and augments in torpedoes. It's the least worst of the plot devices to date. I even saw some female redshirts in one scene, although when they were stunned, it was a row of guys, so almost but not quite! Scotty also needs a woman in engineering.

Overall, great fun.

 

[Oso Blanco]

The cast was far more balanced in terms of gender than the previous efforts. It was a nice touch to see Uhura take the wind out of Spock's sails by rescuing herself. A proper female villain for once. A female commodore.

I am so tired of such sexist comments ... who cares if the Commodore was male or female? If it makes you feel any better, we've had lots of female Admirals in Star Trek already!

 

[{ Emilia }]

I am so tired of such sexist comments ... who cares if the Commodore was male or female? If it makes you feel any better, we've had lots of female Admirals in Star Trek already!

How is welcoming a better gender balance "sexist"?

I was so happy to see a better gender balance, too, because the Star Trek cast is so overwhelmingly male that it's pretty damn ridiculous these days. I'm glad they noticed that and have at least made a tiny bit less stupid.
I know I'll be kinda stunned if the new TV series has a majority-male cast YET AGAIN (you know, like every ST series before it).

<3 Beyond. Yay for equality and diversity in representation.

 

[Oso Blanco]

How is welcoming a better gender balance "sexist"?

Because it shouldn't matter. The crew could be all male or all female for whatever reasons, I wouldn't care. I just find it annoying that people have nothing better to do than counting how many males and females are in a movie ... seems pretty sexist to me!

 

[BigJake]

I just find it annoying that people have nothing better to do than counting how many males and females are in a movie ... seems pretty sexist to me!

Oh, get off it. If it bothers you that seeing diverse casting in a movie made someone else happy, it's not them who's the sexist. Please don't play these stupid games.

 

[{ Emilia }]

Because it shouldn't matter. The crew could be all male or all female for whatever reasons, I wouldn't care. I just find it annoying that people have nothing better to do than counting how many males and females are in a movie ... seems pretty sexist to me!

Asking for equality and fair representation isn't sexism. As part of a group who's very underrepresented in movies and TV, I disagree with you. Your privilege is showing.

Now back to the movie I guess.

Do we know anything about Kalara? Was she part of Krall's original crew? I assume Manas was?

 

[Makarov]

Shohreh aghdashloo is fantastic in the Expanse and perfect for any type of star trek role so it was great to see her in this movie although I wish the role was even larger. I had hoped she might be the captain for the new TV series. But yeah TNG/VOY already had great female characters as well.

 

[HaventGotALife]

How is welcoming a better gender balance "sexist"?

I was so happy to see a better gender balance, too, because the Star Trek cast is so overwhelmingly male that it's pretty damn ridiculous these days. I'm glad they noticed that and have at least made a tiny bit less stupid.
I know I'll be kinda stunned if the new TV series has a majority-male cast YET AGAIN (you know, like every ST series before it).

<3 Beyond. Yay for equality and diversity in representation.

I was happy with how they treated the female characters--they weren't over-emotional, they weren't damsels to the rescued, they showed courage and competency in fight scenes--then the amount of them available to see on-screen. On a broader note, we are not living in the Star Trek universe. I am tired of hearing, from groups that have oppressed, that they are oppressed because someone else has a seat at the table, a voice, and applauds efforts at equality. They aren't racist, they aren't sexist, your religious freedom is not being trampled on, your country is not going to hell in a hand basket because someone who is marginalized, somehow has the temerity to stand up to you. Stop it. We aren't living in the Federation Utopia quite yet. You are not oppressed--you are the establishment losing power that you never should've had in the first place.

End of rant.

 

[{ Emilia }]

^ You're my favorite person today.

 

[Oso Blanco]

Oh, get off it. If it bothers you that seeing diverse casting in a movie made someone else happy, it's not them who's the sexist.

That's not what was saying at all ... I suggest you read my post again.

Asking for equality and fair representation isn't sexism. As part of a group who's very underrepresented in movies and TV, I disagree with you.?

There will always be some group somewhere that feels underrepresented in movies and tv ... that's life! I just think it's kind of strange that people pay that much attention to things like gender or skin color. We are all human beings, after all!

 

[BigJake]

Do we know anything about Kalara? Was she part of Krall's original crew? I assume Manas was?

Spoiler: Three

I assumed that Krall, Manas and Kalara were the three survivors from the original Franklin expedition.

Heh. The Franklin expedition. That ship is named after a real-life doomed polar expedition. I just caught that.