Spoilers STAR TREK BEYOND - Grading & Discussion

[Chief Medical Officer]

Let me distill down how I felt about Star Trek Beyond. It was a great movie. But it wasn't the best of Star Trek. The actionhilosophy quotient was way too high. The movie was so full of action scenes that it gave very little time for those special moments that made Star Trek what it is. True, there were some great scenes between the characters (especially McCoy and Spock), but they were few and far between. So I gave it a B. A+ as far as an enjoyable movie experience. C+ as far as faithful to Star Trek. This equates to a B. Hailing frequencies closed.

 

[daveanator]

even better the second time i saw it cant wait to see it again!!

 

[RapidoTrains]

It's probably too early to tell from the opening weekend. This summer has been pretty awful for movies at the box office so Beyond looks like a success for the studio, for sure. I also think good word-of-mouth is unlikely to affect the opening weekend a whole lot but will effect its longevity. We'll see how much it drops in the second week.

The problem is that a movie that gets a lot of casual viewers is not necessarily the movie that appeals to most fans.

If the studio learns from their extensive market research that audience reaction was "too much brain required - need more beating up and explosions - then will like more" then the next movie might revive what a lot of fans (myself included) didn't like about the first two reboot films.

Star Trek is trying to fill a very large target audience, from the cerebral fan who wants a profound reflection of our 21st century world in a 23rd century setting to the dingbats who just want to see people get smashed in space.

If it's too profound, you lose the dingbats. And they see a lot of movies and spend a lot of money. If it's "Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Star Trek" you piss off the fans looking for a great story with great acting.

I suspect that this movie - with some really great one-on-one dialogue scenes such as those between Jaylah and Scotty - will do worse at the box office. I hope I am wrong.

-Jason

 

[ConRefit79]

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/07/24/star-trek-beyond-weekend-box-office

 

[Hartzilla2007]

from the cerebral fan who wants a profound reflection of our 21st century world in a 23rd century setting to

aka TNG fans who apparently never watched TOS.

 

[LJones41]

If "STAR TREK BEYOND" is an example of how a Trek movie can be without J,J. Abrams directing, then I cannot wait to see Rian Johnson's take on Star Wars in Episode VIII. I only hope it will be as much of an improvement over "The Force Awakens" than this movie was from Abrams' two Trek films.

 

[HaventGotALife]

aka TNG fans who apparently never watched TOS.

I watched both, and do prefer Next Generation, however, that's not to say that "Star Trek" was about explosions and Kirk sleeping around. Race relations, very timely, in "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield," Kirk reflecting on who is, and Bones telling him "Don't destroy the one named Kirk." Musings about what we will be in 200 years during "City on the Edge of Forever," dealing with religion in "Return of the Archons," "Errand of Mercy," which brought in a third-party to the conflict with the Klingons, talks about peace. Talking about the future of warfare and the need for its brutality to avoid a conflict, in "Taste of Armageddon," "Amok Time," which deals with the friendship between Kirk and Spock, "A Private, Little War," which deals with the VIetnam conflict, "Day of the Dove," where conflict is settled by laughing at the creature, not firing phasers at it.

There is action in Star Trek, a lot more than Next Generation, but it wasn't thoughtless action. It commentated on war and peace, technology and religion, race relations, having a hopeful future, friendship, etc. They also managed to be competent at their jobs, they managed to treat it like a job, and they didn't have useless little bits that were just meant to be action. "Corbomite Manuever," perhaps my favorite episode, crystallizes the relationship with Kirk and Spock. It's a simple story, but manages to deal with the unknown. It's a tense situation, dealing with the fear that accompanies it, and is resolved in a very "Star Trek" way. I love the Original Series. It wasn't brainless. It wasn't just action--big explosions--and the stories, the way they were told, was very innovative. We have formulas now for how to treat action. This was experimental. We did sit down and talk to Khan, about what made men different today from yesteryear, and his motivations, before there was the battle in Engineering. I prefer Next Generation, but your comment was a little off the mark, from where I stand.

 

[Enterprise1701]

Did anyone else interpret that Krall's lieutenant and possibly more troopers were other surviving Franklin crewmembers?

 

[SAndrews10]

Just waiting for someone to go through ENTERPRISE and find some screen grabs of MACO's that could be Edison.

 

[BigJake]

Did anyone else interpret that Krall's lieutenant and possibly more troopers were other surviving Franklin crewmembers?

Spoiler: Crewmembers

There were three surviving Franklin crewmembers, Krall and his two friends. The troopers were drones built with the alien tech they found on the planet, to which Edison makes specific reference in his log entry.

 

[Gepard]

Did anyone else interpret that Krall's lieutenant and possibly more troopers were other surviving Franklin crewmembers?

I thought that seemed likely, though it also made things very confusing. If Edison's appearance altered based on what lifeforce he was absorbing, then who did he cannibalize in order to become a weird lizard-person? Because it's not the other lizard-people.

Just got back from the theater, and I'm very disappointed. Mixed feelings all around, but my overall impression is it sucked. Though I felt rather distracted during the movie due to a lot of personal crap going on lately which made it hard to stay focused at various points. So take this with a grain of salt, but... The story was undercooked yet moved too fast, I couldn't make out half of the action due to a dark image and confusing camera work, and Krall/Edison's motivation was so underdeveloped it made me mad. Far from a contemplation of Federation ideology, the movie gave was a few minutes of Idris Elba speechifying abut how bad unity is, then getting told "nuh-uh" by Kirk and being killed. Lame.

Maybe it's just because the nature of genuine personal growth and self-improvement has been on my mind a lot lately, but I felt Beyond really did a disservice to the idea.

More than that, the whole movie felt small. Not just location-wise – though that didn't help – but emotionally as well. Kirk's "arc" was a few scenes at the beginning and end but nothing in the middle to really bridge the gap between.

Still too much cannibalization from prior Trek movies:

–Enterprise destroyed and majority of the story taking place on a planet is from TSFS
–Kirk's birthday and questioning his career is yet more copying of TWOK
–Enterprise A is TVH

And as much bad shit as I've said about the JJ-helmed movies, there wasn't any single moment in Beyond that matched the power of

"If Spock were in my position, what would he do?
[beat]
[rack-focus on McCoy]
"He'd let you die."

I have plans to go see it again with friends in a few weeks time, so I'll see if I still feel the same way then. But for now, I'd rank the reboot movies as

Into Darkness
Beyond
Star Trek

 

[BillJ]

As for BillJ's point, I don't understand what you're saying. I never implied or said that Edison wasn't on the Enterprise. In fact, he'd have to be. So what exactly are you saying?

Been a long while since I watched the Xindi arc, but wasn't there a battle in the Sol System? When they sent their big ball o'doom.

 

[Maurice]

"Thanks for saving the world. Here's a used car."

You don't thank someone with anything used. I'm still thinking it's a script glitch.

A ship command is a prestigious position, and they are few and far between. In the real world Navy they are so sought after that virtually any mistake causes a captain to lose their command (the pilot scrapes the ship against the pier: captain go bye bye). There was no disrespect in getting a ship: and If Edison saw it as such then that's all on him not Starfleet.

 

[Desert Kris]

I watched the new movie yesterday and got a kick out of it. I haven't made up my mind about how highly I rate it or rank it (keep in mind that I didn't hate STiD, and think the first one is fine). I think I have to see it again, maybe a couple more times, before I know how I feel about it.

I think I had hoped that the Enterprise would last a little longer than it did, but in the end I was okay with it. I was surprised they took it down so early in the movie, but it works for what happens later.

I like the emphasis on a planet bound adventure. The destruction of the ship makes it easier to invest in discovering the mysteries of the planet, and surviving on it. Having a ship to go back to easily would have been a crutch. I would have liked this strange new world to have been more strange. I also would like to have had a little more emphasis on puzzling out the history of the planet's original civilization, even if it is to introduce more mysteries than answers. Having said that, I did like the sense that the planet has the sense of a very rich history.

I like how the story is about the crew/family being scattered, and working towards reunited while also multitasking how to deal with the antagonists that have marooned them. I would like to have learned a little more about the nature of the "bees" are they machine drones, or biomechanical, and so forth.

I still can't stand the song "Sabotage." However, it worked as a sentimental connection for Kirk. I liked the look on his face when they cued it up, and he approved it as a good choice. I hope, though, people don't get a weird impression and emphasize it too much, as if it's Captain Kirk's favorite song. The song was re-used to make that connection, but's it's a narrative short hand. It also works well enough no matter how anyone feels about the song: they killed the swarm with terrible music, or the killed it with the power of the song's awesomeness, it works both ways. Can't stand the song, but I approve of how it's use in the film in a fun way.

A really nice touch I haven't seen a lot of comment on, is how inclusive it is of the rest of the characters. I love how all the major characters share the "Space, the Final Frontier" intro speech. That felt like a very significant, important augmentation of a familiar tradition.

I like the new ship, as well, much better than the destroyed Enterprise.

 

[Romulan_spy]

A+

Visually stunning and great world building, in particular with the Yorktown Base. It was huge, a true marvel of engineering that shows how advanced the Federation is. It is something you would expect from a vast interstellar civilization. An the interior shots gave us some neat glimpses of what Federation life is like with people living on this moon size base, transporting at will, and using other cool tech. I feel like this movie, more than any of the recent reboots, really painted a fascinating picture of the Federation. It is a universe that I would love to live in.

Great character moment. I loved the scenes between McCoy and Kirk in the beginning when they are talking about Kirk's birthday and between McCoy and Spock on the planet. I also really liked the Jaylah character. She was tough and interesting, even funny, without being annoying.

Good themes. Yes the theme of teamwork but also the theme of identity and purpose. We have Spock questioning his purpose (should he return to New Vulcan or remain on the E?), Kirk's purpose (does he really belong in starfleet if he only joined because of his dad?) and of course, Krall's purpose (can a soldier who has only known war live in a peaceful Federation?) And the movie did an excellent job of developping each character's struggle with their question.

The movie was also fun and did a great job of melding character moments with actions.

I did find the ultimate resolution for defeating the Swarm a bit contrived. Playing Beastie Boys at a particular frequency was the Swarm's achilles' heel, really? That is right up there with defeating the aliens in Independance Day by uploading a virus from a Mac computer.

I am guessing that Krall's appearance was designed to be a visual allegory for his lost identity. He looks so different on the outside to symbolize that he has lost his identity on the inside. Clever but unfortunately, it did put the great Idris Alba under way too much prosthetics which hampered his performance. It also begs the question of how a human could be transformed into a jem hadar look alike. The movie just gives us a casual "alien tech did it" without much explanation.

I absolutely loved the picture of the original TOS crew. Great homage!

Overall, a visually stunning and super fun adventure with a lot of homages to past Star Trek.

 

[Enterprise1701]

Spoiler: Crewmembers

There were three surviving Franklin crewmembers, Krall and his two friends. The troopers were drones built with the alien tech they found on the planet, to which Edison makes specific reference in his log entry.

I thought Krall only had drone ships, not drone troopers.

I thought that seemed likely, though it also made things very confusing. If Edison's appearance altered based on what lifeforce he was absorbing, then who did he cannibalize in order to become a weird lizard-person? Because it's not the other lizard-people.

Somehow the planet Altamid kept attracting more visitors. Jaylah's family. The stranded scavengers who she scared away from Scotty. Nebula must be some scientific curiosity or economic opportunity.

 

[BigJake]

I thought Krall only had drone ships, not drone troopers.

Drones all the way down AFAICT.

 

[plynch]

Tired of fistfights between actors, with added sound effects as their fist CLANKRUNCH into each other. Why I never go to superhero movies.

I held out hope for this one based on early hints and comments during writing and production, which was my error. I honestly didn't know movies had to be like this to make enough money to justify themseleves. (I'm not a movie-goer.) I thought it was going to be exploratory or wonder-inducing. It was snarling monster bad-guy pissed at civilization again, ending in a (nicely-done) fistfight. I think I'm done with these. Maybe the CBS show will be good.

 

[Lord Garth FOI]

Won't rehash most of what has already been discussed
However,
As Balthazar (Garth of Izar rebooted) saw his more human reflection in the floating shards of glass a you saw that moment of recognition in his eye I really thought he would remember a piece of his lost humanity and help Kirk with the jammed airlock
Moment of redemption was a HUGE missed opportunity and one that ever TOS episode with captain gone mad, had. And of course a moralistic lecture from Kirk would have been terrific urging Edison on to help and to remember the man he was, to be that man again and make a difference.
Ending would have been less summer popcorn, more in line with Trek, and more poignant.
Edison (Izar) remembering his lost humanity and breaking down with Kirk in offering him a place in this new world a chance to regain his lost humanity and purpose would have been awesome.

 

[SalvorHardin]

I thought Krall only had drone ships, not drone troopers.

Edison said:

"The indigenous race abandoned this planet long ago. They left behind sophisticated mining equipment and a drone workforce"