Spoilers STAR TREK BEYOND - Grading & Discussion

[Malaika]

I wanted to give the movie a B+ but I clicked on the B
anyway I liked it better than stid (but I don't remember how I voted stid LOL) but the first movie is still my favorite and a better movie for me, overall.

Let me start saying that I liked star trek beyond and, really, with my low expectations it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and I want to praise Lin&Co for their work under the circumstances they found themselves into.
Is is a perfect movie? Can I agree with those who say it's the best of the 3? My personal answer is NO.
There is more action than in the previous movies, often dragging too long and a bit useless, and it often goes at the expense of character development. I wish we had a bit more quiet character moments/emotional moments beyond the spock/bones scenes or spock's scenes because I feel like they started/implied all these subplots at the beginning but didn't fully explore them all or resolve them. Some aspects feel left hanging (even kirk's conflict about his father) and I was disappointed a bit about the villain (and I kind of hoped he had a change of heart in the end and would sacrifice himself), even if I find him a way better villain than Khan from stid.
I loved the comic relief moments in the movie and I also loved, honestly, the use of the beastie boys lol^ (btw when Uhura translated Spock for Kirk everyone laughed in the cinema, and let's not even talk about the necklace thing.. that was priceless) some convenient macguffins (Keenser's flu anyone? lol) are really funny when you put it all together.
Maybe if the movie had been allowed to be a bit longer and if Lin&Co had more time and didn't have to cut things, maybe some things would have felt more balanced and developed better. Really, they had to make a movie in a small time and they are 'winners' in this situation for me.

In terms of dynamics, well, I often expressed in this board concerns about Pegg that ended up being founded to some degree. Not as bad as I thought, but still founded. I didn't like the fact that this movie essentially tried to pander to tos purists with nostalgia who don't like new things and wanted the old trio back and some of the more conservative aspects of tos restored. By doing so they had to go backwards and basically undone the Kirk/Uhura/Spock dynamic of the first movies that was unique and new to the reboot and made it a tad more modern and less conservative (which is ironic with all their talks about inclusiveness and making a modern reboot). This was disappointing for me because I liked the dynamics unique to the reboot and I feel like the potential of the first movie continues to get wasted. I think you can homage the original trio (and tos!) without having to necessarily ignore or sideline the new dynamics and keep the girl away from the leads to give more screentime to the secondary male characters, and/or prioritize male bonding over the woman and the relationships that include her. While Uhura's role ends up being more pivotal than that of Scotty or Mccoy (some critics are really sexist with their claims that she does nothing or is a weak character. wtf??), and while the Spock/Uhura relationship is, all things considered, still well done and touching for me and one of my favorite aspects of the kelvin timeline (and its differences with tos) - and I disagree with the person from the spoiler thread who said that it's less important or played down compared to Kirk/Bones or Kirk/Spock (I don't think so. They barely interact but it's always there as something clearly important for Spock and treated with respect. I only wish we got some of Uhura's pov too ) - , I can't ignore that Pegg gave more screentime with the leads to Mccoy and his own character at the expense of Uhura and her dynamics, and basically everything the previous team created.
Editing could have been better, I wish we saw more moments between Sulu and Uhura or it was more balanced compared to the amount of screentime you see the boys. They felt like 'pair the spares'.

The interesting thing is when Pegg defended their choice to make Sulu gay, he used the reboot being an alternate reality as an explanation of the fact that everything is different now and doesn't have to be like tos. Perfect. But that really was the first time he (or Lin for that matter) really acknowledged this point, LOL. All their interviews while promoting this movie had been about TOS and honor tos, and in terms of dynamics and character hierarchy they really didn't seem to care about the differences and 'new' things of the alternate reality and they, instead, insisted some things had to be like tos (e.g. the old trio, mccoy and spock's roles in terms of kirk, etc).

The Spock/McCoy dynamic was kinda overinflated by promotion but in reality, while it's maybe the dynamic that has the most development, it really didn't get all the moments I expected them to have nor it was developed like I imagined. It was nice but not this huge thing some people made it seems it was. For instance, I feel like in the end McCoy essentially plays the role of 'friend' and the one who listens to Kirk (at the beginning) and Spock(in the middle) problems, but I learn nothing new or personal about him as a person. HE gets to see Spock from a different perspective and understand him better, but the same isn't completely valid for Spock because McCoy doesn't share that much of himself with him. There is a sense of development between them, but I also feel like that for the most part it's all about the context they found themselves into and Spock's emotional state putting him in a situation where he maybe would share those things with anyone and not Mccoy because he's McCoy.

The way they pay homage to Nimoy was intelligent and tasteful. I get how they used it as a pretext to make Spock (the one of this reality) move on after what happened to him in the first movie. In those scenes I felt they were as much, if maybe more, about Quinto's loss and mourning Nimoy (who was a father figure to him) as they are about the loss of Spock Prime.
It was touching and effective. I also want to praise them for that little touch of putting a picture of the whole crew inside Spock prime's box and thus them implying that they all meant a lot to him. I remember how in the first movie Orci&Co originally wanted to have a Shatner's cameo that consisted in Spock prime giving to young Spock a recorded message Spock prime had of his friend. While it was 'cute' it also came across a bit as if Spock Prime was all about Kirk only, while in this movie they give more closure to the fact that, after all, the whole enterprise truly became his family and they all were dear to him. And they all might be people dear to this Spock too.

lastly, I like Jaylah. She ended up being a different kind of character than the impression, honestly, promotion gave me of her. She's not just the badass lady and among the new characters she's the one I prefer. Both she and Uhura came out of this movie as good female roles that might not be particularly new or unique sure, but maybe some other franchises of similar genre could use as examples.
Krall is a convincing villain, not the best or my favorite but not bad (Nero is still my favorite. Sorry Krall) His motives might not be too clear at first watch (and maybe never will. lol But personally I think he was sick/ became insane, maybe too simplistic but it might explain some things), and I'm a bit disappointed that he wasn't really another alien species. But I kind of like the, maybe accidental, metaphor about the fact that the more he killed people to live longer, the more he lost his humanity and the person he used to be got destroyed with his actions. Not the most original concept but still good.

 

[BillJ]

There is more action than in the previous movies...

It is interesting how different people perceive the same things. For me, it seemed like there is far less action than in the prior two movies (I could definitely be wrong). It would be interesting for someone to define what constitutes an "action scene" (so all three movies are held to the same standard), then time out the amount of action.

 

[Mojochi]

Finally got out to see it this week. It's pretty okie dokie. I'm not a huge fan of this series, but I don't mind them, & enjoy myself during the movie. I particularly enjoyed myself this time more than the last 2. I'd rank those in the C range. This one , I gave a B+. It might have done better by me, but the story was a little too shake & bake. Not much there really, except being a vehicle to get our crew underway.

The cast really sells the picture this time, & the screenplay. I think it was wise to balance the cast dynamic a bit more, in lieu of the love story being a focal point. It just made things less clunky, & more enjoyable. That was my biggest gripe about the others. I was relieved to see we got away from that. I still have my issues, as a life long fan, but objectively, I don't see any reason to actively dislike this movie

 

[Ovation]

It is interesting how different people perceive the same things. For me, it seemed like there is far less action than in the prior two movies (I could definitely be wrong). It would be interesting for someone to define what constitutes an "action scene" (so all three movies are held to the same standard), then time out the amount of action.

Having re-watched the other two over the past couple of days, I would rate them all as equally "action-packed", at least. The pacing of the films is different, which might account for the impressions varying so much.

 

[Kpnuts]

Star Trek 09

• Kelvin encounters Narada
• Enterprise v Narada
• Drilling platform
• Kirk v snow monster(s)
  
• Kirk and Spock rescue Pike
  
• Jellyfish/Enterprise/Narada space battle
  
• Enterprise escaping black hole

Star Trek Into Darkness

• Nibiru mission
• Starfleet briefing attack
• Kronos chase
• Kronos battle
  
• Vengeance v Enterprise
• Space jump
• Enterprise falling to Earth
  
• Vengeance crash
• Spock v Khan

Star Trek Beyond

• Enterprise torn apart
• Saucer thruster sequence
• Raid on Krall's camp
• Franklin take-off
  
• Swarm attack
• Yorktown chase
• Kirk v Krall

I would say Into Darkness probably had more action setpieces, but Beyond's were perhaps more exciting

 

[Malaika]

It is interesting how different people perceive the same things. For me, it seemed like there is far less action than in the prior two movies (I could definitely be wrong). It would be interesting for someone to define what constitutes an "action scene" (so all three movies are held to the same standard), then time out the amount of action.

even the actors themselves noted that this movie has more action than before. and like @Ovation noted, pacing can make a difference.

For me, I felt like there are less quiet character moments and everything goes fast as if Lin wants to abruptly get to the next point (this might be due to editing) and then the other and then the other. It's a movie I feel like I need to rewatch more than once to truly get some things.

I would say Into Darkness probably had more action setpieces, but Beyond's were perhaps more exciting

I think it isn't only a matter of quantity but how long those scenes are too. For me the destruction of the enterprise seemed to never end, same for the other action scenes

 

[M'Sharak]

Everything gives you cancer.

Besides, I'm not 100% sure the YouTube commenter in question has the qualifications needed to analyse the cancerous effects of fictional materials.

YouTube comments generally should be viewed with a certain degree of skepticism, I find, and many of them with outright suspicion.

I wanted to give the movie a B+ but I clicked on the B
anyway I liked it better than stid (but I don't remember how I voted stid LOL) ...

You gave it a B.

 

[Jedi_Master]

It is interesting how different people perceive the same things. For me, it seemed like there is far less action than in the prior two movies (I could definitely be wrong). It would be interesting for someone to define what constitutes an "action scene" (so all three movies are held to the same standard), then time out the amount of action.

The fact that the action was sandwiched between a long contemplative post teaser intro and a shorter contemplative epilogue made the action seem more compact and the film more balanced.

 

[Relayer1]

It's pretty okie dokie. I'm not a huge fan of this series, but I don't mind them, & enjoy myself during the movie.

The cast really sells the picture this time

I feel similarly, but 'I don't mind them, & enjoy myself during the movie' is somewhat damning. I came out of 2009 thinking 'that was fun' and then on the way out, I started wondering 'Hang on, that didn't make sense, and what about...'. There's something wrong when a film relies on you being carried along and not noticing what's wrong with it.

And I don't like the cast much apart from Quinto and Urban. Pine's repeatedly been underwhelming, although he showed signs of growing into the role this time. I just think that the cast was largely, er, miscast.

 

[Aldo]

I think I would have liked some more character moments too, but what we got was so much fun, I think I can forgive it.

My favorite sequence was certainly the Enterprise being taken down by the bees, it was definitely something we never saw before in Trek and it was a really tense moment (even though it was all over the trailers). I also disagree that Kirk and Spock's dilemma's were never followed up on. Sure they didn't spell it out for us, but Spock realized his duty was to his crew and Kirk saw from Krall that he had to change in order to be able to move on. I thought both arcs were handled wonderfully, but I suppose your mileage may vary.

 

[BillJ]

...but 'I don't mind them, & enjoy myself during the movie' is somewhat damning.

"I enjoyed myself for two hours, but it doesn't hold up under a microscope." The whole point of going to a movie is to be entertained for a couple of hours. I haven't seen too many films that hold up under the intense scrutiny we give Trek films.

 

[Desert Kris]

The fact that the action was sandwiched between a long contemplative post teaser intro and a shorter contemplative epilogue made the action seem more compact and the film more balanced.

I almost, but didn't quite understand that. Can you re-word or re-phrase what you're saying, or be specific about where you are classifying events within the story's structure? I would like to understand better.

 

[BillJ]

One of my favorite episodes of the original Star Trek is “The Naked Time”. I absolutely love this episode.
But it doesn’t hold up to any kind of scrutiny, like most of Star Trek. Regardless of individual series.

We are supposed to believe that a trained officer would beam down to a situation where everyone is dead and someone shut off the life support, would take off his glove, itch his nose and then place his hand on a possibly contaminated surface?

We’re supposed to believe that while in a tight orbit, that the helmsman would be able to sneak off of the bridge with no one noticing?

We’re supposed to believe that there is only one entrance in or out of engineering?

We’re supposed to believe that both the engineer and his assistant (and that they were the only ones in engineering) would abandon their posts during said tight orbit to go to the bridge? Why not simply call up to the bridge?

Star Trek has never held up under the type of scrutiny some fans place on the Abrams films.

 

[urbandefault]

Nitpick: I thought it was weird that Kirk was already being offered a promotion

I don't think he was offered a promotion.

He applied for a job, and the promotion would come with it. Given his track record, a jump in rank was not without precedent.

 

[urbandefault]

skepticism

Thank you for using the traditional American spelling. Alternative spelling makes me double back and re-read.

 

[Vger23]

I watched it a second time today, this time with my 4 1/2 year old son (who loved it in his own way).

I enjoyed it the first time, but I liked it even more this time. It was easier to follow, probably because I didn't sit as close. It still had the nostalgic and emotional punch, and I still laughed and got misty-eyed at the appropriate moments.

It was definitely worth throwing more money at to see again.

 

[Vger23]

Worst Trek movie ever imho.

 

[Makarov]

It is interesting how different people perceive the same things. For me, it seemed like there is far less action than in the prior two movies (I could definitely be wrong). It would be interesting for someone to define what constitutes an "action scene" (so all three movies are held to the same standard), then time out the amount of action.

To me it feels that way because all the important moments in this movie are action oriented so the movie feels like one long action situation. All I can really remember to the contrary are the sandwich opening & ending, the Jaylah backstory & villain info dumps, maybe one brief scene where they plan the breakout. The first two movies broke up the action more with other important moments of command decisions or character moments. In Into Darkness and to a lesser degree Trek 09, the action served the story and this time the story served the action.

 

[Smellmet]

I really want to watch it again at the cinema, I don't want to wait for the blu ray. That fact alone means I enjoyed it and the film has done it's job.

 

[MakeshiftPython]

There certainly was less action spectacle than the first two. All I recall was the attack on the Enterprise, that skirmish on the saucer, the rescue of the crew and finall

I don't think he was offered a promotion.

He applied for a job, and the promotion would come with it. Given his track record, a jump in rank was not without precedent.

My point was that he hasn't finished his five year mission and a promotion to Vice Admiral is already in the cards. TOS Kirk only got it when he finished his.