Review of Star Trek Beyond (2016) by Kriss T — 27 Nov 2016

This new incarnation of the Star Trek franchise has brought the series into the 21st Century and has done it very well indeed. The first film in 2009 was one of the year's best pictures and Benedict Cumberbatch was a breath if fresh air in the not as good sequel Into Darkness.

With Beyond we perhaps have the weakest entry in the new trilogy but that isn't to say it isn't still a decent film. It brings back all the old characters and teams them with the member of the crew they haven't quite spent a lot of screen time with.

The film does this well and despite spending a lot of time apart, the crew still fizzle when they get their moments together. Idris Elba is the next actor in the line of villains and he plays Krall well beneath the heavy prosthetics.

The only downside with this character is that his pan is rather bleak and contrived. Justin Lin directs well but it does miss the Abrams blueprint. Simon Pegg and Doug Jung bring a decent enough script to the table but some of the dialogue could have been sharpened or even delivered better.

This isn't as dark as the previous entries but it is a solid addition. Let's just see if these actors continue on the Enterprise's adventures or if this trilogy is enough. As long as the filmmakers don't make a film weaker than this one then all should be ok.

Enjoyable if not the greatest Enterprise outing.