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The Star Trek Franchise

I grew up with Star Trek – The Next Generation and I am loving the new reboot of the movie franchise. The title of the latest release is ‘Star Trek Beyond’. You could certainly believe that the casting of Kirk, Spock, Bones and Scotty are indeed the younger selves from the original series. They play the characters so well. This was one film I wanted to see! So… what’s it like? (Don’t worry there are no spoilers!)

The New Release – Star Trek Beyond

Star Trek Beyond starts with a stop off at Yorktown outpost and from the start it is obvious there is some humour in the film. Directed by Justin Lin, it is a change from J.J Abrams and it is quite relaxed to start off. An early scene sees Captain Kirk having a torn shirt and there is a clear nod to the TV series. Continuing this, the captain complains that it has become a little bit repetitive, as he skims through his wardrobe of identical yellow shirts. How he tore the shirt is more like the movie Critters than Star Trek, but that is half of the fun of the opening.

Any humour and laughs don’t last too long, as Kirk brings the ship out of the stop-over and starts a rescue mission. A distressed alien played by Lydia Wilson has asked Captain Kirk for his help. Kirk is tasked with finding her ship which was marooned on a distant planet on the other side of the nebula. What happens next took me by surprise! Frantic action and Battle Stations as the Enterprise encounters a fleet of aliens commanded by a leader, Krall, played by Idris Elba. I was sure this was either a dream sequence or a simulation – I won’t say any more for fear of spoilers.

On the planet the crew of the enterprise meet an isolated refugee named Jaylah player by Sofia Boutella. Now, the story revolves about how Kirk can save the day with the assistance of Jaylah and the crew of the Enterprise. Jaylah’s character is brilliant, and I loved the humour and the straight-up, matter of fact way she spoke. Her character’s visual style is reliant only on makeup and nor prosthetics or CGI in keeping with the original series.

I much prefer Justin Lin directional flow in Star Trek Beyond, to the JJ Abrams style, with Lin being more flowing and more natural. Even with the action in the film, there is a good flow to the film and at no point did I feel the film was after dropping in action. There are multiple ‘will they won’t they’ scenes and lots of ‘seconds from disaster’ style sequences. He keeps you engaged and the film is just the right length.

Star Trek Beyond is one of my favourites of the rebooted Star Trek films. The film in the credits was, “For Anton”, a reference to Anton Yeltsin which died in a freak car accident this year. The film also has 3 touching moments paying tribute to Leonard Nimoy and there is also an original series cast photo shown during the film.

I really think you have to give Star Trek Beyond a shot. It is humorous, full of action with a decent story and quality effects. The casting is excellent and it is sure to be enjoued by many Star Trek fans. I’m already looking forward to the next Star Trek film.

Star Trek Beyond – Trailer

  • Star Trek Beyond – My Rating 88% 88%