I got to see Star Trek Beyond on Sunday. I went into it expecting even less of a focus on the story and more plot holes, but I came out being amazed by what I saw. Sure, there was potential for an even more well-developed plot, but what we got was definitely enough.
Characters:
Almost every character in this movie felt perfect. Kirk, somehow, seemed so much more like Kirk in this movie than in either of the other two movies thus far. He felt more like a captain to me. And his actions made me feel like he was a member of Starfleet. Of course, the story added to this. He was attempting to negotiate between different alien species, he was recording meaningful captain's logs. He was requesting to be assigned as an admiral. (I guess this time you can't get assigned as an admiral just by happening to be nearby in a crisis). And I also appreciate that everything that happened in this movie actually felt meaningful and played a role in the plot.
McCoy was great in this movie. He was great in Star Trek 2009 (ST09), as well, but ended up being even better here. His dynamic with both Kirk and Spock felt even more natural and fun, and even his throw-away lines were spot on. One example that comes to mind was what he said about his genes being scrambled when he was transported.
Another big praise I can give to this film is that all the characters feel like they belong in this movie. I think the setting really helps in this regard. Because the Enterprise got destroyed, everyone ended up where they ended up. So you had to follow each of them and see them doing things they may not have done. It's not like ST09 where everyone was where they were just because the plot required them to assemble by the end of the movie. And it's not like Star Trek Into Darkness (STID), where half the characters felt like their actions were dictated solely by what the script required of them. (Examples: Scotty making a fuss just because someone needed to stay behind to board the ship, Chekov taking over engineering because he just needed something to do, McCoy becoming a bombs specialist just because he needed something to do). The only person who didn't quite feel like they belonged was Uhura, and that was simply because they decided to have Krall give all of his villainy exposition to her, and really there's no reason why he would have chosen to do that. It could have been cool if you found out that he had a wife that reminded him of her, and she died on the planet. That could have added to his connection to her. But, sadly, they didn't do anything like that. Not that that makes the story bad. It has so many less plot holes than a normal Kelvin timeline, movie, and so I can deal with that one oddity.
Technology:
Simon Pegg had an interesting perspective on the Kelvin timeline recently. He more-or-less said that when Nero traveled back in time, he changed both the future and the past because Quantum Physics. So, basically, this isn't an altered timeline, but a parallel timeline. And, from that perspective, I'm perfectly fine with everything in this movie. In fact, I can at least say it's all internally consistent.
For example, think of the transporters. In the normal universe, just like it would be in the real world, using transporters is an exact science. You transport objects molecule by molecule. But in this Kelvin timeline, using transporters is more akin to trying to grab people with a giant claw machine. If they're moving, you can't get them. If people are together, you accidentally get one with the other. You have to be able to see them to transport them sometimes. But, at least, they're consistently a crapshot in this universe. If, just one time, they worked the way they would in real life, that would bother me more than all the times they worked rather terribly.
As far as the Yorktown goes, I don't mind the design. It's nothing like anything we've ever seen in the TOS era. So, if it's an altered timeline, that would bother me. But if it's a parallel timeline, I don't mind that at all. What I really appreciate is how they worked the design into the story with the case of the artificial gravity. And the ability for ships to fly in and be below all these people and buildings was really awesome to see.
The Franklin was amazing on so many levels. I loved the connections to Star Trek: Enterprise (ENT). The only problem is that it was described as one of the first warp 4 capable ships, while it was in use after the NX-01, which was a Warp 5 capable ship. Of course, this ship could have come first, and then it could have been added to Starfleet after its formation, so that's not too big an issue. As far as its design goes, like I said, it just matters on whether you look at it as an alternate future, or a parallel timeline. That comes into play especially when dealing with the viewscreen on the bridge, which we've never seen in any of the original Star Trek series. That doesn't bother me if I view it as a parallel timelime, though.
I'm going to include the technobabble under this category. I was so happy to hear them saying things that made sense. I can't believe ones complain about technobabble. I also can't believe they call it babble. One of the most important things to me in any story/universe is for it to be internally consistent. I don't care whether Iron Man's reactor is a magnet that keeps the shrapnel from reaching his heart, or if it actually energizes him, but choose one. When it comes to the Star Trek universe, there have always been inconsistencies, but for the most part, they always attempted to make sense. They even had a research team to make sure they were using the right terms. Now, how is that bad, but ST09, when they mumbled off a bunch of nonsense, good? Is it better to have a little bit of nonsense that sounds meaningful, or have a bunch of dialogue that actually is meaningful to the internal consistency of the universe. For example, one of the very first lines in ST09 was the captain ordering them to polarize the viewscreen. They were sitting in front of a star. Was radiation just pouring in until that point? Was everyone on the bridge basically blinded until the captain told them that they could polarize the viewscreen? And if that's actually an issue, why would they even have an open window there on the bridge? Why not just do what they've done the entire time before that, have the viewscreen be an actual SCREEN?? (Ok. Rant over.) So there were so many instances where they said stuff in this movie, and I was just like "Wow! That actually makes sense. Why couldn't they have had dialogue like this the entire time?" One line that really stood out to me was when Kirk said something about how the sensor array would have greater power than a tricorder. Of course, that was a plot device to give them something to do, but it was also a plot device that actually MADE SENSE. So I was very glad about that.
As far as the Enterprise A goes, I don't think we should have seen it in this movie. Ideally, I would have wished that they saved it and designed something extra cool. But it is what it is. That's how The Voyage Home ended, as well, if I remember correctly. I guess it's still better than resurrecting Kirk in five minutes and completely negating any of the emotional impact of his sacrifice.
Score:
I have a funny history with the music of this series. So while some might not even mention the score of this movie, I have to do so here. When I first watched ST09, I literally did not notice the music of the film. I walked out of there thinking it did not have a film score. But upon rewatching it, I found the music to be one of my favorite things of ST09. I still think it's amazing. And even watching the movie again a couple weeks ago, I got chills when the music reached a crescendo. It still makes me emotional. So five years later, when STID was coming out, I had super high hopes for the music. They talked about how they used the original theme at the end of ST09 because that was when the movie had earned to use that theme. So I was sitting there like "Ok, now that they've 'earned' it, I wonder what's next for the music in this series. How will they improve on what they've already done?" And then the credits started, and the music... was COPY AND PASTED. Every note, every second, was identical. I was so so disappointed. I still am.
So when Star Trek Beyond started, I was listening for the music. And, guess what. It was different! I was so happy just for the simple fact that it was different. Is it better? Worse? I'm not sure. I need to watch the movie again, because music is something I can't develop an opinion on in the first listen. But at least, it's different. For that, I have to commend them.
Plot:
Sure, this movie does focus on action, just like the others, but the story feels so much stronger to me. One thing I love about it is the existence of parallels between Kirk and Krall. Kirk was already a good captain at the beginning of the film, but he progressed to the point where by the end he realized he needed to be a captain. He felt even more united with his crew. So I definitely appreciated that character development.
When the movie started, I couldn't decide whether those little aliens were so stupid they're funny, or so funny they're stupid. But I actually ended up enjoying the sequence for the most part. I think it's great that they took advantage of their budget and situation to add a variety of different aliens to the series, instead of just having every alien in the universe be six foot tall and humanoid. It adds to the sense of exploration and wonder, really.
Villain:
Krall. There were so many things I loved about him in this movie. He might not have been the deepest villain on some levels, but on others, he was great. His story related directly to that of Kirk. He grew up as a warrior, not an explorer, so what he would decide was proper retaliation for being forced into a peaceful life of exploration just makes sense. Not to mention that he was stranded for at least a hundred years. In the flip side, with the fleet he has, I don't see why he'd even need a superweapon to take on the Federation.
All the references to ENT was great. The fact that Krall was a MACO, that he fought in the Xindi and Romulan wars, possibly even being posted on the Enterprise, considering what the Xindi conflict actually was. And I'm not going to call those Easter eggs. Talking about Archer's beagle is an Easter egg. These details were essential to his character and back story. So I think it's great that those details were included.
I've read a couple people mention that his dialogue didn't make sense in retrospect. But I don't think that's the case. He was talking about the frontier pushing back, and there's nothing wrong about that statement. He is actually a product of that final frontier. He could have seen himself as an abomination, being transformed into an alien by that technology to keep himself young. He could have even been xenophobic when he was a MACO. Who knows if he really, deep down, wanted to go exploring. So anything that happened to him, he would have seen as happening because of Starfleet and their need to explore. This is him telling them that they need to STOP, because this is what happens when you keep pushing further into the unknown.
8.5/10
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