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| To boldly go where...ah hell, you know the rest |
Movie: Star Trek Beyond
Directed by: Justin Lin
Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Anton Yelchin
Verdict:
The boys and girls of the new Enterprise have done it again, this time cranking out a fun and fast-paced film that, while undeniably cheesy, overflows with old-school charm and enough action to keep you bolted in for the whole wild ride to the Final Frontier.
In depth:
I have a confession: I have yet to see either of the previous Star Trek revamps. I'm not much of a fan of the franchise itself - barring The Wrath of Khan and Patrick Stewart’s delightful bald of awesome - and so avoided the fanwagon and the hatemobile when the first Star Trek AU hit the big screen a few years back. Which means that I came in with no expectations or prejudices, armed only with an open-mind and some fond (if limited) memories of the older movies. Fortunately, unlike so many times this year, my good faith wasn't bludgeoned like a baby seal. Not only was Beyond intelligible to a novice like me, being a solid standalone film; but it was a damn good movie all around, keeping steady pace on the action while indulging in a good bit of the wit, fun, and daring that made the original series the cult icon that it is today.
The film drops us in the dark of space, where the USS Enterprise, at day 966 of its five-year tour, is starting to lull in the tedium of its peacekeeping routine. The dashing Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) in particular is catching the grind, feeling world weary (or “space weary”) while getting all existential about his approaching birthday. The crew eventually arrives at Yorktown - a spectacularly realized if gaudy space city wrapped in a bubble dome - and set about restocking and sorting out their individual issues, including Kirk’s malaise and the promise of a promotion, Spock’s (Quinto) amicable break-up with the stunning Lt. Uhura, as well as news of Ambassador Spock’s unfortunate passing. These little nuggets of self-reflection are interrupted when a damaged escape pod literally drops out from a nearby nebula. Its passenger claims that her ship was taken down by an unknown force, marooning on a similarly unknown planet in the heart of the dust cloud. So the Enterprise sets out on what's supposed to be a routine recon mission; but of course, this being Star Trek, nothing ever goes as planned, and when the crew flops down on the alien world after an attack by the mysterious pirate-warlord Krall (played by Idris Alba) Kirk, Spock, and the rest race against time to stop the madman’s scheme, all while trying to find a way back home.
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| "Did anyone bring a compass?" |
Right from the start, Beyond doesn’t waste any time setting up the plot and the major conflicts churning it. Kirk’s concerns over his birthday and his father’s early death, Spock’s relationship troubles, and the myriad of interpersonal problems dotting the crew here and there, are all covered quickly but efficiently - doing justice to the underlying feelings, but not drawing them out for unnecessary melodrama. Okay, sure - there ain’t exactly a whole lot going on here to begin with, so it shouldn’t be that hard. But you’d be amazed how many action movies aspire to heights of “pathos,” only to land flat on their faces in the Zone of Pretension. Beyond dodges that minefield by not pretending to be anything other than what it is: a smart, fun sci-fi adventure flick that pushes a few intriguing suggestions, but nonetheless recognizes that its main purpose is to entertain.
And entertain it most certainly does, in no small way thanks to the tight pacing of director Justin Lin. Rarely does a movie fit its scenes together so well that you don’t even notice where one begins and the other ends. Not much felt hurried or incomplete; nor was I constantly eyeing the theater door, languishing in movie drag and waiting to be put out of my misery. Everything flowed effortlessly. From the scenes in Yorktown, to the thrilling dogfight against Krall’s crew, and all throughout the film, Lin painted the action with care and an attentive eye, always aware of his movie’s tempo, and knowing when to push the pedal to the floor or ease up on the gas - a talent I wish more directors had. The frenetic pace is never overwhelming, and as a result, the plot is as sleek as a newly-christened starship.
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| "First one to say 'Mary Sue' is gonna talk to the stick |
But the actors are the real stars here, and the cast, charging down the silver screen in their third run together, were definitely up to the task. Though Pine, Quinto and the rest are more or less strangers to me regarding their roles, in the end it didn’t matter; each actor embodied his or her character to the absolute tee. Pine managed to blend Kirk’s strengths - his charming bravado, as well as his tricky balancing act of vulnerable masculinity - without the irritants of his at times macho and womanizing behavior. Quinto and Karl Urban, the later portraying “Bones” McCoy as the third leg in the iconic Freudian Trio, really got to play off of each other in this film, spending a great deal of time in close company, perfectly melding the rivalry, subtle respect, and ribbing comradery that colors their relationship so well. Ironically, the real stand out in the cast was the one I expected the least from - newcomer Sofia Boutella, playing Jaylah, an alien scavenger and survivor on the world they crashed on. This nubile, white-skinned maiden is a queer mix of funny foreigner and walking deus ex machina - providing amusing off-kilter commentary (referring to the grounded ship she’s commandeered as “her house”) as well as a convenient way of resolving most of the crew’s problems. By all accounts this should've made her an unpleasant addition to the tight-knit crew, but her combination of vulnerable innocence and hard-boiled tenacity really works out in the end - so much so that she left me hoping for another appearance in the future.
But really, behind all the pieces that fit together like a windup clock is the simple fact that Beyond is just a straight-up fun movie. I know - “fun” is hardly an exact descriptive, but it’s a fairly accurate one. Beyond flows like an old-school sci-fi pulp flick, but without the annoying trappings of that bygone era. There are no rubber forehead aliens or green-skinned babes in metal bikinis, but there’s plenty of humor, daring and machismo to go around - with even several members of the fairer sex getting a hand on the action. When Kirk leads a siege on Krall’s base mounted on a motorcycle, or attacks his swarm ships with the blaring “classical” rifts of the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage,” you don’t have time to whine over the scenes' lack of realism or anachronistic qualities. They’re so well-made and crank up the adrenaline rush to such a degree that if you have any kind of a pulse, you’ll likely be giving a round of applause at the stellar execution.
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| Yeah, don't think insurance is going to cover this |
So is there some fatal flaw to Beyond - something to temper all the laudation and knock the Enterprise back a few parsecs? Well, a couple of things were amiss, but nothing that breaks the overall thrilling experience. The scenes described above are unashamedly cheesy, of course, but it’s a good kind of cheese, falling well in line with this revamp’s apparent forte of balancing the novelty of the past with the realities of the present. There were a few plot holes sinking in beneath Krall’s true identity, though; the revelation came completely out of the blue, and the “deductive” means by which they arrived there stretches the bonds of credulity more than anything else in the movie. I also wasn’t impressed by the film’s pyrotechnics and often bald CGI. Although the initial panoramic of Yorktown was a sight to behold, even then it felt more like a prop to be marveled at than a natural part of the world. The filmmakers were probably aware of this, giving Bones a voice to humorously point out how the space city looks like a “giant snow globe,” and should have been placed on solid ground instead.
But that little dip into self-effacement only highlights the wit and whimsy pervading every aspect of the production. At no point does the movie ever take itself too seriously, dispensing even the most navel-gazing questions with a muted one-liner and keeping the focus where it belongs. There’s nothing groundbreaking or even exceptionally memorable here, but if you’re looking for a solid action movie with more brains than the norm and a nice helping of phaser beams, I can’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon than booking a voyage with this veteran crew for one hell of a trip.
Grade: B+
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