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WARNING:  There will be mild spoilers.

As we push further on into the 50th year of Star Trek, many are hoping that Star Trek Beyond is the movie that will give Trekkies something to cheer for.  For the pundits who thought that the even / odd rule would apply here, I would like to say that this is not the case. Even those who thought that with Justin Lin at the helm, we would get a Fast and Furious in space and that also is not the case. The only similarity to the Fast and Furious franchise is the pace of the movie.  For those who were wondering how Mr. Sulu’s “coming out” would be handled, it’s not forced.  It happens organically, it’s over and we move on.

The movie starts off showing the USS Enterprise a good deal of the way through its maiden 5 year voyage.  The assignment has taken its toll not only on Kirk, but the crew.  New friends have come together, other friendships have been strained, and many are starting to question their future once this assignment is done.

It isn’t until Kirk and his crew are sent on a rescue mission that the ride really begins. Without giving too much away, in some ways, Justin Lin uses this movie to wipe away some of JJ Abrams’ handprint on the franchise by presenting us with a somewhat new story.  The biggest difference in this effort is with the pacing, Lin still allows for lots of room for character development.

During their rescue mission, the crew becomes separated which gives them all an equal chance at taking part of the story.  For once we get a movie not solely focused on Kirk and Spock.  With Simon Pegg’s writing, we still get a lot of humor and camaraderie (look for the lowjacking of Uhura by the way)  throughout but all of this is done with the specter of danger  looming large.  There were indeed some amazing set pieces throughout and many times as I watched, I did truly wonder just exactly how the Enterprise crew would survive this? What made this movie so great is that with this story, viewers get a sense of how much the crew has grown to trust each other to act as a team.  There is no Deus ex Machina to save them, just their own resources  and a few unexpected guests that sees them through.

Idris Elba’s villain, Krall, also brings something a bit new to the table.  Initially for a good portion of the film, I was concerned about what his motivations were behind what he was doing.  Lin did an excellent job of letting this be a slow burn throughout the movie.  This was a huge contrast over Nero and Khan in that we already knew nearly from the moment they were onscreen what their machinations were. To a point, some may feel that Elba’s Krall motivations were unclear but if one pays attention, when all is revealed, it makes perfect sense.

As far as some of the costume designs, I was impressed with the progression of the newer ship uniforms as they were various.

 

But the most impressive thing was the new Starbase, dubbed Yorktown.  It’s almost large enough to be a moon, but it’s habitable and it’s not a closed in, walled off place like what we’ve seen even with places like Deep Space 9. For those of you that played Mass Effect, the Yorktown may remind you of The Citadel.   I was really impressed as well with the alien designs as many new species are introduced throughout.

Overall, I was impressed with this newest edition to the Star Trek franchise. I loved the idea that there was much more focus on watching this crew overcome hardships as opposed to so much ship to ship battles and explosions. The action scenes were frenetic and gladiatorial and as I said, many will wonder just how Kirk and company will survive.  Some of the best moments viewers will see will be the ones between McCoy and Spock as well as Scotty and Jayla especially when they fight the powers that be.

I still wonder however, how the franchise will move on without Anton Yelchin’s Chekov due to Yelchin’s untimely passing.

Otherwise, this is a very watchable film that makes up for a lot of what Abrams missed with Into Darkness.