Star Trek Beyond – Our review, spoiler alert

Please note this contains plot details of the film. Watch it before you read this!

Thursday night we sat through the triple bill showing of Star Trek building up to the highly anticipated Star Trek Beyond. Realising we aren’t going to have a chance to make a vBlog all together until after Star Trek Las Vegas we thought we’d jot down our opinions here instead.

Quite simply, we loved it! This is Star Trek at its best. Optimistic, altruistic, with themes such as unity, loyalty and friendship at its core.

All characters got their own fair share of screen time, character development and valuable contribution to the mission. Whilst they had great chemistry right from the first movie, they are now a well oiled machine. To say they perform ‘admirably’ is an understatement. Even when separated they managed to find a way to help and put the needs of others first. This mentally ultimately saved them all (Only the bridge officers obviously, not all those redshirts and the officer with the funny head!).

Jaylah (or Lassie) was a delightfully gritty character that we can’t help but love. Played beautifully by Sofia Boutella we suspect she’ll be a popular cosplay character at conventions from now on.

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Krall was intriguing. Spent a lot of the first part of the movie trying to work out who he was and also understanding what he was saying! At first we suspected if he might be in someway Borg due to the hive nature of those ships, his mechanical looking suit and his ability to absorb others had a nanotechnology feel to it. Other hypothesises we had was some some sort of Xindi hybrid which was interesting given what emerged about his background.

Carole was very quick to spot him in the background video on the USS Franklin, beating the rest of us and Uhura into revealing his true identity. This was a good move and we LOVED all the Enterprise and TOS references here. Really pleased to hear MACO was disbanded, this proves that they are all nuts and have no business in Starfleet!

But this film wasn’t all about the baddie and fighting the baddie. It was more than that, it was about relationships, existential crises and the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few.

And then there’s the Enterprise. As much part of the crew as any other we once again mourn the loss of another ship to bear her name. But as usual we don’t have long to grieve before we are presented with a younger, sexier model! As Carole said after the film “I cried at the Destruction of an Enterprise the first 3 times and I haven’t got anymore in me!”

Speaking of crying. What a tear jerker!! The film paid tribute and respect to Leonard Nimoy   in a beautiful and appropriate way. First scene when Spock receives the news of Ambassador Spock’s passing,  we had a dignified tear rolling down our cheeks. The second coversation where Spock mentions it to McCoy, we have more tears and a trembling bottom lip. But THAT photo! We’re like Betazoids sat in a retirement home for  Vulcan’s with Bendii Syndrome. We’re sobbing like children with runny noses!

We were delighted with another Enterprise era tribute, the USS Franklin but spent a bit of time during the first watching a bit confused. Like a lot of other fans we knew the NX-01 was the first warp 5 ship and the Franklin was presented as the first warp 4. But the events Krall/Captain Edison referred to occurred after ENT. But as Janeway says, try not to think too hard about the timeline – it just gives you a headache!

There were lots of nods and Easter Eggs for us fans to look out for such as ‘green hands’ in reference to the TOS episode Apollo, the ripped shirts, Spock and McCoy’s banter. A few we heard about include; over 50 alien species were included to celebrate 50 years and in Kirks monologue he states that the Enterprise is 966 days into its five year mission, apparently this refers to September 1966 – Star Trek’s birthday! It is also suggested that the staircase Yorktown is a tribute to the early days of the Enterprise’s conception when it was named such. Also Commodore Paris HAS to be a relation of Owen and Tom?

We would recommend seeing it a couple…few…dozen times! With each rewatch you get more relaxed and immersed into the story line.

Fav bits: Too many too mention, but the Spock/McCoy scenes and humour get a big thumbs up.

Not so fav: Krall, we’d like a bit more reasoning as to why he went nuts.

Weird bit: Costume changes. The new movies LOVE a good costume change. No matter what the crisis; ship destroyed, marooned on a planet, meeting with a senior officer the crew always decide ‘better get changed first!’

It was great that Spock changed into the 22nd century uniforms which were a fitting evolution of the Enterprise jumpsuits….but was there something a bit Galaxy Quest about them?!Anton-Yelchin-and-Zachary-Quinto-in-Star-Trek-Beyond.jpg