Star Trek Beyond

Hit them with MP3s! This year’s first full-blooded blockbuster that kept its promises and remained true to the story. For this anniversary episode, Simon Pegg came up with a story that pays homage to plots from the old series and spiced it up with a few nice (although rather predictable) twists and excellent ideas. The absence of Abrams is obvious. The fatefulness disappeared, but Justin Lin is much better at action scenes (even if an entrance on a motorbike is pretty weird) and provides a slightly different visual feeling. In terms of acting, this is a classic, but the unusual pairing up (Spock and McCoy) is very refreshing, cool lines are abundant. Idris makes a great villain, but you only get to like him toward the end. Sofia Boutella wasn’t as important as I had thought she would be, but Pegg just plain enjoys himself. I thought it good that they didn’t save the Earth, that they meddled in the past, and I liked the doubting sub-story line. I enjoyed it. (16/08/2016)

For many, the choice of director was a surprise and even a cause for mistrust, but if we leave aside the fans’ rage, it proves to be an absolutely logical step on the part of the producers that can even be seen as an understanding of the essence of the franchise. Whether it was a coincidence or an intentional creative gamble, the truth remains that the Fast & Furious franchise became a team blockbuster under the auspices of Justin Lin. That is what Star Trek is supposed to be at its core, but Abrams tragically failed to understand that aspect in his fanboy blindness and, especially in the second film, he focused only on two characters, while leaving the others to serve only as their seconds. Lin himself is by no means a guarantee of balance; after all, Fast & Furious 6 basically suffered from similar maladies. In the case of the third Star Trek, it is thus appropriate to praise the involvement of Simon Pegg in the screenwriting team, thus ensuring that a representative of one of those overlooked characters could have an interest in the focus falling on Kirk and Spock and, conversely, the other members of the crew coming to the fore. Abrams deserves recognition for setting up a clever reboot of the iconic franchise, but paradoxically, it was only with Lin that the new Star Trek achieved its ideal form as an agile sci-fi team film that brilliantly alternates suspense, action, conversational humor, the attraction of the interaction of contrasting characters and the epic nature of a science-fiction spectacular with trashy entertainment. The final form of the iconic entry in the captain’s log becomes both a confirmation and a promise for the future that the crew of the Enterprise has finally become a well-coordinated team and a self-sufficient entity that has ceased to explore the famous world of fan-focused allusions, but is rather finally heading out in its own direction across uncharted space. (16/12/2016)

I'm not setting off into the unknown next time. I have no problem with the characters, the lines are pretty funny too, but the biggest letdown is the action. It lacked any kind of suspense and was quite confusing at times. Only the soundtrack got full stars from me; otherwise this was boring. 2 stars (10/09/2016)

Perhaps the most elaborate script of the series, killed by the jockeying of the action races, where the routine waterfall of attractions is mostly spent sadly reminiscing about the times when two big destructive events were good enough and the rest was made up with fancy characters and casual humor. One witty line about stalking and a dozen fast and furious "copy & paste" shots for a hundred and twenty minutes. A clear aspirant for the Top 5 blockbuster shits of the year. (21/09/2016)

The dynamics of the crew are the main focus here, as the relationships between the characters (and the chemistry between the actors themselves) are the key to the whole story. While the first installment was about finding one's true self and the second deepened the relationships, this time the Enterprise embarks on an episodic space adventure, which unfortunately loses some steam after the intense action in the first encounter with Krall. Luckily, the dialogue does not fall far behind, and the change of gears in the story is quite beneficial, as Scotty and McCoy have more space than in the previous films, while Uhura surprisingly takes a backseat. Without a perfectly graded finish, I'm not sure, I'm not sure. The individual storylines sometimes struggle to come together, the antagonist doesn't have a chance to gain points until his (albeit expected) identity is revealed, and it is only when the dusty motorbike kicks into action that the true cosmic ride begins with all the promised thrills. A stronger 70%, which paradoxically works perfectly as a farewell to the current crew. (25/08/2016)