Star Trek Beyond

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)

Probably the worst episode of the franchise for me. But if every worst episode of a franchise looked like this, I'd go to the movies every day. Unfortunately, the third Star Trek operates with a not very interesting story that doesn't really move the characters anywhere, their relationships don't get much space (although the actors are all pretty well established in their roles), and nothing much actually happens realistically. It's just a story about the Enterprise crew running into a nutcase who wants to destroy everything nice in the universe "again". The middle part, where there's more talking than shooting and fighting, is a bit of a bore, but the beginning and end make up for it easily. We all knew that Justin Lin could do action, but the opening, in which the Enterprise takes a nasty hit, is an incredibly gripping scene that, especially in IMAX, totally stands out. As does the explosive finale, which had me grinning like an idiot as a Beastie Boys fan. Too bad for the slightly off-kilter villain and the aching holes in logic, but it all kind of belongs in a summer blockbuster. So if you want a big, loud, snappy, spectacular and fun movie, the new Star Trek is perfect. (15/05/2017)

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)

The third part of modern Star Trek movies differs from the previous two parts in that it puts much more emphasis on the starship crew and humor at the expense of the story itself, which is simplified to an absolute minimum. You can easily find the story boring, compared to the second installment, but you will be laughing from the beginning to the end. For example, Simon Pegg definitely enjoyed himself portraying the character. And rightly so because he contributed to the script. And it shows. You will laugh not only at him, but also at a number of other situations that make the Enterprise crew one of the best ones in today’s blockbusters. Which is definitely good. Thanks to that, the whole movie series came closer to the TV series itself, and I think that any Trekkie could certainly appreciate this. It’s not just about being a modern flashy digital movie, but also about the cool atmosphere during the whole film. And you get loads of it. (07/06/2017)

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)