Caffeinated Clint
Captain James T.Kirk mentions, early on in the new ”Star Trek” film, that things are starting to feel somewhat “episodic” for him. For Kirk (Chris Pine), that’s somewhat of a dilemma – if Vertigo is the most exciting thing you’re experiencing in space, there’s a good chance you’re going to go searching for a gig less taxing on the psyche. For the audience though, ‘episodic’ is a good thing – particularly when it comes to ”Star Trek”, and even more so in relation to this latest instalment. Having recently suffered through an overblown remake of Star Trek II : The Wrath of Khan (which simply swapped the old cast out for their younger counterparts), the rebooted Star Trek movie series gets back to basics here, and therefore finds its footing again, with a simplistic, self-contained and joyfully fun adventure yarn not unlike one of the better ‘episodes’ of the original series.
In fact, everyone onboard this latest one – especially writers Simon Pegg and Doug Jung, but also the fantastic production design team – seem very determined for ”Star Trek : Beyond” to play like a chapter of the original series, what with it’s kidnapped-on-an-alien-rock yarn, tweaking of the main characters to have them play and look even closer to their predecessors (especially Pine, looking more and more like Shatner’s young Captain Kirk with each movie) and terrific balance of action and humour.
Much like the original series, or in the least, the original series of movies, it’s the ticklish banter and character tics in these new Star Trek movies that near overshadows anything on screen – from the amusing cynical banter between ‘Bones’ (Karl Urban) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) to Kirk’s unrestrained little-boy cheekiness, and Pegg’s naïve goofball take on ‘Scotty’, the three films have encompassed more humour and heart than most modern-day comedies have in recent years.
Not to say these new ”Star Trek” films are all chit-chat – especially evident in this latest one, with franchise virgin Justin Lin (Fast & Furious) popping his cherry by having the crew of the Enterprise participate in some of the most ridiculously-entertaining, over-the-top action sequences of the new franchise. Sure, at times it might seem Lin’s forgotten which film series he’s playing chief on, but his ability to restrain himself from going frequent and excessive with the action sequences helps keep the tonal balance on track. The few moments he does ‘do his thing’, Lin pulls it off with flying, far-fetched colours.
The story itself – While on a rescue mission, the crew are ambushed by a mysterious alien (Idris Elba) who sees their vessel tumbling towards the planet below – isn’t much, but it’s the execution that makes the movie. From the staggeringly-impressive attack on the Enterprise in the film’s first quarter to the credible bonding of species that Trek does so well, and a highly-amusing and super-fun moment that sees the ‘Beastie Boys’ playing a part in the villain’s fall, it’s quite simply a standard story done superbly.
With J.J Abrams delegated to a producer position on this one (he was too busy with ”Star Wars : The Force Awakens”) to commit to another Trek, and those early trailers suggesting a rather bland, very Un-Trek like film (the marketing department cut a bland, confused trailer that resembled the cinematic equivalent of cheesecake with the biscuit), the jury seemed to have made up their decision early on ”Star Trek Beyond”. What’s better then than walking into a movie, expecting to see something quite average, and being pleasantly surprisingly surprised and overjoyed instead? Start making bad trailers again, editors – just like the ones of our youth, we long to be surprised more.
