Star Trek: Beyond

Reviews are embargoed until the day before its release.

Uh oh. That's never a good sign.

No, it really isn't. I've seen that kind of thing happen all too often in the video game world and it's never a good omen.

What are they afraid of? It's still going to get big numbers at the box office.

I thought Not Screened for Critics was the bad sign.

That pretty much never happens with big budget films. Holding back reviews is a well known tactic though.

I'm really just tired of the Enterprise getting its ass kicked in all these reboot films.

Yeah, there were quite a few situations where the ship and crew were in over their heads. But damn man. I don't think it even got more than a few shots off in the last two films before they were about to get blown up.

According to the trailer, we're going to get to watch the same riveting stuff.

Jeez.

Agree with the whole 'Enterprise as punch-bag' problem, but I think it's pretty symptomatic of the cherry-picking/'best of' album thing they've got going with the franchise. Khan kicking the Enterprise's butt in the movie is pretty (in)famous - never mind that Kirk by his own admission dropped a bollock in letting it happen or that in round two it was pretty much totally reversed - and they've extrapolated that one instance to make the Enterprise one big spacefaring Worf.

They should have had Michael Dorn as the ship's computer voice.

Back when Into Darkness came out, LeVar Burton actually asked Abrams what the new Star Trek was going to be about, ie "What is the moral?" Abrams went on a long tangent where it basically came up to "We like it when Spock freaks out" and that's how they would write the story. And that's the problem with a lot of films, built on the "Wouldn't it be cool if...?" formula instead of actual plotting and characterization.

JJ Abrams is great at making trailers. His movies all feel like trailers leading up to some awesome payoff that never actually happens.

That...would be awesome.

edited 13th Jul '16 1:24:04 PM by Unsung

Actually the reviews seem pretty good so far:

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_trek_beyond/

I've seen it yesterday, loved it. It's probably my favorite of the reboot-Trek films. The first 90 minutes are great, they reallly feel like a longer TOS episode, but the final half hour, which starts off with my favorite action sequence of the summer, really kicks things up a notch. Krall's a pretty good villain too, even though Idris Elba doesn't really gets to do anything with the role until that final half hour.

edited 21st Jul '16 12:48:16 AM by Rvdz

No Earth?

Nope. They do some interesting stuff with a Federation starbasw, though.

What about all those shots in the trailer of that Federation world getting attacked?

Saw it last night. It's very good and far superior to the first two reboot movies. I guess that means the Star Trek Movie Curse is still intact (assuming you count Galaxy Quest as a Star Trek film).

That's what I meant- it's an advanced starbase instead of a planet.

I thought the angles looked really funky in the trailer.

I enjoyed it, but found that the middle dragged.

That wasn't so bad. Way better than Into Darkness at least. Shame the villain was boring generic shit, I want Klingons dammit!

There was the germ of an interesting villain idea, but they rushed the reveal, and didn't really give him enough personality before that point. There was a lot I liked about this movie. It seems the closest in structure and tone to the pre-reboot shows, and the script really got the ensemble dynamic and banter in a way the previous two didn't. The direction is a little too frantic, though. The script needed some quiet beats for some of the character moments to really land home. I think that would have helped develop the sympathy and hate the audience really needs to feel for Krall for that character to fully work. And Idris Elba has the screen presence to pull that kind of thing off without even necessarily speaking, if you let him.

edited 29th Jul '16 12:09:29 PM by Unsung

I generally agree with one of the troper reviews - it's a great movie, a good Star Trek movie, and a sub-par action movie. There was simply no imagination in the space fight, while the frantic pacing of the land scuffles didn't really allow for the holographic and teleportation tactics to leave a lasting impression. The best moments were the quiet ones - the initial look on life on the ship was great, the introduction of the space station was fantastic; probably the first time we truly see the utopian aspect of the Star Trek future. All of it could have been the setup for a much more cerebral experience and who knows, maybe an actual science fiction story - say what you will about TMP, also known as The Motionless Picture, but it's just about the only Trek film to explore a classic "big idea", in the vein of Asimov and Clarke.

Instead, we got alien mecha-bugs, another Enterprise scrapped for no good reason, and the subtle as always message that militarism is bad, dressed in the good old Trek standby of the insane officer. At least it's not an Admiral this time. It wasn't a bad film, just one not breaking any new ground, or should I say, not really going "beyond".

Just saw Beyond in the theaters this past Tuesday. Other than the 3D having technical issues for the first 30 minutes of the film, it was very fast, kinetic, and fun, and in my opinion, it was as close in spirit to the original franchise as it ever had been while still feeling like a modern sci-fi action blockbuster.

Just some questions:

Is Sulu in this timeline actually gay and just likes to flirt with both sides of the aisle, (as we see him actively flirting and making out with an unidentified female crewmember in two one-off scenes), or is he actually bisexual?

Also, if anyone's read the Expanded Universe novel The Weight of Worlds, anyone else get an Ephrata IV vibe from Starbase Yorktown? A location that specifically serves as the pinnacle of scientific and cultural achievement and cohesion?

Anyone else get a Sokis vibe from Krall as well?

Pretty sure that was another Asian crew member.

I just got back from seeing it. I loved it.

The first hour or so was very rushed, but the character dynamics were great, so it didn't hurt my enjoyment of the movie.

Jaylah was great and I hope to see her in Star Trek XIV.

All is forgiven for the first trailer's music.

My heart melted when I saw the content's of Ambassador Spock's bequest to Commander Spock.

As for Krall, I agree that he was largely a waste of Idris Elba. However, I think that he was a good villain. I'm having trouble phrasing this correclty, but here we go anyway. I think that Krall works because he reminds Kirk (and by extension the audience) why the Federation's values (and by extention Trek's values) are needed in a world so full of conflict. Also, I liked the scene at the end where Krall sees his face reflected in a glass shard. You can clearly see him start to realize that he has become a monster. Go Idris Elba.

Overall, I feel that Beyond is a great celebration of Star Trek and a worthy way to commemorate the franchise's 50th anniversary.

I can't wait to learn how this makes me a fake Star Trek fan.