Kirk, tiring of the coolest job in the universe, and Spock, planning to help breed new Vulcans, are interrupted from their angst by the survivor of a crashed ship. Their rescue mission turns out to be a trap as a bland villain with a âmust destroy everything for no good reasonâ plan takes much of the crew prisoner. Naturally they must be saved by a majority of the bridge crew who just happen to be the ones not captured.
This third film in the reboot series is much like the second (which will be coming up shortly) in that it is loud, and fast, and flashy, and quite dumb. It is different in that it gives the characters a chance to be characters while also dialing down the most grievously annoying traits that Abrams added to Kirk and Spock.
Primarily, this is an action film with few pauses between explosions, crashes, phaser blasts, punches, kicks, motorcycle riding (I wish I was kidding on that one), falling, sliding, and all the running. All that activity is filmed well and looks good, though it is empty. None of it matters, but if you like lots of movement and special effects, then youâll get all you could desire.
In the occasional lulls, the film does better, though not in plotting, but in conversations between the crew. This is the first time in the Abrams-verse that any of them feel like the characters I loved from the old show. They are witty, sometimes funny, and pleasant to listen to. McCoy is the standout, more so as this is the first chance heâs had to be more than window dressing. Star Trek Beyond would have been massively improved by cutting twenty minutes of fighting and replacing it with character interaction.
The villain is weak, which is saying something for a modern Star Trek film. He has little personality and a motivation that made me roll my eyes. The film suggests a great mystery but doesnât deliver and his magic bio weapon is an insignificant McGuffin; a standard bomb would have been far more effective. Heâs the creation of lazy plotting. The climax is both meaningless and particularly high on the stupid scale as none of it would have happened if anyone realized, âHey, we have transporters.â
Since so little time or thought is given to any of the personal problems (Kirk being bored with outer space, Spock feeling responsible for his species, the female-add on character of the weekâs upset over her dead family, Spock and Uhuraâs relationship issues, the villain’s loss of purpose) I cannot figure why they were scripted at all. Dropping most to give some weight to one is scriptwriting 101. As is, nothing feels earned, be it humans blurting out life decisions or yet another destruction of the Enterprise. Kirkâs ennui is the silliest as it paints him as a whiny entitled foolâitâs like the many superhero flicks that try to make us feel sorry for people with extraordinary abilities because, gosh, they just want to be normal.
So, it is pretty, with some nice chatting between characters.