Star Trek Beyond Movie Review: It Is A Warm, Funny Nostalgic Enterprise

Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Anton Yelchin

Directed by: Justin Lin

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Movie Review: By the time the signature lines from Star Trek—“Space: The final frontier These are the voyages of the Starship, Enterprise … To explore strange new worlds… To seek out new life and new civilizations…  To boldly go where no man has gone before that we’ve grown up watching—which we’ve grown up watching hearing, comes up for consideration with the end titles of the newest and one of the niftiest entrants in the Star Trek franchise, we are deep into the world so succinctly and diligently created .

 Star Trek Beyond is not so much a voyage into the unknown as an excursion into a world familiarized by the franchise and loved by us all. William Shatner no longer leads the enterprise But his replacement played by Chris Pine is as acceptable as Captain James Kirk as Daniel Craig was as James Bond after Sean Connery.

The world has changed since Star Trek first started in 1966. It’s a different galaxy and yes ‘Dr Spock’ LeonardNimoy , the Vulcan with those oversized ears—and years—is no more. But Nimoy’s replacement Zachhary Quintogets Nimoy’s spirit on screen without imitating or spoofing the original.His fluctuating relationship with LieutenantUhura(Zoe Saldana) needs serious revamping

Maybe they shouldn’t give each other so much…ummmm….space?

Star Trek’s new enterprise  is respectful towards the franchise and tilts its  trippy  hat to nostalgia—specially in the climax with Michael Giacchino’s astounding beat explosions pounding out a mean tune. But the mood remains fun and admirably futuristic. There is no attempt to impress us with sights and sounds never seen and all that.

There is a reassuring almost mollifying mellowness in the narration even during times of crises, such as when the ship is attacked and seized by aliens. The scattered Star Trek crew is captured in crisis-management positions where they reveal their own insecurities while channeling  the closet sci-fi fan within themselves.

I specially liked the bouncy bromance between Spock and McCoy(Karl Urban). If you’ve followed the Star Trekseries you’d see how effortlessly Zachary Quinto and Karl Urban capture the spirit of the original actors LeonardNimoy and DeForest Kelley.At the same time there are fresh interesting recruits up for consideration. The most striking among them is a sassy sexy scavenger named Jaylah, played by Sofia Boutella. In the coming film—yes, there is going to be another soon–Jaylah will now be part of Starship Enterprise team.

Welcome a  broad.

The disappointment is Idris Alba as the arch-villain Kral.His face is hardly visible under the grotesque makeup and when his back-story comes on, it is too little and too late to move is. Also, the 3D effects are largely unjustified by the exigencies of the narrative.

Star Trek Beyond is not an in-your-face spectacle. It is smart, sultry, slick and subtle and even sublime at times.A lot of  the goings-on  seem spiffy and spoofy and a whole lot of fun. In a year jam-packed with disappointing somber and self-important Hollywood franchises Star Trek Beyond doesn’t take itself too seriously.Quite an achievement.