Adrenaline at warp speed

Film review: Star Trek Beyond

MANILA, Philippines – One has to hand it to director Justin Lin. Thanks to his experience with the Fast & Furious franchise (he directed films three to six), he is truly adept at  ensemble casts and keeping the foot down on the accelerator as he mixes action with snatches of comedy, and all this without sacrificing character development.

Handed the reins on Star Trek Beyond, produced by J.J. Abrams and with a screenplay co-written by Simon Pegg and Doug Jung, Justin effectively revitalizes the franchise by giving us an adrenaline-driven, major popcorn film that just happens to be situated in futuristic, interplanetary travel. With the film, Justin shows that no matter what the setting is, he knows how to keep us glued to our seats, and spoon-feeds us his special brand of action adventure.

The plot? As with almost every film of the genre, there’s some super-villain, Krall (Idris Elba), out to destroy the Federation’s space outpost, Yorktown. And it’s up to the crew of the Enterprise to waylay Krall’s evil plans. As Beyond is the third in the reboot franchise, most of the characters, led by Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Bones (Karl Urban) and Uhura (Zoe Saldana), are all familiar to us. With the ingrained familiarity, Justin has the freedom to shift things around to provide something fresh. If the first franchise installment was more like a buddy film highlighting Kirk and Spock, here in Beyond, it’s the interplay between Spock and Bones that provides most of the comedic sparks. In fact, from the very first scene after the opening credits, Justin relies on comedy to set the tone before immersing us into the action scenes. Editing here is key, as he constantly shows us how the attack of Krall on the Enterprise is taking place at different locations of the starship.

Of most interest among the new characters introduced in the film, I would single out Jaylah (Sofia Boutella), an escapee from the clutches of Krall, living alone in the planet’s forests and motivated to avenge the death of her father at the hands of Krall and his lieutenants.

The use of Old School space-age technology and weaponry is wonderfully played up in the film, and there are numerous insider references and asides to make the true Trekkie love the film — and appreciate it on a higher level than the novice Star Trek filmgoer.

On a sad note, this is the last appearance as Chekov by Anton Yelchin, who passed away only last month in a freak road accident. In the closing credits, the film is dedicated to Leonard Nimoy (the original Spock) and to Anton. If I had to criticize the film, it would be that the final act goes on for far too long, with the action not as inspired as what we were treated to in the first half of the film. But happily, this is an assured step in the right direction for the franchise; and Justin makes most of the opportunity “to go where no man has gone before.”