GtPGKogPYT4p61R1biicqBXsUzo" /> Google+ Sheep Movie Review: Star Trek Beyond | I Smell Sheep

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Sheep Movie Review: Star Trek Beyond

Star Trek Beyond
Directed by Justin Lin
Screenplay by Simon Pegg and Doug Jung
Produced by Sky Dance/Bad Robot
Paramount Pictures
July 22, 2016

A surprise attack in outer space forces the Enterprise to crash-land on a mysterious world. The assault came from Krall (Idris Elba), a lizard-like dictator who derives his energy by sucking the life out of his victims. Krall needs an ancient and valuable artifact that's aboard the badly damaged starship. Left stranded in a rugged wilderness, Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto) and the rest of the crew must now battle a deadly alien race while trying to find a way off their hostile planet.

It has been 966 days (an Easter egg for Star Trek fans-can you guess?) since Kirk has led the crew of the USS Enterprise on its five-year mission. He is questioning why he is doing it and having reached his birthday—a year younger than the age his father died, after docking at a massive space station—the Yorktown—he even approaches a superior over him about maybe giving Spock command of the ship. Instead, she asks him take an alien woman who has a stranded ship in a nebula that no other help can reach. Once through the nebula and at a Class M planet, they are attacked by an overwhelming enemy in what's easily the movie's most visually dazzling sequence. The crew, who has not died, escape in pods and the saucer crashes down on the planet. There, the scattered crew must try to thwart the genocidal aims of Krall.

The Star Trek I knew and loved is back, at least about ninety per cent. Simon Pegg (Scotty), with Doug Jung, wrote the screen play. Yes, there are ticks here and there, and still the action we come to expect from action oriented films these days, instead of a cerebral Star Trek old time fans love, but I did enjoy the movie. Director Justin Lin does a good job managing the action. Kirk is no longer that irresponsible fool, but a serious, soul searching man, who wonders if he should even do his star trek. Spock and McCoy are the only characters from the first two movies I liked, as the actors acted like the way DeForest Kelley and Leonard Nimoy had brought heir characters to life. The crew began to feel like family, though the action doesn’t give enough room or time to expand on this aspect. As for the alien bad guy, he is nasty, but not bone chilling evil enough. I like that they used a new bad guy and not someone from before, but he was more cookie cutter warrior type with a grudge.

After the disappointment of Independence Day: Resurgence, at least this a movie I can admit I would go watch again. Is this Star Trek on the level of Trek’s best episodes, “City on the Edge of Forever” or the film, Wrath of Khan, or others like that? Not completely, but it does satisfy.


I give Star Trek Beyond 5 “Live Long and Prosper” 4 sheep





Pamela Kinney

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