I almost passed on Star Trek Beyond. As a life-long fan of
the franchise, the trailer for this movie, with its Beastie Boys' soundtrack,
seemed to be "beyond" my tolerance for the creative direction of the series.
I'm glad I didn't miss it, as this was an entertaining film and worthy summer
blockbuster despite its flaws. Though not the best of the movies (That honor
still belongs to Wrath of Khan), Star Trek Beyond was at least better than its
predecessor, the ill-conceived "Into Darkness," and visually more
dazzling than the first movie in the reboot.
With Justin Lin at the helm, the movie delivers
action in a way no Star Trek film ever has before. My seven favorite things in
this movie were:
7. The enemy swarm ship
6. Zoe Saldana's Uhura
5. Chris Pine's James Kirk
4. Sofia Boutella's Jaylah
3. Yorktown Station
2. Simon Pegg's Scotty
1. Karl Urban's McCoy
The feral Jayalah was a refreshing introduction of a new character in Trek canon, reminiscent of Sauvik. Played by Sofia Boutella, I only hope she becomes a reoccurring character in the film series.
