Star Trek Beyond is the third film in the JJverse, following up a not-so-well-received sequel, due to hit theaters on Trek’s 50th anniversary. It was co-written by co-star Simon Pegg and directed by the guy who led the Fast and Furious resurgence.
Nobody has any idea what the movie is about, until today.
And even now, the best we’ve got is that the U.S.S. Enterprise, deep in the middle of its celebrated five-year mission, somehow gets destroyed (again), stranding the crew in the middle of what appears to be a civil war between aliens.
The good news: it’s moderately amusing, features the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” (again), and a great cranky McCoy gag.
The bad news: many of the action beats (transporting in from a fall, running through a crumbling starship, futuristic city under attack) have been done, and the alien woman looks like she should be in Guardians of the Galaxy.
Mini rant: I get that Paramount wants to make billions of dollars with this franchise, but there’s a way to split the difference between contemporary audiences and, you know, fans of the original. And when your fanbase repeatedly tells you that they want more Star Trek in their Star Trek, you should probably try to figure out how to do that. In my humble opinion, the first J.J. Abrams was a nice combination of heart and spectacle even if Into Darkness tainted a lot of that film’s goodwill. Give your audience some credit.
Skyfall was in a similar position after Quantum of Solace and they managed to not only craft a classic Bond movie with nods to the history, great humor, unexpected twists and … it got quieter and more intimate as it approached the finale. The result? $1.3 billion worldwide. Boom.
Oh, and did I mention this is the movie representing Trek on its 50th anniversary? No pressure, guys.
