The latest entry in the popular-but-divisive Star Trek reboot film series has been praised as a return to form after 2013's controversial Star Trek Into Darkness, and in many ways it's the closest these films have come to the tone and format of the original TV show. However, despite its many charming character moments and thoughtful tangents, Star Trek Beyond continues down the action-oriented route that this reboot series has become notorious for, and for all its moments-and there are plenty-its by-the-numbers plot and poorly-shot action never make this latest entry exciting enough to justify the wasted potential of its deeper elements.
Following an impassioned plea from Kalara (Lydia Wilson), a survivor of an attacked spaceship, James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and the USS Enterprise crew travel to Altamid, the planet the survivor claims her spaceship is stranded at. However, when the Enterprise crew arrives, they're attacked by the same alien swarm which stranded Kalara's ship, led by a commander by the name of Krall (Idris Elba), capturing the vast majority of the crew except for Kirk, Spock (Zachary Quinto), McCoy (Karl Urban), Chekov (Anton Yelchin) and Scotty (Simon Pegg), who are stranded and separated on the planet's surface and must find each other and find a way to get off Altamid and defeat Krall to save their crew.
From its very first scene, Star Trek Beyond establishes a tone closer to the original series, based around diplomacy and adventure to new alien worlds. At first, it seems that the film will be more focused on character than action, as it introduces a character arc about Kirk tiring of the endless journeys across the Enterprise and wishing to take a First Admiral position which would allow him to stay on Yorktown, a sprawling space station which the crew has parked at to restock and take shore leave. Spock, meanwhile, has heard that Ambassador Spock from the Original Series timeline has passed away, and begins considering his responsibilities to the Vulcan species, leading to him ending his relationship with Uhura (Zoe Saldana).
Both of these arcs have a lot of potential, but for the most part they're swept under the rug when the main plot kicks in. Kirk's problem, especially, could have allowed for Beyond to bring back some of the thoughtfulness that the original show was known for, but it doesn't even rear its head once until it's finally concluded at the very end of the film. Admittedly, there are other hints of depth, and Spock's own character arc gets some attention later on, but they always feel like tangents away from the big story, which is a rather generic tale of some militaristic villain who wishes to destroy the Federation for a reason which only hinted at before the final act.
The thing is, Krall's own motivation has some real weight behind it, and could have lent the film some much-needed thematic heft and freshness. With so much of the narrative feeling rote and obligatory, factoring in more of Krall's motive at an earlier point might have made it much easier to be invested. There's still a general feeling of low stakes, largely derived from predictability, and the second act drags even with its brisk pace as a result, and for a good deal of the film the plot feels relatively barebones, existing predominantly to give the characters something to do as they banter, and generally lacking in real moments of suspense.
A large part of the problem is that the action itself is rather poor, suffering from constant handheld shaking, swerving camera movements, unnecessary cuts and uncomfortable dutch angles. So much of the action feels like a means to an end, without any real tension due to the sheer predictability of the outcomes. There's some inspired set pieces, such as one action scene in and around the flaming wreckage of the Enterprise, but the rapid cutting occasionally makes it hard to tell what's happening and frequently stops any momentum the film had built up. The third act, with the most important action scenes of the film, finally showcases some clearer direction and the film's most clever sequences, but by then it's almost too little, too late.
Thankfully, the film isn't humourless, and it often closes in on the frequently-humorous banter between its lead characters. Some of Beyond's best scenes simply feature characters talking to each other. This is part of why the film feels more like Gene Rodenberry's original vision than its predecessors, but it's not quite enough to make up for the lack of investment, even if it is enough to keep the film watchable. This banter is ultimately what keeps much of the film from being a complete chore, alongside some residual investment in these characters from previous films, even if they don't quite rise to the levels of personality on display in the best episodes of The Original Series.
All told, Star Trek Beyond is a film which I wish I liked a lot more than I did. Between some of the more inventive set pieces, the various thoughtful tangents, and the very fun banter, there's a lot to like here, but it's all in service of a formulaic plot and poor action which prevents the film from being as much fun as it clearly wants to be. There's so many things that Beyond does right, but it simply can't rise above its own restrictions and be as exciting or even as compelling as it ought to be. In a way, that makes it far more frustrating than films I've liked far less, and while big fans of this reboot series will likely get more out of it, everyone else might want to check their expectations before going in.
6/10
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