Star Trek: Beyond

I went to see Star Trek: Beyond with my dad! And I have to say, in my opinion, Beyond is the best Star Trek reboot movie so far. It seems to have captured the charm of the original Star Trek episodes. It seems to understand what made those episodes so magical, and it replicates those traits--but with more detail and better special effects. Overall, Star Trek: Beyond is a fun, optimistic sci-fi movie that feels sort of like a breath of fresh air.

A lot of the science fiction movies coming out these days feel dark and dismal. There are a lot of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic stories going around just now, which seems to say something about our society's current attitude. But Star Trek: Beyond doesn't go that route. It's not about the end of the world, or a world; it's about a group of people banding together to stop an undeserved attack on a group of innocent people. It's an optimistic movie with a message about the power of unity between people. It's a feel-good summer movie, with hefty doses of fun and action mixed in.

I feel like this movie is something of an interesting case. It's not a terribly original film. It more or less stuck to the script of what works for Star Trek. It didn't have a particularly original plot, and the couple of original characters that appeared weren't groundbreaking. But it all worked. The plot was tight, with a twist toward the end that I, at least, didn't see coming. (My dad did. It's a thing with him.) The characterization was all excellent, and there were some really great character interactions. The movie focused on everybody in the bridge crew in some way: Kirk, Spock, and Bones were the main characters, as usual, but we got scenes and interactions with everyone, and the movie really did its best to highlight what a group of people can accomplish when working together. (Hasn't that always been a theme in Star Trek? No man is an island?) There was some good humor, too, and I thought all of the characterizations were well done.

The visuals of the movie were all very appealing as well. I sort of associate Star Trek with old-timey, retro special effects that are obviously fake but still appealing, because it's a window into how science fiction was done before the real advent of CGI. So it's strange to watch a Star Trek movie and see all the sleek, hyper-realistic effects of modern film. But the effects are good, and it is cool to have that version of Star Trek now--a version with all the shiny, lifelike effects today's computers can create. In particular, I liked the designs for Yorktown station and the base belonging to Krall (the villain). Yorktown station, especially, was beautifully designed, and the initial shots of it were just gorgeous.

Besides having great characterization and writing, Beyond had a few great shout-outs--to Leonard Nimoy, who famously died this last year; to Anton Yelchin, who died more recently in an accident; and to all the main actors from the Original Series. These references are poignant and touching, especially those that subtly honor Anton Yelchin; his death was sudden and unexpected, and all the more tragic. These, coupled with the writing and the themes and the general Star Trek feel of the movie, make Beyond, in my opinion, the best reboot movie so far. It's fun and optimistic, and I would certainly recommend it.