Star Trek: Beyond finds the Enterprise attacked by a relentless alien swarm, led by the hellbent commander Krall (played by an actor who has been in everything lately). It is not initially clear what Krall’s purpose is, which makes Star Trek: Beyond a little hard to get into. But that mystery is purposeful, and once all is revealed, the whole film retroactively clicks into gear. Before it ends up at that point, this entry establishes itself as the nerdiest of the rebooted cinematic Star Trek series yet. Main characters new to the series are caked under mounds of makeup and saddled with semi-permeable alien accents. First time Trek director Justin Lin’s approach is a departure from the accessible ethos established by J.J. Abrams, but not a complete one. Star Trek: Beyond is more episodic as opposed to being a grand singular statement, which makes sense for a series this old. There is a hard sci-fi style here that qualifies as throwback because most major geeky film franchises nowadays eschew it completely. The Enterprise’s mission is “to boldly go where no man has gone before” – in 2016, going back to where Star Trek has already been is also pretty bold.
I give Star Trek: Beyond 17 Alien Hairstyles out of 21 Beamed-Up Action Sequences.
Jeff Malone is a voracious entertainment consumer and entertainment creator. He currently resides in New York City, where he received his Master’s in Media Studies at The New School. In addition to his pieces on TMRzoo.com and StarPulse.com, you can check out his blog (jmunney.wordpress.com), where he provides regular coverage of Community and Saturday Night Live, as well as other television, film, music, and the rest of pop culture.
