Things I liked about Star Trek Beyond. in Whey and Sonic Screwdrivers.

• All the Leonard Nimoy feels. If Star Treks 1 and 11 were about a big evil thing approaching Earth, and 2 and 12 were about Khan, then 3 and 13 were definitely about the death of Spock Prime.

• The “green hand” reference. It’s a very subtle comical touch that doesn’t require you to know the TOS Enterprise was literally grabbed by a green hand.

• The ShipPorn. I don’t understand some of the reviews I’ve read that claim not enough time was spent “in space”. This movie has the best ShipPorn since Wrath of Khan. The most ShipPorn since the Motion Picture. The most quality Visible Ship Damage since Nemesis. Oh yes, I’m giving Nemesis some credit there.

• Uhura saving the day on at least three occasions. They’re kind of spoilers, so message me if you’re curious what they are.

• All the Bones/Spock dialogue.

• That this could have been an episode straight out of Star Trek Voyager. Oh sure, the TOS characterizations are there. But a swarm of ships? Voyager did it first. Being stranded on a planet? Voyager did it first. Showing massive ship damage? Voyager did it first. (Enterprise MIGHT have done it better, but Voyager did it first.)

• The VERY deft handling of Sulu having a husband and daughter. I counted only three times I saw Doug Jung (as Ben Sulu) in the movie. Blink-and-you’ll-miss-it, but they’re there.

• The soundtrack. While the nuTrek theme has been expanded, I’d swear I heard VERY appropriate nods to The Motion Picture and The Voyage Home. Like, if they were at any other points in the movie, they wouldn’t have made sense. Mild spoilers, so ask if you want my Trekkie opinion.

• Jaylah. “I have the beats and shouting.” “My house is breaking!” To say nothing of how she could probably beat Rey in a sparing match, if Rey didn’t use the Force. This is how you write strong female characters without shoving it in people’s faces. (Or females strongly; chicks don’t always need to be bad-ass physically or mentally to be well-written.) This isn’t her story, yet she can’t be Sexy Lamped.

• I was among those who were appalled when that first trailer dropped. It COMPLETELY MAKES SENSE now. Sabotage’s usage IS a campy and silly, yet the set-up totally works. Never forget that Star Trek has ALWAYS been campy and silly. NuTrek: Brought to you by the Beastie Boys. Also, Beastie Boys are now canonly “classical music”.

• We see less of that apple store known as the nuTrek USS Enterprise, and more of USS Franklin. Not to mention the apple store Enterprise in total disarray. This was an extremely wise decision, almost an apology for all those blinding lens flares that Star Trek 11 was known for.

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• After Kirk says “to absent friends”, there is a deliberate cut to a shot centering on Anton Yelchin’s Chekov. It’s the best they could do as a nod since the film was complete well before his accident. Very classy move, and gives the statement practically a quadruple entendre. (George Kirk, USS Enterprise, Leonard Nimoy, Anton Yelchin; not to mention their fellow crewmates.)

• Commodore Paris, a Voyager reference.

• A mention of the Xindi War, an Enterprise reference. (I adore the fan theory that Captain Edison might have served under Captain Archer of the NX-01.)

• The uniforms shown in an old USS Franklin video are inspired by the NX-01 enterprise uniforms. THANK YOU FOR DOING YOUR DAMNED HOMEWORK.

I think that about covers it without blatant spoilers or an elaborated/coherent review. I think my opinion is clear. Whatever negatives I felt on first watch, I simply can’t remember them easily after my third viewing. But the positives grows. It’s a film that feels slow on first watch, yet upon each rewatch you hope there’s a longer extended addition. That is how a good movie should feel. Simon Pegg’s an adept writer, and I can only fathom what ended up on the cutting room floor. If you like things that go boom, you should enjoy it from what you’ve absorbed about Star Trek via pop culture osmosis. And if you’re practically a living Memory Alpha like I am, you’ll enjoy it for all the things a casual moviegoer simply won’t catch.

Last updated August 05, 2016