Star Trek: Beyond review

Last night I went to the movies. It was a toss-up between Star Trek and Jason Bourne. I can still vividly remember the first time I saw Star Trek (TOS). It was 1970 and TV in New Zealand was one B&W channel. My parents chose this particular moment to lecture me. Don't ask me what the lecture was about. I watched that entire episode with the volume turned down. It was a Wordsworthian moment. He'd have had fun talking about "stationary blasts of waterfalls." S1E1 is my Simplon Pass. I remember my emotions clearly. Last evening's movie weaved elements from TOS very cleverly. Watershed moments are just that. I started writng this review after viewing ComicBookGirl19 on YouTube. Karl Urban is the glue that binds the main characters together, and he gets the best lines. "Just perfect." He has great timing, and for a Kiwi, I reckon he has caught the elements of the character played so well by DeForest Kelly perfectly. When the movie ended I could tell that the theatre was full of Trekkies as we all watched the credits roll. For my money, this is probably one of the best ST movies of any iteration. I'd still rate "The Voyage Home" as the best, but this one set out to be fun, and to show us the characters in a little more depth. ComicbookGirl points out that there's a limit to how much you can do that in a movie, and she's right. There are lots of clever little nuances you might miss, but I bet George Takei went "Oh my!" when John Cho meets up with his family at Yorktown. 

Other reviewers have said that the movie is a lot of fun but lacking in substance. I disagree. It deals cleverly with the theme of what brings people together to make them a team. It deals with relationships on more than one level, and it does it with great subtleness. Yes, this movie is about the action, and at times the viewer feels thrown off balance, so clever are the angles and shot selections.

Finally, I loved the tribute to Leonard Nimoy and how it was woven into the story-line. This movie is a winner on so many levels. Trekkies from all walks of life will love it. Good on JJ Abrams for breathing new life into the Star Trek World.