A Reel Life film section

Issue: Winter 2016

Star Trek Beyond (2016) movie review

Star Trek Beyond Tones Down Special Effects For A Winning Formula

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This is where the frontier pushes back.

In "Beyond" the Enterprise crew explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a mysterious new enemy who puts them and everything the Federation stands for to the test.

Star Trek Beyond the new Star Trek movie takes us back to the spirit of the original series while incorporating the wonders of modern filmmaking to create the thrills and spills. Directed by Taiwanese director Justin Lin and shot by Australian Stephen F. Windon, both known for their work on the Fast and Furious franchise, we are given a tight and credible action feature.

Left to right: Zachary Quinto plays Spock, Sofia Boutella plays Jaylah and Karl Urban plays Bones in Star Trek Beyond from Paramount Pictures, Skydance, Bad Robot, Sneaky Shark and Perfect Storm Entertainment Photo credit: Kimberley French © 2016 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

Simon Pegg, who plays Scotty, co-wrote the script with Doug Jung and it really shows. Here there is a real respect for the strengths of the original series. Rather than relying on the whiz bang special effects the importance of characters in lived in settings returns us to the elements that made Star Trek such a winner for audiences in a movie world awash with blockbusters.

Here we have the laughs, the sentimentality as well as the action. The film is surprisingly funny with strong character development with reincarnations of the original ensemble cast.

We have a jaded Captain Kirk played by Chris Pine, dealing with cabin fever after a long stint in space; Spock played by Zachary Quinto who is mourning his mentor Ambassador Spock (the original Spock) and dealing with his love life; Bones Karl Urban who gets the best comic lines in the whole picture; and Scotty played by Simon Pegg working miracles in the bowels of the ship. Mr Sulu is there and some new characters balancing out the script. Idris Elba plays a very good baddy here and there is a lovely piece of makeup on the truly alien looking beauty Jayla (Sofia Boutella) they find stranded on the planet where all the action happens.

Some great space special effects making it worthwhile to wait and watch the credits as well. It is a real return to form. Very enjoyable.

For film clips and more photos, see Ali's review of Star Trek Beyond.

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Left to right: Zoe Saldana as Lieutenant Uhura and John Cho as Lieutenant Sulu in Star Trek Beyond from Paramount Pictures, Skydance, Bad Robot, Sneaky Shark and Perfect Storm Entertainment
Photo Credit: Stephen Windon; ©2015 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

Star Trek Beyond - Rihanna - Sledgehammer

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by Annie McLoughlin Australian release 21 July 2016 US release 22 July 2016 For credits and official site details, see below Search Festivale for more work by the film-makers below. See also: Another trailer on YouTube

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Just the facts: Title: Star Trek Beyond (2016) Written by: Simon Pegg & Doug Jung and Roberto Orci & John D. Payne & Patrick McKay (written by); Gene Roddenberry (television series "Star Trek") Directed by: Justin Lin Running time: mins Rating: The Players: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Idris Elba, Karl Urban, Sofia Boutella, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Shohreh Aghdashloo Official website: www.startrek.com IMDb entry For session times of current films, use the cinema listings on the Movie links page. For scheduled release dates, see the coming attractions section. For more information about this movie, check out the internet movie database. For the latest additions to Festivale, check out the change history section.

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