Aubrey Malone
Star Trek Beyond (12A)
Times have been changing for the Starship Enterprise since 2009 when Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto took over the roles William Shatner and the late lamented Leonard Nimoy immortalised on the much-loved TV series.
A sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness, followed in 2013. Now we have the third instalment of the trilogy with our new big screen cast.
Despite all that, some things never change. Mr Shatner may have got his P45 but Captain Kirk is still going boldly where no man has gone before. And Spock still has the pointy ears, the slanted eyebrows and a fringe that looks like a reject from The Beatles.
This latest offering is set on a remote planet three years into a five-year mission. Our intrepid heroes attempt a Good Samaritan-style rescue operation but it rebounds on them due to duplicity. Instead they find themselves being attacked by a ferocious enemy.
Spock gets injured and Captain Kirk is separated from his crew. How is he going to re-unite with them and get them back to earth safely?
Co-written by Simon Pegg, who also appears in the film as Scotty – the funniest role – it’s directed by Justin Lin, the man beyond The Fast and the Furious. It certainly is that, right up to the climactic space battle, which will take your breath – and possibly your eardums – away.
This is action with a capital A, a real zinger that grabs you by the throat from the explosive first scene and doesn’t let go for 100 minutes. It also has some great lines, like Sofia Boutella’s “take my house and make it fly”. Wouldn’t you love to have written that?
What we’re really looking at is a group of reconstructed James Bonds in spacesuits. We have the same tongue-in-cheek delivery, the same nonchalance in the face of danger. Spock and Bones get most of the best lines, Captain Kirk retreating into the background somewhat as the convoluted plot unfolds around him. Idris Elba is the surprise package of the piece but I won’t tell you how.
Human interest
There’s a lot of technical mumbo-jumbo about astromaths and nebulas and terminal velocity etc. for the geeky brigade but also a degree of human interest. This comes to us in the guise of double agents, divided loyalties, and some ruminations on duty and mortality from Captain Kirk and Spock respectively.
Such seems to be a mandatory innovation in the contemporary actioner. They’ve already done it with Batman and Superman. (Suddenly it’s not enough to save the world anymore. You have to know why you’re doing it.)
This is a Saturday afternoon movie. More Steven Spielberg than Ridley Scott, it’s one for all the family. Adults can go to it with their children in the same sneaky frame of mind as the man who buys a train set for his son for Christmas…because he wants to play with it himself.
Beam me up, Scotty.
Very Good ****