Quick Thoughts on Star Trek: Beyond

So my wife and I saw the movie last night, and I wanted to get down a few thoughts before they fade too much. I didn’t have high expectations for this movie. I had heard that some of the early drafts were rejected for being “too Star Treky” and that the movie would be more of a standard action sci-fi, rather than an actual Star Trek movie. I also heard that it would be an original story that didn’t incorporate any of the original series settings or villains. So, while I knew that I wanted to see the movie, I was expecting it to be just okay.

I was pleasantly surprised. I think Beyond is much better than Into Darkness was, and actually more of a Star Trek movie than either of the previous installments (or at least closer to Roddenberry’s original vision of the Star Trek universe).

There were a few things that pulled me out of the movie. It is a little hokey, but it’s Star Trek, so that’s forgivable. The in-story tributes to Leonard Nimoy and Anton Yelchin were just a little too heavy handed, but appreciated and tasteful. Lastly, the method of getting modern music into the film was quite a stretch.

None of those issues ruined the movie. It was a lot of fun, much funnier than I expected, and full of the action and explosions that you’d expect from the series. I’m actually considering going to see it again soon, which isn’t something I normally do, but there was enough going on in the movie, and it was so entertaining that it might be worth it.