STAR TREK : BEYOND - Tuesday 26th July 2016.

I saw 'STAR TREK : BEYOND' in 3D this week because it was the only option at a time that suited me, but, it does add value! 'Star Trek' as we know it had its humble beginnings as an NBC television series back in 1966, which ran for just three seasons - having been cancelled in 1969 because of declining ratings. Series creator Gene Roddenberry always wanted to continue the series in film first pitching the idea in 1969, but it would be another ten years before the small screen series made it to the big screen - largely off the back of syndicated series re-runs during the 70's which proved to be a whole lot more popular second time around. Released in time for Christmas 1979, the first film 'Star Trek : The Motion Picture' reunited the television cast for US$35M, returning a worldwide gross of US$139M. Throughout the 80's there were a further five films up until 1991with 'The Next Generation' taking over in 1994 and running though until 2002, culminating with 'Nemesis' - the worst performing film of the franchise to date making just US$67M from its US$60M outlay. Then in 2009 Director J.J.Abrams got hold of the franchise for an overdue and much needed reboot with 'Star Trek' and followed this up in 2013 with 'Star Trek : Into Darkness' - the latter proving the most successful of the franchise so far yielding a return of US$467M from its US$185M budget. The first twelve films were made for a combined US$540M and returned a collective US$1,931B, with this film, the thirteenth, made for US$185M and released in the 50th anniversary year of that original television series going to air. So far the film has grossed US$161M.

And so to this next instalment. Co-Written by Simon Pegg - a self confessed Trekkie and Chief Engineer of the USS Enterprise, Scottie, and Directed by Justin Lin who Directed the 'Fast & Furious films 3, 4, 5 and 6' to huge Box Office success, with J.J.Abrams taking a Producer credit on this one. Here the rebooted crew are reunited once again as we find them mid-way through their five year journey to go boldly where no man has gone before, en route to dock with the only recently completed, shining, bright and new deep-space starbase 'Yorktown'. As the film opens after an engaging scene where Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) is on some distant planet with a goodwill gift offering to some 'Gremlin' like inhabitants that doesn't go quite according to plan, he is transported back to the USS Enterprise where through an introductory narrative we learn that life out in deep deep space for so long has become very hum drum, routine and mundane with Kirk beginning to question the purpose of their five year long mission to probe the outer reaches of the universe. 

Docking with the star base 'Yorktown' laid out in all its deep space steel, glass and technological glory is a visual spectacle especially in 3D, and here we learn that Kirk has applied for a Vice Admiral promotion based on the Yorktown which would essentially mean life on the ground and no more flying for Captain Kirk. He recommends Spock (Zachary Quinto) as the new Captain of the Enterprise, who has just learned that Ambassador Spock has recently passed away (Leonard Nimoy died during pre-production of the film). 

In a Yorktown command centre, an advancing escape pod is intercepted drifting from a nearby nebula containing a survivor named Kalara who claims that her ship and her people are stranded on Altamid, a planet in the nebula. The Enterprise is the most technically advanced ship in the fleet and so Kirk agrees to a rescue mission, and musters his crew. However, once inside the nebula and navigating through a sea of giant rocks their rescue mission turns into an ambush as the Enterprise is overcome by a huge swarm of small attack ships that quickly dismantle the ship leaving it venerable to the as yet unknown enemy. 

The enemy quickly manifests itself in the form of alien being Krall (Idris Elba), who boards the ship and begins to overthrow all those in their path as they search for an alien artifact called the 'Abronath' - that Kirk and Spock have in their possession, and which Kirk has attempted to give to the 'Gremlins' at the introduction. Kirk is able to stow the Abronath away as the Enterprise is systematically torn apart by the swarm, and for as long as possible Krall and his army search the ship unsuccessfully. With all hope for salvaging the now heavily disabled Enterprise, Kirk gives the order to abandon ship, as the saucer section is all that remains and begins its decent into the planet below. The crew do so in a multitude of escape pods, which are quickly picked up by the returning attack ships.

As those escape pods not captured by the returning swarm come to land on the planet they are spread far and wide over mountainous terrain. Sulu (John Choo) and Uhura (Zoe Saldana) are rounded up by Krall's foot soldiers. Kirk and Pavell (Anton Yelchin) round up with Kalara to find the wreckage of the Enterprise saucer in the hope that they can establish communication with other survivors. Spock and Bones (Karl Urban) come down close to each other and meet up although Spock is wounded to his stomach by a large piece of shrapnel. Scottie (Simon Pegg) is alone in the forest wondering what to do next when he is set up on by some alien no good types and is promptly rescued by Jaylah (Sofia Boutella) an alien scavenger with a particular set of skills who has previously escaped from Krall's prison camp, and we learn that Krall's second-in-command was responsible for the death of her father. So she has a axe to grind with Krall and his types.

At this point in the film we focus on the three separated groups as they attempt to regroup, while Krall plots an attack on the Yorktown initially and then the wider Federation. Jaylah takes Scottie under her wing and leads him to her 'house' which it turns out is the USS Franklin - the wrecked Starfleet ship that disappeared mysteriously over one hundred years ago. Jaylah has used her cunning engineering skills to reboot the fallen vessel, and with Scottie's help is able to get the ship almost operational again - it could just be their ticket outta Dodge! 

Whilst working on they ship which has been invisibly cloaked from view, an alarm is triggered by a trap laid by Jaylah that has ensnared both Kirk and Pavell, reuniting these characters. They make the Franklin their base of operations and together plot their move on Krall to free the survivors of the Enterprise. With the Franklin's old but still serviceable technology Kirk, Pavell, Scottie and Jaylah are able to locate Spock and Bones and beam them up, so reuniting the team to devise their plan to free their colleagues in Krall's captivity.

Meanwhile, Krall eventually gets his hands on the Abronath, that has been secretly concealed by one of the captive Enterprise crew. It transpires that this is one half of a sophisticated age old bioweapon created by the original inhabitants of Altamid, that can destroy humanoid lifeforms in a matter of seconds. Now armed with this missing half, Krall can complete the weapon and set his mission in train, beginning with his wholesale attack on Yorktown. With the rescue mission of those crew members held captive successful and them all beamed up to the Franklin, Kirk gives the order for the now fired up ship to hot foot it to Yorktown to intercept the swarm and Krall.

The question is now how to foil the swarm that so rapidly and so efficiently all but destroyed the Enterprise, in a ship that is one hundred years her senior and with less sophisticated technology. Spock hits upon an idea to treat the bioweapon like a swarm of bees and so you confuse one you confuse them all that leads to their collective downfall. Send a VHF jamming signal to halt their communication with each other, confuse the hell out of them and the swarm will self destruct . . . and it does - leaving just Krall and a few remaining officers heading full bore into Yorktown pursued by Kirk and the Franklin.

By now Krall's true identity has been revealed and as it turns out he has a lot in common with the Federation, has a reason to be pissed and wanting to take out bitter revenge on those that he believes did him wrong in the past. Krall escapes on foot having survived the wreckage of being pursued and downed by the Franklin. He heads up a ventilation shaft with the aim of activating the bioweapon on the one million or so citizens of Yorktown, and is chased by Kirk. This all leads to some pretty fancy footwork and close quarter fist fighting in zero gravity that is rendered well in 3D high above the city below. Needless to say it doesn't end well for Krall who is ejected into the vacuum of deep space where he is engulfed and quickly consumed by his own unleashed bioweapon.

Alls well that ends well, as the crew are reunited on a safe and secured Yorktown, except for some minor collateral damage. They gather to celebrate Kirk's birthday, as Kirk turns down the offer for promotion in favour of remaining in command of a newly constructed USS Enterprise-A rather than being a desk bound grounded Vice Admiral. Spock opens a box from Ambassador Spock and within its contents is a photograph of the Enterprise crew - their future selves (as depicted by Shatner, Nimoy, Kelley, Takei et al).

I enjoyed 'Star Trek : Beyond' and in having Simon Pegg co-script has added a tone of originality and a throw back to the Star Trek of old that combines adventure, escapism, spectacle, fun and humour to the storyline. The 3D is worth the added cost especially for the scenes of the Yorktown and the early demise of the Enterprise under attack from an all powerful, ruthless and relentless enemy. The cast have by now settled into their roles with a familiarity and comfort factor that makes them watchable and relatable, and Director Justin Lin knows how to deliver on the action set pieces on an epic scale and with confidence. Worth seeing on the big screen and worth the price of your ticket for sure.  'Star Trek 4' has just been announced, with expectations the crew will return together with Chris Hemsworth as Captain Kirk's father, George Kirk. This film is dedicated to the memories of Leonard Nimoy and Anton Yelchin.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-