“Almost Perfection”

 I am a Sci-Fi fan and the Star Trek movies are some of my favourite movies. I love the characters and the cast and I am looking forward to seeing the next issue in the franchise.

This is the first movie that JJ Abrams isn’t directing and instead Justin Lim has taken over the reins. Abrams has stayed on as a producer but I admit I had a couple of worries about changing to a different director in a trilogy. Lim we know from the Fast and the Furious franchise so he understands about the character development throughout a franchise and is a big fan of Star Trek so I think it was a great decision to bring him on.

In an interview from 19^th July 2016 with Hey U Guys Lin said “Star Trek should be equally compelling in a space war as it should be in two characters talking, it has limitless opportunities.” Unfortuately only a month before this interview was conducted Anton Yelchin (Checkov) was involved in a freak accident which led to his death. (Lin, 2016)

At the time of his death Yelchin had finished his scenes but the film was still in production and editing. Chris Pine said on Good Morning America “Our group if anything is a group of friends and family and it was nice to have them around to process what happened and pay tribute to who Anton was and to remember him and his smile and ride the waves of grief together.” I think this is a beautiful sentiment and shows how they have become so close during the filming of these three films.  (Pine, 2016)

As well as Yelchin’s tragic passing the cast and crew were also mourning the loss of Leonard Nimoy who played the original Spock, who passed away in February 2015. They were able to pay tribute to them both in a meaningful way. In the script Spock gets the news that older ambassador Spock Prime has passed away. Whilst going through his things Spock discovers an old photo of the original cast from the tv show. This memorialised the 50 year anniversary of Star Trek as well as one of its Stars. Quinto said “I feel like it was very important for me to find a way to include him in this film. And I thought that Simon Pegg and Doug Jung, our writers, did a beautiful job of really weaving him into the narrative, and not having it be a fleeting acknowledgement…”. (Oldies, 2016)

At the end of the movie they are toasting to “The enterprise, to absent friends”, at this point the camera lingers over Chekov and at the end of the credits it says “In memory of Leonard Nimoy” and “For Anton”. A touching sentiment.

Another issue that they faced during production was the choice to make Sulu gay as an homage to George Takei. I (as well as the World) were worried about how they would handle this and bring this into the story as it is a touchy subject nowadays. I think the way they did it was beautiful. Simple and beautiful. Sulu ran up to his daughter when they are at Yorktown and then it is revealed he has a husband who simply puts his arm around him as they walk away together. According to John Cho there was a kissing scene that was edited out. I think that not having the kissing scene was a good move as you can just feel the emotion without it being too in your face. I loved it. (Edwards, 2016)

This was not all doom and gloom and in fact is a very funny film. Simon Pegg joined the writers and I believe gave us some great quotes.

Spock: Fear of death is illogical.

Bones: Fear of death is what keeps us alive.

 

Kirk: Better to die saving lives than killing them.

 

Jaylah: Engineering.

Scotty: Aye, that’s right. I fix things. (Lin, Star Trek Beyond, 2016)

As much as I loved the film it wasn’t perfect. I noticed a couple of errors. The one that bugged me the most was when the crew are escaping the Enterprise in the Kelvin pods. When they get out of the pods suddenly Chekov and Kirk have changed clothes.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Another continuity problem I discovered was with Kalara. She obviously does not speak English and she is speaking using the Universal Translator. This automatically turns whatever she was saying into English BUT we always hear her speak in her alien language before the English kicks in. Sometimes this doesn’t always happen. Although this isn’t a big issue I just found that this took me out of the film a bit, which was a shame as I felt so enveloped in the film.

As per usual you know my issues with 3D films but when it comes to Sci-Fi and Space it is amazing. With the 3D it was visually spectacular, I can’t help but have a huge smile on my face. 4 stars.

RIP Anton and Leonard ❤ Live Long And Prosper

Director: Justin Lim

Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Anton Yelchin, Zoe Saldana, Keith Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho,

Crew:  JJ Abrams (Producer)

Genre: Sci-Fi Action

Rating: 12A

Works Cited

Edwards, V. (2016, July 23). Star Trek could have ‘boldly gone’ even further: Actor John Cho reveals that a kiss between the new film’s openly gay Sulu and his partner was edited out. Retrieved from Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3704889/Star-Trek-boldly-gone-New-film-omitted-sex-kissing-scene-featured-sci-fi-franchise-s-openly-gay-character-Sulu.html

Lin, J. (2016, July 19). Director Justin Lin Exclusive Interview – Star Trek Beyond. (HeyUGuys, Interviewer)

Lin, J. (Director). (2016). Star Trek Beyond [Motion Picture].

Oldies, C. H. (2016, July 25). “Star Trek Beyond’s” Zachary Quinto Remembers Leonard Nimoy, Anton Yelchin. Retrieved from Classic Hits and Oldies: http://www.classichitsandoldies.com/v2/74423/

Pine, C. (2016, July 19). Chris Pine Interview on ‘STAR TREK BEYOND’ & Anton Yelchin | Good Morning America. (G. M. America, Interviewer)

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2016/07/19/star-trek-beyond-cast-talks-anton-yelchins-death-it-will-never-stop-being-terrible.html

http://www.etonline.com/news/193383_exclusive_star_trek_beyond_cast_members_remember_anton_yelchin_ahead_of_film_release/

http://gb.imdb.com/title/tt2660888/?ref_=rvi_tt