From Star Wars to Star Trek (and no, do not ask me to say which one is best - I can never answer that) and whilst I didn't visit the cinema for this one, I recently caught up via DVD with the 3rd film of the new, revamped 21st century Star Trek (following J.J Abraham's Star Trek of 2009, and Star Trek Into Darkness of 2013 - see BLOG ARCHIVE for my review). So, here is my brief take.
Though there was no J.J Abraham's in the director's chair this time (as he was probably busy defecting toward Star Wars at the time) he did Executive Produce, with Justin Lin at the helm and a script written by Scotty himself, Simon Pegg.
And broadly speaking, I feel this third outing gave us more of the same, and that is probably no bad thing. We got an evolution sure in terms of new plot, and occasionally in terms of character - but mostly it was still a modern classic of a Star Trek romp.
In fact, possibly all too predictably, there were some of the new elements I did not really take to. I thought the main antagonistic elements of this new story were a bit thin in terms of plausibility and indeed impact. The idea of a wormhole leading to a planet ruled by former Starfleet personnel who had become mutated and devolved and unspeakably evil over time, and who commanded a "sentient space swarm" and sought to devour the universe just did not really sit well with me. Even for Star Trek, it did just seem a bit too far-fetched; no doubt it made for some great action and visually stunning scenes, but in terms of a plot device for carrying threat, to me it just didn't work (possibly because I'm comparing too much to the glory that was Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan in the previous film).
Heading this new threat as the main villain of the piece, was new addition Idris Elba. Now do not get me wrong, I like many freely acknowledge that Idris Elba is a great acting talent, but I feel they robbed him of some of his impact in covering him with prosthetics, and muffling and distorting his voice. His character Krall's villainous backstory and impact was lacking already for me as I've said, so robbing, or at least muting the core charisma and impetus of the actor behind him seemed like a bad move to me - I certainly found Idris Elba to be at his best during parts of the film when he looked and sounded like Idris Elba, not Krall; at that point he owned the screen as he often does, but sadly most of the time as a true Star Trek villain he just did not have the evil impact for me.
Anyway, new villainous elements falling flat aside - most of the elements we have now come to know and love from this new Star Trek franchise were present and correct, and with them I could not find much fault. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto as Kirk and Spock were great as per, as were Zoe Saldana as Uhura and interestingly Karl Urban as Bones distinguished himself a tad more too. You could tell Simon Pegg was being a tad narcissistic in giving Scotty a bit more spotlight but he carried it off well, and importantly it was wonderfully touching and joyous to see Star Trek say goodbye to an utter legend in marking the passing of Leonard Nimoy as Spock Prime, and tragically we got to see Anton Yelchin own the character of Pavel Chekov for the final time.
So, good enough story, great action, stunning music, a few light-hearted moments, and plenty of those wonderful Trek elements we have come to expect. Not the most mind-blowing film in the Star Trek saga but certainly not the worst, and though it will sadly be without a few key players - I am looking forward to the next outing, if and when it beams onto our viewing screens.
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