Going into the San Diego Comic-Con premiere of Star Trek Beyond I was a bet nervous. Sure, I’m a huge Trek fan (even of these reboots), but the first few trailers seemed to give very inconsistent messages about what we were getting.

Thankfully, the movie over performed and provided one of the best action experiences this year. In a movie industry that has become startlingly devoid of color and life, Star Trek Beyond tells a story of hope, of courage, and of the interpersonal relationships that are the reason we love these characters.

And this is where Star Trek Beyond really shines; The characters. With the reboot suffering from not being tied to a series this meant that the character development has never been quite there. The original series and TNG both had long, and much-loved runs before they ventured into more action oriented films. And that’s just the thing with Star Trek; The shows build stories while the films are fun action set-pieces. Well, the even numbered one anyway.

The first Star Trek reboot in 2009 got away without real character development because we needed to spend most of the film introducing characters and their roles in this new universe. Into Darkness did a bit to dive deeper into this new timeline, but ultimately failed because of having to rely far too much on the past, with the film ending up a predictable, off target rehash.

Star Trek Beyond works because it not only still ties in lore from TOS canon, but pulls from Enterprise (a show that deserves a second chance in my opinion) and even nods directly to the classic Trek films. There are so many little nods and names that Trek fans will probably want repeat viewing to pinpoint them all. From the Xindi to certain names mentioned, fans are going to get a kick out of it.

In this third installment we finally get an original story that leaves viewers on the edge of their seat not knowing what is going to happen next. The film also moves at a blistering pace with the Enterprise being taken out of action quite early in the film.

This destruction from a new type of enemy throws the team off balance, but also sets them up into small teams working to come back together and save the whole of the Federation from a threat that they themselves may have helped create. This plot point really helps to connect the audience with the villain in a way few other Trek shows or films did.

There is a lot of action in Star Trek Beyond, more so than maybe both prior films combined. But the way it worked was really enjoyable to see unfold. The cinematography was simply fantastic with long pans across the ship and fast cuts to other locales that were simply stunning and extremely smooth.

The IMAX experience sure helped, but there was a grand vision at play here from the team behind the film at it really shows. The ship and her crew felt more alive than ever this time around, but even amongst all the action the writers did an amazingly job of balancing it all.

Star Trek Beyond was the first film this year that really felt like a complete package. It has action while providing ample time to build the interpersonal relationships of the primary cast. It also injected comedy at just the right moments which provided a breather for the terrible situation the crew finds itself in.

I was especially happy to see Beyond place the focus more on McCoy and Spock’s relationship than that of Kirk and Spock’s. Most people know how close Kirk and Spock are, but McCoy is an integral part of this space threesome, and it was great seeing them connect on a deeper level.

There are a lot of elements at play in Star Trek Beyond and in the end we get the sort of Star Trek film we’ve been waiting for. All the cast is at their best and while Anton Yelchin is no longer with us, he will always be remembered thanks to the fine work he put into this film.

There is also a lovely scene where the film addresses the passing of the original Spock (Leonard Nemoy) in a really beautiful and emotional way. If this is the sort of Trek we can expect then I am really happy for what lies beyond.

Star Trek Beyond opens in theaters this Friday

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J. Luis

J. Luis is the current Editor-In-Chief here at GAMbIT. With a background in investigative journalism his work encompasses the pop-culture spectrum here, but he also works in the political spectrum for other organizations.

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