Star Trek Beyond Reviews Are In
Star Trek Beyond is the thirteenth film in the Star Trek film franchise and the third installment in the reboot series after Star Trek Into Darkness (2013). Directed by Justin Lin (mostly known for his Fast and Furious movies) Star Trek Beyond continues JJ Abrams’ rebooted Star Trek series with the same cast from the previous two films (Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Jon Cho, and the late Anton Yelchin). It doesn’t come out until Friday but early reviews have already poured in.
This past weekend, many early reviews surfaced and so far the feedback is very good. It has a 89 per cent fresh rating (at time of writing) on Rotten Tomatoes and it is averaging a 71 on Metacritic with 14 reviews in. All in all, that is really positive for the movie. We should see some more reviews roll in as the week progresses but regardless those are some promising review scores.
Despite the positive reviews, the average scores are lower when compared to the 2009 Star Trek movie which averaged an 82 on Metacritic and only slightly lower than Star Trek Into Darkness 72 average from 2013. Yes, it is still early and Beyond could finish ahead of Darkness but there is really no hope of catching the 2009 movie at this point. Still, a 71 is hardly a flop and is an excellent average for any summer blockbuster.
Hitfix.com gave the movie a perfect score and said this about the film:
“By the time the film wraps up, not only have they paid onscreen tribute to the legacy of the great Leonard Nimoy, but they’ve also paid an accidental but moving tribute to Anton Yelchin. It is a film that fully acknowledges that it is meant to serve as a 50th anniversary celebration as much as a movie, and it does so by telling a good Star Trek story with an extra-careful emphasis on great Star Trek characters. Michael Giacchino remains my favorite currently working big movie composer. His original Star Trek theme is one of the best pop themes in a while, and the way he leans into the earlier themes in this film is beautifully done. Everyone appears to have brought their A-game in the tech departments, and it’s a gorgeous SF adventure on a purely visual level. If you’re even remotely interested in a new Star Trek film, this feels like everything you could have asked for. Here’s hoping the great adventure continues for another 50 years from here.”
On the flip side, Entertainment Weekly gave the movie one of the lowest scores:
“I don’t want to sound too nit-picky and churlish. But the Trekverse is something that really means something to people. For them, Beyond is a fine movie, it’s just not a very good Star Trek movie. After all, as summer releases have gotten more and more and sensational and trivial, the Trek franchise could always be counted on to serve up some smarts along with its sci-fi action beats. With Beyond, it feels like just another summer tentpole with not enough going on underneath the tent.”
The Hollywood Reporter was one of the more favourable reviews and said this:
“One of the chief strengths of the reboot series remains its appealing young cast, who approach their iconic characters with respect while keeping their performances loose, enlivening their camaraderie with reciprocal warmth and understated humor. Elba’s fierce charisma at first seems obscured beneath layers of prosthetic armor and a Darth Vader-esque heavy-breather voicebox (there are nods to both the Star Wars and Alien universes). But the actor’s powerful physicality is evident throughout, and he gets to explore a fuller range in the climactic scenes, as Krall’s true identity is revealed. While Beyond won’t unseat 1982’s thrilling The Wrath of Khan as the gold standard for Star Trekmovies, it’s a highly entertaining entry guaranteed to give the franchise continuing life.”
What do you think of the scores so far? Are you going to see Star Trek Beyond? Tell us in the comments below.