Movie Review: "Star Trek Beyond"

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Yesterday was a power saver day in California, which means you’re supposed to use less energy, particularly between 2 and 6. Anymore, anytime the mercury rises over 90, one is supposed to go easy on the air conditioner. I look upon it as an obedience test. But that’s neither here nor there. My husband and I decided to go see a matinee. We saw Star Trek Beyond. We splurged and went for 3-D IMAX. The air conditioning was fantastic but the audience sparse. I can’t help but wonder if it wasn’t because, despite the fantastic special effects and the repeated—almost routine—death-defying escapes, this story has been told before. Roughly half-way through his five-year mission, Captain James T. Kirk is bored. After a humiliating ambassadorial stop on one planet, the ship puts in for maintenance work at a Space Station Yorktown on the edge of Federation Space. (Nor sure of the significance of the name. There have been numerous ships named Yorktown and, of course, I vaguely recall someone surrendering to George Washington a while back at Yorktown…) The visuals on the space station are quite nice, almost overwhelming. Dr. McCoy refers to it as “a snow globe.” An alien vessel approaches in obvious distress. The single occupant is told she’s not authorized to enter and to back away. She tells of being the sole escapee of a scientific expedition in the nebula and requests a rescue ship. Whaddya know, the Enterprise is the ship best equipped for such a mission. Into the nebula and beyond she goes. The Enterprise makes it through the nebula almost without a scratch and is immediately attacked. What could this alien people want? The ship’s weapons are useless against them. Well, this is a pickle, isn’t it? While the movie was entertaining, I couldn’t quite buy into it. Hull breaches in space don’t result in depressurization. In one scene, Scottie climbs out of his escape pod on the edge of a cliff. He slips and is left hanging over the precipice by his fingertips. The scene cuts away to some other part of the story. The next the viewer sees of Scotty, he’s walking along a trail, no worse for wear. So, yeah, it’s fun, but not to be taken too seriously. At the very end come two appropriate dedications: In loving memory of Leonard Nimoy. For Anton. Captain Kirk: Chris Pine Commander Spock: Zachary Quinto Lt. Commander Leonard McCoy: Karl Urban Lt. Nyota Uhura: Zoe Saldana Lt. Commander Montgomery Scott: Simon Pegg Lt. Hikaru Sulu: John Cho