QUICK REVIEW: Star Trek Beyond (Spoiler-Free)

Howdy ladies and gents how’s it going? Today I’m here to finally review Star Trek Beyond, a film that I’ve been cautiously optimistic for a while now. So yesterday I went to Cineworld for a film triple to check out Star Trek, Into Darkness and Beyond, and I LOVED having the chance to see the 2009 film in the cinema again, and it was also rewatch Into Darkness for the first time since 2013. However it was so annoying how the projectionist messed up the image twice for around 10 or so minutes on the first two films that totally ruined my immersion, but luckily Beyond‘s screening was fine. Now I loved the first film and Into Darkness I liked at the time, but have since become a less interested in it, but now its time to pass judgement on Beyond! 😀

So the story can be described as the following:

“The USS Enterprise crew explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a new ruthless enemy who puts them and everything the Federation stands for to the test.”

I thought story was interesting was pretty good because it felt smaller in scale but still had all the right amount of importance, drama, adventure and action like that this series has become known for. This film was a lot more thought-provoking, intimate and character-driven than before. I also appreciated how this film really got into explored the life and times of the Enterprise crew and got into the psyche of the main characters and fleshed out their personal lives too. And while there were certain elements that I predicted, it was still a fairly entertaining story that felt very in line with the 60’s Star Trek TV show and had some nice references to the past for long-term fans.

The cast all did an admirable job in their roles. Chris Pine was great as Captain James T. Kirk, I appreciated how he’d matured from the previous films and started to feel the weight of being the captain of his ship. Equally good was Zachary Quinto as Spock, it was interesting to see him such a different mindset and in a vulnerable state, but luckily he still provides some really great humour through his Vulcan demeanour.  It was great to see Karl Urban again as Bones as he felt like the voice of reason and had some of the best humour, seeing Simon Pegg back as Scotty was great as he some really funny and important moments. I also liked how Zoe Saldana had more to do in this film as Nyota Uhura, John Cho was also really good as Sulu, and finally out the returning crew, Anton Yelchin as Chekov was delightful and had some cool moments, and it was both great and saddening to see this film after Yelchin’s death. This film also continued to illustrate the wonderful friendship and banter between the main Enterprise crew especially with Kirk’s connection to Spock and Bone. As for the new cast members, Idris Elba as Krall was fairly generic and uninteresting at first, but by the end of the film he became a more interesting character with extra layers of depth, and Sofia Boutella did well as Jaylah, for a character I didn’t expect to like she had a lot of great comedic and badass action moments, plus her motivation and interaction with Kirk’s crew was great.

When it comes to the presentation was pretty solid. Visually the film was large in scale with some good cinematography, nice and thrilling action sequences, and cool hand-to-hand combat. Though some of the CGI looked a little lacking in detail though I’m not sure if that was because of the 3D glasses). And finally Michael Giacchino returns for the film score, and brings such a bombastic and charismatic sound that was consistent with the previous films, though I believe this soundtrack lacked the intensity and style that I loved his work with the first and second film.

In conclusion Star Trek Beyond was a pretty good film and was much better than I expected, and while it may not be my favourite in this new set of Star Trek films, it was certainly a good session. I recommend this for sure. 🙂

So are you going to see Star Trek Beyond and if have you seen it what did you think of it? Also what’s your favourite film out this new trilogy so far?

 

Star Trek Into Darkness Review

It’s 2013 and we now have Star Trek Into Darkness, a film I’ve waited 4 long years to see. After the success of 2009’s Star Trek I knew that a sequel was coming. This new film looks bigger and darker than before, plus it has Benedict Cumberbatch as the villain, how could the film fail right? So does this film succeed in being awesome or does fall short of the previous film’s quality? Read on and find out!

So the story for this film is as follows:

“After the crew of the Enterprise find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction.”

I really liked the story in this film, it was basically an epic game of cat and mouse between the members of the Enterprise and John Harrison. It was crafted in a lovely way with a great deal drama, danger, mystery and sacrifice. The story in this film takes place not to long after the last film and has some great connections to not only the last Star Trek film but other films in the series and the TV show. There was some great developments for the returning characters as well as the new ones who make their mark in this film. The pacing was good and at not point did it feel like the plot was dragging though at first as good as the story was it didn’t get really good until John Harrison came to the forefront of the story.

While the story is great, it is the cast that brings these characters to life and makes you care about the events that’s taking place around them. So let’s start with the returning cast starting with Chris Pine as James T. Kirk. I loved Pine as Kirk in the last film, his new interpretation on the character and the transition into the on from the original TV show was great and he continues his good acting in this new film. Here Kirk has a lot more of an emotional story arc and it really tests him as not only a person but as a leader of his crew. And then there’s Zachary Quinto as Spock was simply fabulous! I thought he was incredible in the last film especially with his more emotional interpretation of the character and in this film it is taken to new heights, Quinto was made for this role and really has some great moments verbally and physically too. Also I like how the relationship between Kirk and Spock was still at the forefront of the film and was developed even more than before, Pine and Quinto still have incredibly good chemistry.

As for the rest of the Enterprise crew their still all on top form. Karl Urban as Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy is still funny, enjoyable and has good screen time with Kirk. Zoe Saldana is still hot and efficient as Nyota Uhura and Simon Pegg is still awesome and hilarious as Montgomery “Scotty” Scott too. Also John Cho and Anton Yelchin are still cool as Hikaru Sulu and Pavel Chekov. Even Bruce Greenwood as does great returning once again as Christopher Pike.

As for the newcomers, Alice Eve and Peter Weller add some interesting elements to the story as Carol Wallace and Starfleet Admiral Alexander Marcus.

But the standout performance has to be from Benedict Cumberbatch as John Harrison, HE WAS A BEAST! That is the best way to describe him really. I loved his performance in this film, Harrison plays this former agent of Starfleet who’s now got a beef with them and wants to take down th organization. There is a lot of mystery surrounding his character and the less you know the better really because as the mystery unfolds you get to discover so much and it’ll be totally surprising. Cumberbatch is insanely badass in this film delivering lines and fighting people with intensity, fear and tenacity. Cumberbatch definitely sold the film for me, I thought he was a truly incredible nemesis for the Enterprise crew and he definitely made up for Eric Bana’s Nero in the last film.

He’s such a badass, only badass people smash through glass like that.

When it comes to the presentation of Star Trek Into Darkness I would honestly say that it is pretty much on par with the 2009. Industrial Light & Magic still know how to make some damn good-looking CGI, there are some great scenes and sequences crafted whether they be on Earth, an alien planet or in space, wherever it is it looks incredible. There some truly epic and larger-than-life spectacles to take in from space battles to seeing the Enterprise in warp drive, it’s just awesome stuff! As for the soundtrack, Michael Giacchino returns as composer and he delivers some truly awesome music while retaining some of the themes from the previous film. There is a music for every scenario and it amplifies the film but ten times, Giacchino still knows how to craft music that is epic, godly, but also soft and emotional too.

In conclusion Star Trek Into Darkness is a cracking sequel to the 2009 film which not only advances the story and characters from the before but presents much bigger challenges and threats that make the film so much more epic. While there are some elements of the 2009 film I like better, I can easily say that Star Trek Into Darkness is my favourite film of 2013. Go out and watch it now. That’s an order! 😀

Rating: 9/10 (Totally worth your time!)

So what did you think of Star Trek Into Darkness? Did you love, think it was alright or did you hate it? Whatever your thoughts are drop me comment and let me know! Until the next review later on people! 😀

 

My Beastly Star Trek (2009) Review

Oh yes! Now this is a film I have wanted to review for quite some time but I really wanted to find the right time to do it, and with Star Trek Into Darkness pretty much coming out today it’s about time I reviewed this film. Ever since I saw it in the cinema I fell in love with it and it quickly became one of my favourite films ever, so without further ado I give you my review of Star Trek (aka Star Trek XI). By the way it’s a bit of a long one so please try to endure it haha.

So the premise for this film is as follows:

“The brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father’s legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful, time-traveling Romulan creates black holes to destroy the Federation one planet at a time.”

I loved the story in this film, it is exciting, entertaining and heartfelt too. We basically get to see the genesis of the members of the USS Enterprise as they come from their different backgrounds and converge and then come together as a crew. But at the center of the film is the relationship between Kirk and Spock, we see how they have very different upbringings and how it shapes them into the men that they are. They’re polar opposites and at first they really don’t get on because one likes to run before he acts whereas the other thinks before he moves. And it is truly beautiful to see these characters come rely on each other and become the partners that we know from the old 60s TV show. The plot of the film is pretty streamlined when compared to the 60s show, it is also much more action-oriented (that is apparent from the beginning) and there isn’t as much of that techno babble and over scientific stuff that the show was known for, however this was probably done to appeal to new audiences. Some veterans of the series may not like the changes done to the old formula and the story but for me it works in an incredibly fun, adventures and emotional way.

But what is a good story without a good cast? Thankfully the cast in this film are all wonderful at bringing these classic characters to life in a brand new way while feeling familiar at the same time.

Let’s start with Chris Pine as James T. Kirk. Pine gives a very different take on the character as this young, reckless, yet skilled individual who could be much more but chooses to live a simple life until he enlists in Starfleet. After that he goes into space, butts heads with Spock and eventually becomes the character we remember from William Shatner. Chris Pine makes a great Kirk, he’s incredibly likeable, relatable and funny and makes for a great opposite to Spock. And speaking of him let’s move onto Zachary Quinto as Spock. Here we have a version of Spock that while he has all the mannerisms from the old show he has to deal with his dual heritage as half Vulcan and half human. He’s very smart, logical and is a great opposite for Kirk as they bicker and fight. Let me just say that Quinto was MADE to play this role, he’s so stern, logical and has a dry sense of humor. He knocked it out of the park with this role.

As for the rest of the crew they are all on point. I thought Karl Urban made a great Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy, and Zoe Saldana Nyota Uhura was incredibly beautiful and engaging. A special mention needs to be given for Simon Pegg as Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, he was incredible. While his character was pretty much there for humour purposes I loved what Simon Pegg did with the role and he was funny as hell! Then there’s John Cho and Anton Yelchin were awesome, dynamic and humourous as Hikaru Sulu  and Pavel Chekov respectively. Also Bruce Greenwood as Capt. Christopher Pike was wonderful. And Leonard Nimoy’s appearance as old Spock is great and really connects this new film to the original continuity. I guess the only weak link in this chain is Eric Bana as Nero, his villain role is only used as a plot device and he really isn’t as fleshed out as the rest of the cast. However he gets props for the best line in the film: “FIRE EVERYTHING!” Totally badass.

When it comes to the presentation of Star Trek it is just one a high level of awesomeness. The film just looks and sounds so good!

Visually the film is incredible, Industrial Light & Magic do a magnificent job of creating these beautiful, highly detailed scenes of space, different planets and the spacecrafts. The CGI is just beautiful and really shines in scenes of massive spectacles like the Romulan attack on the USS Kelvin or the skydiving sequence with Kirk and Sulu or when Kirk is marooned on the ice planet and gets chased by giant monsters. I also like the camera work in the film too, there is some dynamic angles used and there are a few zoom shots and quick camera movements that just make the pace so much swifter than previous Star Trek films. And obviously we can’t talk about Star Trek without highlighting the now-infamous lens flare in the film, at first I never really noticed it until my uncle pointed out to me and after that it couldn’t be unseen. While it does get used to extreme a few scenes to be honest I like it, for some reason it adds some cool lighting effects to the shots its used in and it doesn’t bother as much as everyone else.

And then of course there’s the soundtrack by Michael Giacchino and to say that I love it would be an understatement. It honestly sounds INCREDIBLE! Ever since I saw this film in the cinema the soundtrack was one of the main things I remembered after I saw the film. Giacchino is absolutely amazing and really brings the film to life with his score, the tracks are epic, impactful, soft, emotional and all-round good stuff. The song “Enterprising Young Men” is amazing and I get insanely kiddy whenever I hear it, I get goosebumps, that’s how incredible it is. The sound effects for this film is also very good with some returning from the old TV show and there’s smart uses of sound or lack of it that make the film feel incredibly atmospheric.

Now I remember before this film came out there was a lot of talk and building hype, though at first I wasn’t really interested. I remember when my uncle showed me the first teaser trailer back in 2008 and I thought the concept of a new Star Trek film would be interesting but I wasn’t overly fussed. It wasn’t until the first full trailer came out in the later part of that year where I was like, “Okay now this is a film I have to watch!” Then the film came out and I think the overall response pretty positive from both casual audiences and the fans and it made a lot of money at the box office and it also brought Star Trek back into the mainstream media. Because let’s face it before this reboot Star Trek had been dead in the world of cinema since 2002 and the franchise was just exclusive to the Trekkies who really cared for it. But this film really put Star Trek back on the map because its more action-oriented approach to the franchise which I think the series really needed.

In conclusion Star Trek is a great re-imagining of the old television show for a new generation. The film is full of action and sci-fi goodness, it also has a solid story, a brilliant cast, spectacular special effects and a beautiful soundtrack to boot. While there was a great deal of things that were changed/reworked in translating the 60s TV show into this live-action reboot, I still say there’s enough of the old for fans to appreciate and I highly recommend this film not only to fans, but to those who aren’t aware of Star Trek or those who have never liked it beforehand. I with the foundations put in place with this film I absolutely can’t wait for the sequel; Star Trek Into Darkness in May, it should be one hell of a sequel!

Rating: A Solid 9/10 (Seal of Approval!)

Well that’s been my review ladies and gents, hopefully you’ve found it informative and drop me comment and let me know your thoughts on the film. This review was meant to be out months ago but I never got around to finishing it now haha. Look out for my Star Trek Into Darkness review in the next few days! By the way don’t forget to follow the blog for more juicy reviews yo! Later peeps! 😀