Star Trek Beyond Review

Every year, every month, every week, the visible improvements in visual effects grows larger and larger. Star Trek Beyond isn't a landmark achievement or even the most stunning example but it is evidence that even the usual standard American summer blockbuster can still be considered a work of art. The men and women who toil away to bring us the impressive-looking star-base Yorktown deserve a round of applause because I take back what I said, as far as futuristic architecture in movies go, it is stunning. And maybe it won't survive as a cultural reference point for future generations but it is the closest thing to how I imagine the Citadel from the Mass Effect series would look like on the big screen. And I never really realised how big a debt BioWare owe to Star Trek in crafting their video game series. We might never get a Mass Effect movie, and if we don't, it doesn't matter, because we have Star Trek and Star Trek Beyond instead.

AS for the movie, it's easily my favourite in the Star Trek series that I've seen thus far. Maybe my ever-growing affinity for modernity clouds my judgement but I find this installment working for me in ways Wrath of Khan failed to. The technical lingo came through clearer, the chemistry between the cast was stronger, the story was simpler, and the tone resonated with me more. I was ready to write off Chris Pine beforehand, however, but I forgot he is a fairly fantastic Kirk. So what can I say, I dug it.

The ending of this is also the first movie to ever come close to giving me vertigo.