Star Trek Beyond Review

          The USS Enterprise is exploring the deepest parts of uncharted space. During their expedition, they get attacked and crash land on this mysterious planet. The crew of the Enterprise get separated as they try to survive the evil wrath of Krall.
         This movie is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Star Trek. And it does so in the best way possible. Beyond has what you wan't from a blockbuster but, it is also paying respect to the original cast and crew. Beyond is essentially a small independent film inside a big blockbusters body. While it has action and explosions, it doesn't loose sense of what Star Trek is. You have the humor, the great characters, and a great story. You will be entertained by Beyond from beginning to end.
          The best part about this movie is the writing. Simon Pegg and his writing partner make it so this movie has a great sense of character because, the most important thing to the Star Trek movies are its characters. Everything the characters say to one another feel very organic and not forced. This movie has great character moments intertwined with the whole movie. Especially the moments between Bones and Spock. This movie knows what to do to be a summer blockbuster but, it also makes sure the characters are in the forefront of it all.
          Idris Elba does a great job playing the villain Krall but, his character doesn't have as much depth as you might want from a villain. This happens throughout the whole entire movie. You never really understand the villains motives until the end. But even when you figure out why Krall is doing the stuff he is, it doesn't pay off. Don't go into this movie looking for a great villain because you won't get one.
          There was a great new addition to this movie and that was the character of Jaylah. She was awesome. She was a great action star, she looked great, and she had some funny lines. The best thing is she never got annoying. You will come out of this movie loving this character.
          Star Trek Beyond is my favorite movie in this rebooted franchise and it is definitely towards the top on my list of the best Star Trek movies. It's a movie where each act builds on top of the previous one. The first act is good, the second act is great, and the third act is awesome. The movie gets better as it goes on. It hooks you from the begging and then it takes you on a journey that became one of my favorite films of the year.
          With the smaller character moments and the throwbacks to the original Star Trek Beyond is a phenomenal Star Trek movie. I'm going to give Star Trek Beyond a 4.5/5.

RIP Leonard Nimoy & Anton Yelchin. He went too soon.
         

Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013) Review

          Star Trek: Into Darkness is the follow up film to the 2009 reboot of this franchise. This film once again tells the adventures of the crew upon the USS Enterprise. When Starfleet suffers a terrorist attack from a mysterious personage, the crew must find this man, and bring him to justice. 

         When this movie first came out three years ago, I was a big fan of it. I believed it to be one of the best Star Trek movies. At that time in 2013 I wasn't a big Star Trek fan. Today, I have grown into a mild Star Trek fan. I love the TV shows, and most of the classic movies. So when I re-watched this movie, I very much disliked it. It didn't feel like a Star Trek film. I wasn't attached to the property in 2013 so I didn't care that it didn't feel like Star Trek. But right now, I'm more familiar with this property so it bugged me, badly, that this didn't seem like a Star Trek film. 

          If you are not a mild-big Star Trek fan like I was in 2013, you will get a kick out of this movie. It has great action, and the cast once again brings it with their portrayals of the classic Star Trek characters. If you are not attached to this property there is a very good chance you will like this movie. There is enough in this movie to make it enjoyable.

          I found it really hard to enjoy this movie. I tried to appreciate everything in it for what it was, but I just couldn't. It didn't feel like Star Trek. What I like and appreciate about Star Trek is it's simplicity. If you go back and read my review of the 2009 film, I praised it for not overcomplicating its self. Into Darkness did the opposite of what the 2009 film did. It lost the true sense of what Star Trek is. It didn't focus on the characters. Into Darkness focused on action, focused on making it a big, blockbuster epic, that it lost the true sense of what Star Trek is. 

          In conclusion Star Trek: Into Darkness had potential to be a great Star Trek film. It just didn't have the charm the 2009 film did to make it feel like Star Trek should feel. I will give Star Trek: Into Darkness a 2/5.

Star Trek (2009) Review

          This contemporary telling of the classic franchise as told by J.J. Abrams is a prequel story to the classic Star Trek tales. James T. Kirk, a member of Starfleet tries to live up to his father's legacy, but he finds it hard to do with Commander Spock forcing him to play by the rules. When time-traveling Romulan tries to destroy the federation one planet at a time, Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise must work together to stop Romulan, and save their captain.
          This movie does a great job at establishing and developing these characters. There is no exposition when it comes to getting to know these characters. When you first see them you know who they are and what they are like. That makes it so you will feel for these characters all throughout the movie. The movie made me feel like I have known these characters for a long time. They get you so invested, so quickly, and that leads to having a great journey. Now, a big help to this are the performances. Especially Chris Pine who played Kirk. He embodies this character, he understands who this character is. He didn't play it as a carbon copy of Shatner's original portrayal, he made it his own while keeping the core of Kirk the same.
          Not every character was well polished. The villain Romulan played by Eric Banna was very one note. When I first saw him I was enjoying his presence on screen. But as the movie went on, I was getting tired of him. He was doing the same thing over, and over again. He never changed and that lead to a bigger problem. If you don't see the villain as a serious threat, you really have no reason to cheer for the heroes. When our heroes first encounter Romulan, he immediately came across as a low level threat. So during the movie when they were trying to do something to overcome Romulan, you automatically knew that they were going to win. If a movie doesn't have dramatic tension, it is very easy to loose interest in it. I was very close to loosing interest in this movie.
          I appreciate the simplicity of this movie. It's a movie that depends on it's characters. It doesn't loose its self in trying to make it a big, spectacular, epic. A lot of movies now depend on their action set pieces rather than their story and characters. This movie did a great job at finding the perfect balance between the story, the characters, and the action. Apart from the story that has to do with Romulan, this is a great watch. It is a great movie. I'm going to give Star Trek a 3.5/5