The third instalment in the Star Trek movie reboot series, Star Trek Beyond, is another sensational addition to the Star Trek franchise, and an excellent way to celebrate the 50th anniversary.

It was great to see the same faces reprise their roles from the first two movies; Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek into Darkness (2013). Captain James T “perfect hair” (Chris Pine – The Finest Hours, Z for Zachariah, Horrible Bosses 2), leads his galactic explorers into space, the final frontier, to boldly go where no one has gone before, again.                         

Directed by Fast and Furious director, Justin Lin, Star Trek Beyond initially shows us the very unromantic side of deep-space travel. Kirk’s log entries become somewhat insipid, as he struggles to find inspiration in the endless exploration missions. He applies for another role in Starfleet, with a view to be based at Starbase Yorktown (a massive deep-space city), and recommends Spock (Zachary Quinto – Snowden, Tallulah, Hitman: Agent 47), as the new captain of his beloved USS Enterprise.

During a short stopover at Yorktown for resupply and shore leave, Spock learns of the news from New Vulcan that his future self, Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy – Catlow, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Transformers: Dark of the Moon), has died. This leads Spock to contemplate his future and considers leaving Starfleet, to continue the work of Ambassador Spock. This moment allows us to reflect upon the life of Leonard Nimoy, and his time as Spock, as Star Trek Beyond not only marks the death of Ambassador Spock, but also the death of Leonard Nimoy.   

Tragically, Star Trek Beyond also marks the death of Anton Yelchin (Alpha Dog, Terminator Salvation, Green Room),  the young actor who plays Ensign Pavel Chekov. Like Nimoy, Yelcin died before the movie’s release, and so never saw his final portrayal of the USS Enterprise’s Russian Navigator.

Forced to cut shore leave short, Kirk leads his loyal crew out on a rescue mission to a nearby, uncharted nebula. It isn’t long before we see the famous starship and crew, in a familiar situation, in an unfamiliar place. And so begins the unravelling of another complicated plot that Star Trek is so renowned for. After the crew are stranded on Altamid, the scenery and landscape of the planet reminded me of episodes from the much-loved original TV series.

I might be wrong, but I reckon Doctor “Bones” McCoy (Karl Urban – Riddick, Dredd, Doom) throws out more metaphors in Star Trek Beyond than any other movie in the franchise. He even gets reprimanded by Kirk for his efforts, which also brought back that classic rhetoric that the first generation were famous for.     

If you like Star Trek Beyond, you might also like: All of the other 12 Star Trek movies (1979-2013), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Oblivion (2015), The Martian (2016), Passengers (2017).

The Movie Lad rates this: Four out of a possible five Trekkies with a full head of hair, and perfect teeth.    

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