With JJ Abrams busy working on that other space franchise, the new Trek film needed a new director. And who better to bring on board than Justin Lin, the man who rejuvenated the Fast & Furious franchise. Yes, it meant he was going to bring his big action directing to this franchise. But was that a bad thing? It also meant there would be fewer lens flares. Was that a good thing? More importantly, it was Paramount’s opportunity to celebrate 50 years since Gene Roddenberry’s “Star Trek” started airing on TV, creating this future world that drew so many people to it. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we close out our massive series with Lin’s 2016 film Star Trek Beyond.
We look at why we love this film so much, particularly since there are so many problems scattered throughout that we have with it. We contemplate Simon Pegg’s and Doug Jung’s script, wondering if perhaps Scotty might be stretching his legs more than he normally would because he’s writing it. We debate whether Idris Elba’s character Krall needed to have as much makeup as he has and if his motivations really make enough sense in the film for us not to worry about it. We discuss the spaceport Yorktown and revel in the beauty of it, notably because so much of it was filmed in Dubai. We ponder the future of the franchise, wondering how they’re going to bring Chris Hemsworth back in the next one. And we praise Michael Giacchino and his beautiful score for this film, notably his somber use of his Star Trek theme as well as the new Yorktown theme he develops.
All in all, it’s been a fun franchise to dig into for the last 13 weeks, and this film was exactly the finish we needed — a film that may have issues but has its heart in the right place. We have a great time talking about it on this week’s show. Check it out and then tune in! The Next Reel — when the movie ends, our conversation begins.
Film Sundries
- Watch this film: iTunes • Amazon
- Script Transcript
- Original theatrical trailer
- Original poster artwork
- Flickchart
- Letterboxd
