Star Trek: Beyond, 3.5 Stars

Chris Pine

I like most things Star Trek. This movie joins that list.  The story is wall-to-wall action, a little long, and only has one occasion when I couldn't figure out how Uhura and Sulu got to where they now were. The music continues to haunt. But the film has some dark scenes of violence that do not add to, and in fact detract from, the overall product.

The cast is (suitably) led by an excellent performance by Chris Pine (has he had substantive acting lessons since The Princess Diaries 2?) and also a surprisingly strong Sofia Boutella (Kingsman), who is rumoured to be joining the ongoing cast. Zachary Quinto (ST series) still fails to inspire (sorry Joss!). Karl Urban (Lord of the Rings) is delightfully dry and Simon Pegg (Mission Impossible series) shows a little more acting range and also co-wrote a pretty fine script. The late Anton Yelchin (ST) had started to develop his character well.

I'd see it again, probably more than once.