By NICOLE & MATT ROBINSON
Nicole: So, full disclosure, I didn’t see Star Trek Into Darkness because, if you remember, you went on a man-date to see it and I was not invited. Did it affect anything in Star Trek Beyond?
Matt: First off, weren’t you busy when we went on the man-date?
N: No. I was told, “You aren’t invited.”
M: Lies. And, not it didn’t affect the third movie at all. Some of the character relationships are developed throughout each movie, but that’s it.
N: Okay, that’s good. I didn’t really feel like I was missing anything. Does that make it a less cohesive trilogy or is it better that a viewer can watch each as its own entity?
M: I don’t even know if I would call it a trilogy at this point. It’s more just a series of movies called Star Trek at this point, because there is no major through line.
N: I have to say, I was sad I missed the second one and had pretty high hopes for this one. For starters, I loved the first J.J. Abram’s installment of Star Trek. I found myself actually “getting” the easter eggs left for super fans, which means I watched way more of the show as a kid than I ever thought. Plus, this one was written by Simon Pegg. But, ultimately, I was pretty underwhelmed.
M: It wasn’t very good.
N: No, right?
M: I mean, even the actors seemed to be tired of the series.
N: They definitely seemed to phone it in. It just didn’t seem like the same cast I remembered from the first one, and I couldn’t tell if it was the actors themselves or poor direction. But newcomer Sofia Boutella, who played Jaylah, was fantastic and pretty much the brightest spot of the film.
M: Agreed. And I think it’s telling when the newcomer is better than several veteran actors. Plus losing J.J. Abrams as a director definitely made an impact. It was missing the darkness that the first two had. This was just too goofy and cheesy.
N: The motives of the villain were too-long coming, difficult to comprehend, and had to be explained to the audience through dialogue that was almost incomprehensible due to fighting and heavy accents.
M: The fighting and space battles were pretty cool.
N: I guess if you’re going to have an epic summer blockbuster, they better be.
M: Yeah. But the good ones are more than that. And this just wasn’t.
N: I also had trouble connecting with many of the characters. I know there was a bit of a kerfuffle when Simon Pegg and Chris Pine spoke adamantly in support of Sulu’s gay backstory, although veteran George Takei didn’t believe it made much sense for the character. But, it really wasn’t a meaningful or transcendant part of the movie. Thanks for the gay character, I guess. What was hardest and the most emotional for me was watching Anton Yelchin’s (Chekov) performance, knowing that his young, talented life was cut short earlier this year.
M: Yeah, Sulu being gay seemed forced. Like even Kirk watching him hug his husband and then smiling and nodding was like reassurance that Kirk is a good guy. And Yelchin’s death definitely hung over the film a little bit. But neither of these things were the major problem with the movie. It just wasn’t that good.
N: So what would you rate it?
M: Worst of the three, C-.
N: I think I agree with you!
M: Hooray!
N: I think I’d recommend, if you’re just a moderate Star Trek fan, that you skip seeing this one in the theater and wait for it to come to Netflix.
M: You gonna rate it there, bud?
N: Doesn’t saying I agree with you mean I rated it?
M: Rate it!!
N: Geez. C-. C-!
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