Star Trek Beyond

[lah_mrh]

Just got back from seeing Star Trek Beyond. I know, late to the party, but whatever. Anyway, I thought it was great! So much better than Into Darkness, it's unbelievable. I can't think of a single thing I hated about it, and that is NOT something I could say about ID.

I loved how funny it was – I laughed so much, the jokes were great. (I know it's been made before, but I especially liked the one about music from our time being described as 'classical'.) I wish there'd been a few more character moments instead of shooting things, but you can't have everything.

I liked that it had character pair-ups we don't normally see – Spock and McCoy, Sulu and Uhura, Kirk and Chekov. (Although Chekov's scenes kind of made my heart hurt a little.) And I really liked the tribute to Spock Prime, especially the picture of the TOS crew near the end. That was great. I do wonder how/if that would have played out if Nimoy hadn't died, though.

I loved the mentions of Kirk's mom. I'm sure fandom will still find a way to twist things and make her an uncaring monster, but it's nice that canon, at least, implies otherwise. And I liked the way they dealt with Kirk's feelings about his dad – he's sad about it, and all, and it's obviously affected him, but he's not the poor woobie that so much fanfic paints him as. And I really want fic of him and Jaylah bonding over having fathers who died so they could live.

(On that note, didn't Greg Grunberg also play Kirk's stepdad in the deleted scenes? I wonder if anyone's written a fic where they're the same guy.)

The references to TOS made me smile – the 'giant green hand', Scotch being invented by a little old lady in Russia, etc. I love little call backs like that.

The scene with Sulu's husband seemed a little short to me. I thought they'd at least kiss! And I really wish we'd seen them reunite after all the action was over. But I like that they included it, and didn't make it a big deal.

Once again, a starship ends up in water, but I guess at least it was for a good reason this time. And I really liked Scotty's "They're called starships for a reason!" You tell him, Scotty!

I liked the twist with the villain, but some of his motivation annoyed me. The Federation wasn't about making peace with the Romulans! Granted, I haven't seen Enterprise, but I'm pretty sure the founding members (Earth, Vulcan, Tellar, Andoria) were allies not enemies. And acting like being part of a Federation means no conflict is ridiculous. They still have enemies! One of their planets was vaporised five years ago! Why is no one bringing this up!

One other thing that bugged me was how OOC Spock seemed in the injury scenes. Grimacing and yelling in pain? When TOS Spock was in agony in Operation Annihilate! he barely even winced. He didn't even lose control while he was dying, for Pete's sake! But then I suppose I should be used to NuSpock not acting like a proper Vulcan by now.

I admit, I was a tiny bit pleased that Spock and Uhura broke up, but of course it didn't last. Their relationship doesn't seem to have progressed much in five years, though. Sulu got a husband and a daughter in that time!

Not much K/S potential that I could see, but at least they seemed to actually like and respect each other, unlike in ID. Although I could mention that this is the second time Spock has decided to stay on the Enterprise because of Kirk.

I liked Jaylah. She was fun and badass, and I hope she'll be very happy at Starfleet.

I can't help wondering what happened to Carol. I mean, I didn't like her that much (I like TWOK Carol, but the one in ID bore no resemblance to her), but it feels a little weird that she just kind of vanished. Maybe it's so we can pretend ID never happened? I'm totally on board with that if so.

I thought it was a little weird that they called the space station Yorktown. That's the name of a ship, not a station. What's wrong with Starbase 6 or Deep Space 1 or whatever? But I loved the architecture, and the way it defied gravity. It was like an M. C. Escher painting.

Overall, I really enjoyed the film, and it made me want fic. (Preferably gen, but I'd also take Sulu/husband.) I might even shell out for the DVD when it comes out, which I pointedly did not do for ID. I was smiling almost the whole way through, and it was just so much fun!

Kudos to Simon Pegg!