Star Trek Beyond

Ever since J.J. Abrams and others overhauled the "Star Trek" franchise back in 2009, it sold me to the franchise. It's not that I didn't like this franchise, but it was getting so old and unoriginal, not to mention predictable. "Star Trek" '09 and "Star Trek Into Darkness" '13 were captivating and exciting. Well, hold on to your theater seats, because the next installment, "Star Trek Beyond" is certainly exciting as it is extremely thrilling and entertaining.

Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and the USS Enterprise crew including Commander Spock (Zachary Quinto), Dr. 'Bones' McCoy (Karl Urban), Lieutenant Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Mongomery 'Scotty' Scott (Simon Pegg), Sulu (John Cho), and Chekov (Anton Yelchin), explores the furthest reaches of unchartered space in their 5 year mission, where they encounter a new ruthless enemy, Krall (Idris Elba) who puts them and everything the Federation stands for to the test. The crew is summoned by Jaylah (Sofia Boutella) from this unchartered planet for assistance only for the Enterprise crew not only to lose communications capability, but to have Krall and his army to attack the Enterprise and havin them end up stranded on the planet. Kirk et.al. must work with the elements to reunite the crew and get back to civilization.

Others to round out the cast are Joe Taslim as Manas, Lydia Wilson as Kalara, Deep Roy as Keenser, Melissa Roxburgh as Ensign Syl, Anita Brown as Tyvanna and Doug Jung as Ben.

This was directed with excitement and thrill by Justin Lin ("Shopping For Fangs" '97, "Better Luck Tomorrow" '02, "Annapolis" '06, "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" '06, "Finishing the Game: The Search for a New Bruce Lee" '07, "Fast & Furious" '09, "Fast Five" '11, "Fast & Furious 6" '13). plus TV and shorts. This filmmaker's pacing and staging of his characters is incredibly strategic and fluid. It almost gives the audience a sense of reality even though in the case of this film, it is pure sci-fi. If you want to see more of his work, a new Jason Bourne/Jeremy Renner sequel has just been announced. This was brilliantly written by Simon Pegg ("Shaun of the Dead" '04, "Hot Fuzz" '07, "Run, Fatboy, Run" '07, "Paul" '11, "The World's End" '13) plus others and Doug Jung ("Confidence" '03) plus a ton of TV which is based on the TV series "Star Trek" by Gene Roddenberry. The storyline's fluidity was spot on as was the well thought out script that was as intense as it was amazingly entertaining. If Pegg ever decided that acting wasn't his forte anymore, he could keep writing screenplays since they are incredibly original and fresh. And the visual effects predominantly designed by Double Negative and Atomic Fiction were seamless. I looked for errors and could see none. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the casting directors, April Webster, csa and Alyssa Weisberg, csa are the real stars here, since they were the ones instrumental in the casting of these actors since its overhaul.

Whether you're a 'trekkie' or not, there is something for everyone in this installment: good acting, writing, directing, visuals and cinematography by Stephen F. Windon, acs/asc. Please do NOT wait to see this on DVD or Netflix since it is made for the huge screen and you can opt to see it in an IMAX and 3D format as well.

Out of 4 Stars: 4                               Rated: PG-13                                 122mins.