Star Trek Beyond: So close and yet ....

Alright, so this is going to be a brief review.  But I don't want everyone thinking I just love whatever pop culture summer popcorn flick comes out by default.  So with that said, let's look at the latest entry in the Star Trek franchise. 

I actually enjoyed Into Darkness, though there are a lot of people out there that do not share that sentiment.  However, this story certainly felt more like Star Trek than its predecessor.  Some of this I can attribute to subtle things like the changes to the uniforms.  But the core of this assertion is in the story itself.  Simon Pegg is a fan of the series, and it shows in the story.  While this is indeed an action adventure flick, wrapped within it is the stories of discovery and the human condition that made the series what it was.  It also feels like a proper sequel to the reboot from 2009.  Some of that might be the soundtrack, which was honestly the best of the three most recent films. 

Overall, I liked the story tremendously.  The character development was tremendous in this film.  We got to see them expanded and utilized like we haven't before.  Like Karl Urban who was criminally underused in Into Darkness.  However, across the board there were great moments for all of the characters and they all seemed to be advanced throughout the film.  From the nod to Leonard Nimoy to the the "controversial" decision to make the character of Sulu homosexual, there were a lot of good nods in the film.  I was really glad to see Demora getting included to be honest.

However, I do agree with George Takei, it would be better to create a new character that is gay than to make a character that was never meant to be homosexual a homosexual.  This is a problem rampant in comics and film right now.  The solution to increased diversity has been to change a character.  I agree very much with what people like Michelle Rodriguez have said, even though she needlessly caught flak for saying it.  Changing a secondary characteristic of a previously male, straight, or white character doesn't really make that character representative of the group they now share a characteristic with because they still came from the same creator and have the same history.  It's harder to make a new character, but I ultimately do agree that it is much more worthwhile.  And the same problem goes for whitewashing characters like what has been done with the Ancient One in Dr. Strange, just a bad idea to ignore a characters history folks. 

Well, this means my blog will probably get read at least because there is sure to be plenty of vitriolic hate mail headed my way.  Okay, back on track.  Seriously, the movie did a lot of really great things for the franchise.  It told a wonderfully enjoyable story and it grew the characters and their relationships.  It fleshed out the world pretty nicely.  So why then did I start this off like I didn't enjoy the film?

Because while this is a wonderful story, it is a story that in my opinion is very badly told.  The overwhelming majority of this film was shot far too close.  I've enjoyed a number of films by Justin Lin in the past.  Honestly Fast & Furious, Fast Five, and Furious 6 were all great films I thought.   But this time, and I don't entirely know why, he just shot way too much of the film close up.  At a few points I was waiting on the cast to break the fourth wall and point out the personal space bubble that was being invaded.  If the audience had been where the camera was putting us the characters would have been wondering if they were about to get jumped.  They built grand set pieces and then it was like they were afraid to let us take them in.  

There is a second issue that I take with this presentation.  There was an effect that was so ridiculously and needlessly over used that I was becoming nauseous watching the film.  They continued to do tracking shots throughout the film that spun.  I love tracking shots.  They are my favorite moments in the Avengers films.  Honestly, I love a well done tracking shot.  But these were horribly done.  You're keeping me in the moment, you're not supposed to spin me around and make me motion sick.  Many of these shots were very similar to one of the deleted scenes from Star Trek: Nemesis and that scene was rejected specifically because of how dizzying it was for the audience.

This was further compounded by the first issue.  Had they zoomed out, if they had stepped back a little bit it would have helped make these much more bearable.  If it had been one or two scenes that were shot this way it would be one thing, but we are talking about multiple scenes all shot the same way.  If I am honest, it felt like they got a new toy but didn't read the directions on the proper way to use it.  By not zooming out at all they failed to grant us the chance to, as the viewer, get context for the tracking shots and for what was happening in general.

Now, a lot of this movie does indeed involve the idea of feeling lost, of being directionless and anchorless.   And if the intention was to create a feeling of physical disorientation for the viewer in order to simulate the experience of the characters I can understand why that might have seemed like a good idea.  But, at least for me, it was a horrid idea.  And had this been the idea, when they got their grounding then these techniques should have stopped. 

So for me, on a scale of 5, this was a 4.5 film that is reduced to a 3 star film because of how unenjoyable this great story was to watch.  Back the camera up about 10 feet for the entire film and this would've been a great movie.