Cinema #24: Star Trek Beyond (Slight Spoilers)

Hey Gang!

 In case you didn't know I am a huge fan of Star Trek TOS. I came across it at a time when my life was in a scar place and it really inspired me to do something about it. Inspired me so much that for a while I had a blog dedicated to it, Vulcan Sugar and Spice, back in 2011. I've always liked the original series more than
any of the other ones, Alex's favorite is Next Generation. The original series was ahead of its time in a number of ways, and its something that drew me to the series, and even though it was before my time, there are many things that resonate with me.
 I was a fan of both movies that came before by J.J. Abrahms, but was pretty excited about Beyond, because Justin Lin was producing/directing, and he did such an amazing job with the Fast and the Furious series. A franchise that is pretty high up on my favorites list. So I knew I was going to go see this movie, even thought there were a few people talking about bad
reviews. I try hard not to listen to reviews, because I like to make my own decisions. Its very rare, that I don't see a movie because of the reviews that are out, and sometimes they even push me to go see the movie anyway, for instance, the Japanese Live Action Lupin Film that came out a couple of years ago, you can read my thoughts here. Enough Rambling, lets get down to the movie!

 Was it just me or were the Tanexxi kind of similar to vicious tribbles? I really need Bones to take some sensitivity training. Even though I thought the scenes with Bones and Spock working together were my favorites out of the whole movie. The comedy was top notch in this one, I chuckled pretty much the whole movie. The idea of the Yorktown base, floating in space, where people from all over can visit and socialize before heading off on another 5 year journey, or what have you, I thought was pretty neat. Instead of floating through space alone, and with your crew surrounded by things you don't know, you can always just pop off to the west a couple of light years, and connect with civilization again.

 It's really starting to annoy me, that peoples idea of inclusion, is to cast black people, or people of color, as creatures, (especially in sci-fi) where they are so absolutely and utterly deformed that they couldn't be recognized not only of color, but as a human being. Its very indicative of dehumanizing people of color, to make it easier to oppress. Its okay to treat them this way, they aren't human. I feel like it takes us way too many steps back. Not only in Beyond, but Star Wars with Lupita, and Suicide Squad with Killer Croc.
 I thought that the technology in this one was pretty top notch. I mean, that translation device inside the suit? So they can understand what the refugee was saying? That was pretty amazing. I definitely felt like she was up to no good, and it kept me on edge the entire time that once she was on board the ship, she hardly appeared, or said more than two words. I was super suspicious of her from the get go.

 Krall's ability to "eat" the victims reminded me of Vampires. He's legit a space vampire, staying alive all those years, by eating the "essence" of his victims c'mon! How cool is that? Love that LT. Uhura's ability to hear his voice in the background of an old video allowed them to identify Krall before he went vampire. I loved that her ability was utilized in a capacity away from the com on the bridge.
 Although, I was a huge fan of the hip hop used in the movie.... the fact that they needed something with lots of noise, kind of annoyed me. One of the biggest things about people that don't like Rap and Hip Hop, they think its just noise. When in actuality, it is a unique way to express oneself, in a way that wasn't there before. A way that honestly, and is uniquely black.
 "When you've lived as many lives as he, fear of death is Illogical." Spock.
 "You gave your girlfriend a tracker. That was not my intention." The comedy was gold in this. Absolute gold. Another thing, I really liked about the movie was the homage to Anton, and Leonard Nimoy. The way they honored the original crew, was amazing and beautiful, and honestly it made me cry. Not bawling my eyes out like Big Hero 6 Crying, but I did shed a few tears.
 I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I felt that they did a decent job honoring the crew that came before them, and did a great job leading the movies into a new generation. I highly recommend anyone interested in sci-fi or star trek to go see it as soon as you can, and wear something fitting to honor the 50th anniversary. 4/5 stars.

Have you seen Star Trek Beyond? Lets talk about it on Twitter! I'm always up for chatting about film!

 Bloglovin | Twitter | Instagram | Youtube | Twitch 

 Until Next Time, Stay Nerdy, ~Spokhette!~