Star Trek Beyond

Loved Star Trek Beyond.

I see a lot of adventure, superhero, sci-fi etc. films, obviously enough, but it's rare when that long forgotten voice, still residing deep within, innocently pleads, "how are they going to get out of this one?"

The crew of the Enterprise is betrayed and their ship destroyed, early on, the survivors forced to regroup on a hostile planet below, most of them quickly captured by their ruthless enemy.

A desperate situation, overwhelming odds, a profound delineation of devastating loss, the immediacy of it all shocking in its sudden mass destruction.

The Enterprise usually isn't destroyed near the beginning of a Star Trek narrative, in fact, I think it's unprecedented.

Resolute dividends.

The principal characters continue to diversify their personalities within the new timeline, Chekov (Anton Yelchin), Sulu (John Cho), and Uhura (Zoe Saldana) given prominent roles that they often didn't receive in the early Star Trek films.

And McCoy (Karl Urban) finally takes centre stage.

The last two films focused too much attention on Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) while forgetting that McCoy was also a driving force behind the franchise's success.

He's back in Star Trek Beyond with a huge part to play complete with several feisty confrontations with an injured Spock, the classic Spock/McCoy logical vulcan versus emotive human arguments, observations, distillations, providing the cherished thoughtfully humorous dialogues that were responsible for polarizing so many compelling Star Trek moments.

Delicatessen.

Scotty (Simon Pegg [who also co-wrote the script]) rocks it too, a true miracle worker in this one, as the crew requires multiple extremely precise intricately detailed technological synchronizations to escape from the planet and challenge the monstrous Krall (Idris Elba).

The situation is grim and the odds catastrophic but resilient professionalism responds with formidable yet down to earth distinction that inspirationally guides their enduring competence.

The humour isn't as lighthearted as the earth scenes from Star Trek: First Contact. That's one of the best Star Trek films, but at points it loses sight of the fact that their goal is to prevent the future of humanity from being obliterated.

Jaylah (Sofia Boutella).

Like Saavik, Lily, and Anij, Jayla adds contemplative depth to Star Trek Beyond, in the tradition of introducing new supporting characters which nimbly diversify the story.

Plus, often in films rich with hand-to-hand combat, the female characters fight other women while the men fight men.

Jaylah takes on the powerful Manas (Joe Taslim) in an honourable testament to strength and athleticism, her brains backed up by both brawn and beauty, excellent addition to the Star Trek pantheon.

With no amorous attachments.

It is girl power year in anglo cinema.

The script also examines the corrupted soldier who was never able to learn to live peacefully after all of his or her battles were fought, the individual so immersed in violence that the progressive union of different planets devoted to living amicably with one another is an everlasting insult, for they see foes and treachery everywhere, and, unfortunately, due to the nature of their combative character development, can never learn to trust anyone, preferring to recreate a universe steeped in death and despotism than play a game of cards or head out to a local cinema.

Merciless.

Nevertheless, it must be incredibly difficult for soldiers to suddenly turn it off upon returning to civilian life, especially if governments who profited from their sacrifices don't adequately provide them with the support structures they might need.

Emphasizing ingenuity in the face of stark impoverishment, and teamwork as comprised by extracurricular resource, each of them making game changing plays, Star Trek Beyond respirates to succeed while remaining calm and collected.

I was surprised that Krall's compound wasn't more heavily guarded considering how many pilots were needed to launch his smothering swarm.

There are some wonderful moments that accentuate the biodiversity of the planet they find themselves upon, moments which could have been increasingly intensified as the film progressed.

Old technologies are relied upon to achieve contemporary goals which made me think of the ending of T-3.

A homosexual couple raising a family is lovingly introduced.

Upon the Yorktown station, there's a wonderful sense of metropolitan communal collegiality that captures the best moments one experiences living in cities.

The final moments were quite similar to those from Into Darkness.

Sad to think that Leonard Nimoy and Anton Yelchin have passed on.

The impossibility factor of the crew's victory is extremely high but I suppose that's what makes for good science-fiction.

The dialogue in the opening scene is super corny.

And I loved that the story was completely new, a new story with new villains and characters I've never seen before, like classic Star Trek boldly exploring and contending, with the opening lines from the original series's credits recited by Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Sulu, Uhura, Chekov, and Scotty in the end, further augmenting their versatile collective, not in the apian or Borg sense, but with humble self-sacrificing semantics, unique to the federation.

Prosperous.

Fast Five

Fast cars, frenzied action, forlorn characters, and frenetic frictions make up Fast Five's feverish collisions as the duration of its franchise is significantly distended.

Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his team of vehicular visionaries are on the run from both the law and a Brazilian gangster as familial responsibilities reconstitute their pursuit of happiness.

As if they're beyond good and evil.

They're not trying to rob from the rich and give to the poor, they're trying to heist around a hundred million and make a break for the sunset. They have the tools and possess the know-how; it's now just a matter of exceptional skill and impeccable timing.

Not to mention good buds and a wrought iron reputation.

The film's intense and fun to watch. There are many logical miscues but it is deeper than it appears on the surface.

For instance, Brazilian gangster Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida) thinks he can control communities by providing them with lavish gifts. He provides the finances for projects and expects a high degree of subservience in return. After he places an enormous bounty on Dominic's head, you'd expect there to be at least one scene during which he encounters an agile opportunist, but this doesn't happen. Since the population is so used to Reyes's duplicity, no one trusts him unless they have to, and therefore no one seeks to betray Toretto.

Hence, at least some of the thought put into Fast Five wasn't geared towards stunts and getaways, and if you can get over the stock characters and sensational situations it's worth checking out. These films aren't really about employing more advanced rhetorical devices, their more advanced rhetorical devices are built into the ways in which they present more elaborate sensational situations, 'out-witting' what's taken place in their predecessors, and using a gangster's safe guarded by the police to smash up both the police and the gangster, well, that was a good idea.

But don't take my word for it.