Tag Archives: Outer space action

“Star Trek Beyond” Stumbles

imageFew traces of classic wit or intellect surface as the crew of the Starship Enterprise weathers the swarm of a bio-weapon hive on a remote planet in the lukewarm third entry of a rebooted franchise in Justin Lin’s Star Trek Beyond (C). Character highlights include some bonding between frenemies Spock and Bones (a solid Zachary Quinto and a feisty Karl Urban). And after a subpar series of action sequences, one of which looks lifted out of a Laser Tag parlor, the final reel delivers the goods with some promised stunts that pleasingly defy gravity. Chris Pine fails to register much at all as Captain Kirk, and the whole film has a whiff of drudgery. Separating the characters does them no favors. Newcomer allies and villains are a bore. See it for some familiar faces but not for many new frontiers.