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'Star Trek Beyond': Once More Into the Allegory
By Michael S. Goldberger, iBerkshires Film Critic
06:09PM / Monday, August 01, 2016
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Justin Lin's "Star Trek Beyond" has a built-in likability factor, just a few notches below Mom and apple pie. Therefore, in the never-ending quest for objectivity in film criticism, the question must be posed: If one had been in a coma since before Gene Roddenberry created the "Star Trek" phenomenon, and upon awakening were shown this latest venture to where no one has gone before, what would he or she think of it?

Don't dwell on the inherent sadness of how young our viewer must have been when lapsing into a coma. It's hypothetical. But his name is Billy.

The contention here is that, more than likely, while dining on the requisite graham crackers and orange juice before being transitioned to more substantial grub, the formerly comatose would opine thusly: "It is colorful, full of noble thoughts, neatly acted, decently directed and needlessly violent. But I didn't get the idea of the pointy ears. And I sure wish you had waited a little while before showing it to me. Hypothetical, shmypothetical, I just came out of a coma. At the very least you could have shown some cartoons first, or don't they do that anymore?"

Thanking our imaginary Billy for proving my point, and wishing him luck in resuming life among the quick, the fact is that director Lin's film is aimed not at the post-slumbering, but at the inveterate Trekkie, and any proselyte it might attract. I fit neither category, and while certainly appreciating the iconic creativity of the series and applauding its moral-disseminating potential, must note that I feel about each succeeding movie the way I feel about cats. That is, I judge them on their individual merits.

Oh, granted, I'm lying a little bit. Who isn't enamored of the USS Enterprise's crew? Unless you were in a coma ... oh, did that. I mean, here they are, each with his or her endearing quirks and traits. They are our media uncles, aunts and cousins, and to make it all the more delightful and comforting, not only are they still alive, but in these reboots, they are young, younger even than when we first knew them.

It adds a whole dimension to our fandom. We become psychologists of sorts, observing the character growth of our favorite personae.

Watching their development, including watershed life experiences that will impact their personalities, is affirming and, though futuristic adventure is generally about change, there is a warm, fuzzy feeling in that the old gang, now young, is pretty much the same. The inspired prequel idea saves the viewer from the disconcerting experience of new players taking the place of actors too aged or unfortunately deceased. Individual story plots are not as important as being able to say, "Now, isn't that just like Kirk?"

Nevertheless, the great science fiction tradition of veiling the crucial social and political issues of our day in another setting, in this case Star Date 2263.2, is alive and well here. It's about the threat of despotism … the dangerous appeal of would-be leaders who promise everything short of eternal life, and sometimes that, too. While I surmise the average Trekkie is educated and has a sense of history, we can only hope that some of our narrow-minded citizens will somehow lope into a theater where the "Star Trek" enlightenment is civilizing all who would welcome it.

The life lessons exampled by Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Bones, et al, beseech, "Give us your prejudiced, selfish, insensitive and pigheaded yearning to understand the true idea of America."

The notion would particularly anger Idris Elba's super-villainous Krall, this episode's monstrous reactionary opposed to everything the Federation champions. Hiding no picture of himself rotting in the attic a la Dorian Gray, he vaunts the ugly proof of his hatred for cooperation and harmony on his Devil-gargoyle face.

So it's a good thing the new-original gang is here to fight the good fight, their idiosyncrasies and mannerisms intact. You can set your clock, no matter the star date, by Chris Pine's solid, morally principled Kirk; enjoy the playful conjecture as to whether Zachary Quinto's Commander Spock is as unemotional as advertised; find humor and well-being in Dr. Bones McCoy's (Karl Urban) signature exasperation, and so on down the line of science fiction's most famous motley crew.

While the good vs. evil storyline of this action-packed homage to the franchise is simple almost to a fault, we're blessedly spared the convolutions attendant to movies that are overly immersed in the lore and minutiae of their fictional world. The accent is on the future of democracy, and if it's able to entertainingly wake some from the coma of pie-in- the-sky solutions, then this "Star Trek" mission will have surely reached beyond its expectations.

"Star Trek Beyond," rated PG-13, is a Paramount Pictures release directed by Justin Lin and stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Idris Elba. Running time: 122 minutes

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