3.5 stars (out of 5)
The third in the franchise-rebooting ‘Young Trek’ series, this now has J.J. Abrams on board as producer and the directorial reins taken over by Justin Lin (veteran of four Fast & Furious flicks, but don’t hold that against him). It also has a script co-penned by star Simon Pegg and bit-player Doug Jung, and perhaps there are some problems with the plot here (and too much comedy), which is surely why at least three uncredited and overhauling rewriters were reportedly involved (oops!).
Nevertheless, there’s much to enjoy, as Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), Bones (Karl Urban), Scotty (Pegg), the increasingly tough Uhura (Zoe Saldana), the ‘controversial’ (yeah, right) Sulu (John Cho) and Chekov (the recently-late Anton Yelchin) are drawn into deep space (that ‘Prime Directive’ be damned, again) and fall victim to the freaky forces of sneering extraterrestrial nasty Krall (who’s played by a major star under heavy make-up, and while his identity is meant to be a secret it’s by now, of course, well-known). The split-up crew naturally attempt to reunite and then fight in standard Trek fashion, with Scotty teaming up with another non-human, the avenging Jaylah (Sofia Boutella), who looks weirdly but coolly ‘80s and offers a nice line in alien arse-kicking.
Not as strong as the previous pic (Star Trek Into Darkness), this is still pretty exciting stuff, with more strong work from the cast and a moving tribute to the late lamented Leonard Nimoy (and a special and sad Yelchin credit at the end too). And another entry is obviously on the cards for the series, and it’s surely going to be even pricier, as supposedly the main cast here signed three-picture deals, which means that they can now all renegotiate their pay rates – and go beyond the final frontier.
I Wake Up Screening 