Star Trek Beyond

It was too hot this weekend to do anything outside except melt, so I decided to head on down to my local drink-and-watch multiplex and take in Star Trek Beyond, the latest edition in the rebooted series. I also took in a couple of bottles of Angry Orchard hard cider, which proved refreshing in the heat.

I found the movie entertaining enough. Simon Pegg, co-writer, decided not to recycle any of the old movie villains, which gave the whole thing an original gloss. What I thought from the previews to be Earth proved to be a beyond-belief-sized space station with highly unrealistic architecture. It was cool, though.

There were a few nods to the old series, including a part where Kirk in his log says things have gotten "episodic." Since the movie starts three years into Enterprise's five-year voyage, there's plenty of room to slot in the rebooted series. I also like that, unlike the previous movie, the opening sequence has some relevance and resonance with the rest of the movie as opposed to being a tacked-on set-piece.

I don't think Beyond will win a Hugo or an Academy Award, but it's a perfectly nice summer movie.