Beyond

There are quite a few movies on my must-see list that were released when I was in Australia and New Zealand!  I'm so behind!  Last night I made a start at getting caught up by seeing Star Trek Beyond.  I loved it!  I have been a huge fan of the reboot of this beloved series and I think this one might be the best one yet!  The USS Enterprise and its crew are three years into their five year mission to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations, and to boldly go where no man has gone before.  The mission has become monotonous and both Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) are contemplating other assignments as they dock at the USS Yorktown, an elaborate new space station, for supplies.  Soon, the Enterprise is sent to rescue a ship in distress but it is attacked by an unknown swarm.  The ship is destroyed and most of the crew is captured, including Sulu (John Cho) and Uhura (Zoe Saldana).  Dr. McCoy (Karl Urban) and an injured Spock escape to a nearby planet together (and their banter provides much comic relief), Chekov (Anton Yelchin) and Kirk escape together, and Scott (Simon Pegg) escapes separately but encounters Jaylah (Sofia Boutella), a scavenger abandoned on the planet, and enlists her help.  The crew discovers that an alien known as Krall (Idris Elba), who controls the swarm, has attacked their ship for an artifact discovered during their mission capable of mass destruction and that he intends to use it to destroy the USS Yorktown.  Can Kirk save his crew, get the USS Franklin, an old Starfleet vessel, in the air, stop the swarm from destroying the Yorktown (a great scene involving the Beastie Boys' song "Sabotage", also known as "classical music"), and face Krall in an epic showdown?  The answers make for an action-packed and highly entertaining film.  Most people have probably already seen it (although my screening was packed), but I highly recommend it to those of you who haven't!