Star Trek Beyond (2016), PG-13, ★★★1/2

Separated...from what's left of the crew.

50 years. Wow, it's definitely a milestone for a series to accomplish a feat that a myriad of fans grew up loving and started to love. Believe it or not, you have to put it in the same ballpark as James Bond and Star Wars in terms of how successful a series can be to engage many fans. But, between Star Wars and Star Trek, it is the personal story between the crew members that unite as one as a family and that, more or less, is what this latest film of the rebooted series explores. The movie honors the tradition of unity and friendship in outer space as its creator, Gene Roddenberry, wanted to present in the first place. It is a simplistic plot, but it is a heck of a lot of fun to see chemistry between the crew of the Enterprise.

Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and his crew are on their third year on their five-year mission exploring the ends of the universe. He has become bored by this point as he matures well into his next birthday, which he states to his friend, Dr. McCoy (Karl Urban), that he will be a year older than the age that his father died. He wonders what is out there at the end of the universe. McCoy or "Bones" state that he has spent all his time figuring out who his dad is, and it is time to wonder who Kirk himself is.

When the entire crew descends onto Starbase Yorktown, Spock (Zachary Quinto) is informed by two elder Vulcans that Ambassador Spock (the late Leonard Nimoy) has died. Kirk meets with Commodore Paris (Shoreh Aghdashloo) to apply for a Vice Admiral position and have Spock become the captain of the Enterprise.

A distress signal is picked up by the Federation from an alien named Kalara (Lydia Wilson), who claims to have been part of a crew whose ship has been destroyed. The Enterprise volunteers to help and sets off on a rescue mission. As they approach a Class M planet, they are suddenly attacked by a cluster of ships. They are invaded by their leader, Krall (Idris Elba) as he tries to retrieve an artifact that Kirk possessed earlier, which happen to be a bioweapon called the Abronath. As he tries to retrieve it, he discovers that it has been taken. As the ships take members of the crew, the Enterprise is heavily destroyed, enough for the Enterprise to crash onto the planet and separate some members from the crew trying to escape from the planet.

Spock, Jaylah and Bones. 

I had fun with this movie as this latest installment treats itself like a two-hour long episode than a movie which I don't mind because it retraces back to the origins of Star Trek, what Star Trek is all about, exploring the ends of the universe with a theme of teamwork and family unifying the crew of the Enterprise. But, this movie is lighter than the first two films because there is a lot of bantering going around as they team up, especially between Spock and Bones, which the best part of the film. But, even though this was better film than the second movie, this had a fresh aspect playing into this movie: charismatic and fun entertainment amidst the characters and the action.

The cast, again, is still entertaining to watch and they're all good. Chris Pine matures into his role quite nicely as he evolves into his own character of Captain Kirk and not William Shatner's Kirk. Zachary Quinto is still quite effective as Spock and he has a very unpredictable moment as a Vulcan. Karl Urban is the MVP of this movie as his lines are some of the most memorable. Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldand, John Cho and Anton Yelchin are quite good. Idris Elba is, again, having a very good year as he plays the villain menacingly well but his character lacked a bit of clarity as to what his motivation was behind his bioweapon. Also, Sofia Boutella as Jaylah is quite remarkable as solid female warrior that kicks a lot of butt and puts her intelligence into play that is integral to the story.

There are some flaws into the story regarding Spock's motivation to leave Starfleet and it is never brought up again and there was some editing issues as to who is doing to what and what is going on in terms of craftsmanship. But, this is a nice, fresh addition to the series as director Justin Lin taking the reins of J.J. Abrams solidifies his expertise in entertaining action sequences and characters into the movie. He crafted it well.

There's some callbacks to the Original Series, especially in a touching moment near the end of the film, and also the TV series, Enterprise. But, this movie makes a tribute to the franchise as to what Star Trek is all about. I have to admit I had mixed expectations going into this movie because of its marketing campaign, but this movie is a whole lot of fun. Despite some flaws in its editing and a few subplots, this movie mixes character interaction, humor and action real well for us to care about what will happen to the crew out there where no man has gone before.

***1/2