Film Review: Star Trek Beyond

Release date: 22^nd July 2016

Director: Justin Lin

Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Idris Elba, Anton Yelchin, Sofia Boutella

Runtime: 122 minutes

Genre: Science-Fiction, Action

Watched in: 2D

Rating: 4/5 stars

Star Trek Beyond is the third film in the rebooted Star Trek series. When the Enterprise is attacked by villain Krall, played by Idris Elba, the crew are split up and must survive and reunite to defeat this new enemy. Although I haven’t seen any of the original Star Trek TV series and films, I loved the first two in this reboot and the third didn’t disappoint.

The film’s plot was fresh enough to stop the series becoming stale, which I was afraid would happen with repetitive themes. It continues the story arcs of Kirk and Spock, who both have doubts about their positions in Star Fleet, so I’m glad they didn’t sacrifice character development for action. There was plenty of action, with some excellent sequences with great visuals and tension.

The characters are all there and the actors just work so well together to show the dynamics between the characters. This time they are accompanied by Jaylah, played by Sofia Boutella, who did a great job of bringing in the new character.

Overall it was a thoroughly enjoyable film, with plenty of action and some laughs along the way.

Film Review: Jason Bourne  

Release date: 27^th July 2016

Director: Paul Greengrass

Starring: Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, Tommy Lee Jones, Alicia Vikander

Runtime: 123 minutes

Genre: Action

Watched in: 2D

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Bourne is back in Jason Bourne, the fourth film featuring Matt Damon as Bourne, and the fifth in the Bourne film franchise. Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles) brings new information to Jason Bourne about his past, bringing out of the shadows and back into the thick of it, with the CIA immediately tracking him down once again.

I was more than a little worried that this would be a repeat of the previous films and wondered what they were going to do with the plot, but they made enough of a story for the extra film to be worthwhile. It carried on in the same vein of the previous films, which is a style I like, but it also meant they didn’t bring anything particularly new to the table. The action sequences were good and I really enjoyed the film, but I guess it was just more of the same in the end.

The acting was good, with Alicia Vikander playing a new character in the CIA. I felt she could have been fleshed out more. At one point there are quite heavy suggestions about something significant in her past which is relevant to her motivations in the plot, but it is never explained. I don’t want to say too much and give away spoilers. Perhaps they’re planning on a sequel and didn’t want to give everything away in this film.

It was a good film with plenty of twists and turns that kept me wanting to know what would happen next. Worth watching, but nothing new.