Spock, Jayah and Bones get ready to fight Krall

Star Trek Beyond – While on shore leave at a Starbase, ‘Yorktown’, the crew of the Enterprise are despatched on a rescue mission after a vessel appears with its occupant asking for help; her stranded crew on the other side of a nebula. On arrival, they are attacked and, with the ship severely damaged, the crew are forced to flee in escape pods but many are taken by the enemy. Only a handful make it safely to a nearby planet and, together with new ally, Jaylah, they attempt to rescue their crew and stop a deadly attack on Yorktown.

Star Trek Beyond (2016) – Director: Justin Lin

Is Star Trek Beyond appropriate for kids

By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50376447

Rating: 12

Running Length: 80 mins

Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Idris Elba

Genre: Science Fiction, Action

REVIEW: ‘STAR TREK BEYOND’

The long-running franchise of ‘Star Trek’ returns for the second sequel of the rebooted series. After audiences were divided with the decision to remake ‘The Wrath of Khan’ with a twist in ‘Star Trek: Into Darkness’, audiences waited with bated breath as to whether ‘Fast and Furious’ director, Justin Lin, could steer the franchise back onto the right course.

Thankfully, ‘Beyond’ has allayed those fears by managing to get the pacing, spectacle, action and character development finely and expertly balanced. The plot isn’t exactly simple but it is easy to follow and there are plenty of well placed exciting moments to ensure that it is never bogged down with too much weighty ‘sci fi’ (not really possible given the short runtime of only 80 minutes).  The acting of each of the cast is great but special mention must be given to Idris Elba and Sofia Boutella (who play Krall and Jaylah, respectively) who manage to showcase their acting talents despite the amount of make-up and prosthetics largely hiding their facial expressions.

Although ‘Star Trek’ is often derided for being only for sci-fi fans, or, conversely, criticised for not being sci-fi enough in recent adaptations, ‘Beyond’ is most certainly a movie that everyone can enjoy, especially those who love nail-biting action.

CONTENT: IS ‘STAR TREK BEYOND’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

Towards the beginning of the movie, there are a few seconds of a man and woman, kissing passionately and clumsily walking into a room, the dialogue suggests that they the pair are about to become physically intimate. The camera then pans to a man being pushed out of a room, topless, by a woman who is clearly angry with him.

A dying man is found after being attacked, he is completely emaciated after having his life force drained from his body. He struggles to breathe for a few seconds and then dies. Later in the movie, a corpse is unexpectedly seen in a similar way, with its mouth wide open and could be quite distressing for children.

After a crash, a character is badly wounded with a large chunk of shrapnel sticks out from their torso and some blood is seen on their clothing. They grunt and groan in pain and another character is deeply concerned for their welfare. This character manages to remove the shrapnel quickly and hold a red hot instrument against it under the clothing in order to cauterise the wound, the other character cries out loudly in agony but this is quick and not gory.

Perhaps the strongest moment in the movie is when two incidental characters are shown to be held upside down with tubes and cables covering their bodies and faces. An alien holds them and, like many of their victims, it drains their life force, making them scream and convulse. Two other characters who are forced to watch this cry out in distress.

A woman is trapped in a room and becomes scared as she knows she is likely to be harmed. A machine is turned on and after a few seconds, she begins to scream as her body begins to disintegrate. There is no blood but the skin is shown to be stripped from her body and is quite graphic, this lasts for around three seconds.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?
VERDICT: IS ‘STAR TREK BEYOND’ FOR KIDS?

‘Star Trek Beyond’ easily surpasses its predecessor, ‘Into Darkness’, and, by having an entirely original story with enough focus on pivotal characters, it does not exclude anyone who may be completely new to the series. Due to some violence, we recommend this movie for ages eight and over although we also recommend caution due to the relatively strong torture scene detailed above.

  • Violence: 3/5 (during a fight, a man is beaten and although he does not appear to suffer and is able to fight back, some blood is seen on his face. Numerous incidental characters are sucked out into space, they scream and, as they are not rescued quickly, they are all killed)
  • Emotional Distress: 2/5 (a character learns of another’s death and, while they do not get overly distressed, they are quite upset. Another character speaks poignantly about the death of a parent)
  • Fear Factor: 2/5 (many of the action sequences are intense but are mostly exciting rather than frightening. The character, Krall, is quite frightening in appearance and speaks in a deep, distorted voice)
  • Sexual Content: 1/5
  • Bad Language: 3/5 (frequent mild blasphemy, infrequent mild to moderate cursing) 
  • Dialogue: 0/5
  • Other notes: Deals with themes of teamwork, fighting against a stronger foe, trust, loss, courage, making the best of a bad situation and doing everything possible to save others.
  • There are some intense flashing lights during a scene towards the beginning of the movie which last around one to two minutes.

Words by Laura Record

 

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