Star Trek Beyond: 10 Reasons It's Better Than Into Darkness
Beyond is classic Trek in the best way.
Though the common expectation from Star Trek Beyond's fairly lackluster marketing campaign and change in director was that it would fall short of the previous movies, what a pleasant surprise it is that Beyond is another exciting, fun and thrilling entry into the beloved franchise.
Review-wise, it's hovering around 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, leaving it pretty much on par with Star Trek Into Darkness, which was itself a critically-acclaimed film that nevertheless ended up meeting a violent backlash from Trek fans for a variety of reasons.
Thankfully J.J. Abrams has, with the help of director Justin Lin and co-writer Simon Pegg, listened to the fans and delivered a largely entertaining threequel with a lot more to offer the hardcore crowd while still appealing to the newer, younger fanbase. Roll on Star Trek 4.
Here are 10 reasons Star Trek Beyond is better than Into Darkness...
10. The Tone Is Closer To The Original Series
It's fair to say that a lot of hardline Trekkie fans don't care for the new rebooted franchise because it doesn't feel like the Trek they grew up loving. For all the good J.J. Abrams did on the first two movies, he freely admits he isn't a big Trek fan and as such ended up crafting his own distinct take.
With Simon Pegg co-writing the script, however, Beyond feels much more like classic 1960s Star Trek, and in fact, this is basically a self-contained, two-hour Star Trek episode, complete with the planet-hopping, outlandish alien characters and superb character banter you would hope for.
Sure, it may lack the grit and complexity of Into Darkness in particular, but the tone also feels a good deal more faithful to the source material, and it's focused more on being fun than taking itself too seriously.