10 Dumbest Things in Star Trek Beyond

On top of Krall/Edison being such a motivational mess, the film squanders the potential of its primary antagonist through choices made about and by the actor playing him.

As human beings, we respond strongly to faces, so any time an actor gets buried under heavy makeup they are at an immediate disadvantage unless the actor can find a way to act through it all (think Louis Gossett Jr. in Enemy Mine, or Ron Perlman in many of his roles) and make it come alive.

Sadly, actor Idris Elba doesn’t achieve this. For much of his screen time, he’s under so much makeup that he’s not just unrecognizable, all the subtle expression he can bring to his face is smothered under silicone appliances. It’s to the point that he’s effectively voice-acting the role.

Worse, Elba reportedly asked to have less dialog than scripted because he felt the more Krall said the less impactful it was. But since his voice was the main tool he had left in his repertoire, and the one part of his performance that wasn’t strangled under all that makeup, the result is an expressionless — okay, he scowls a lot — adversary with few lines to sell the character, and even that’s hampered by an over-processed voice. The result is uninteresting and not even hissable. How in the name of hell does an Idris Elba character who shreds the Enterprise be so…forgettable?

That, my friends, is the epitome of dumb.