Star Trek Beyond - 3D

First Hit:  Although the script and visuals were dark in tone, I loved how the main characters embodied the Star Trek story and allowed me to enjoy this film.

It is not easy to keep a film succession, based on a television series, engaging while upholding the essence of the story that has been around since 1966.

To be clear, it is Chris Pine (as Captain Kirk), Zachary Quinto (as Commander Spock), Karl Urban (as Dr. “Bones” McCoy), Zoe Saldana (as Lt. Uhura), Simon Pegg (Montgomery “Scotty” Scott), John Cho (as Sulu), and the late Anton Yelchin (as Chekov) that make this film engaging and the story work.

I wasn’t a fan of this particular story or the darkness of the film, but the crew of the Starship Enterprise was amazing. They have magically embodied the original characters and brought them 5 decades into the future with dignity.

This is what I loved about this film, the characters and actors. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Jaylah (Sofia Boutella), who plays a significant role in this film, isn’t added to the mixture of the Star Trek crew in future films. The villain in this film is Krall (Idris Elba) who is looking for a item that will allow him to destroy the Federation.

Pine, Quinto, Urban, Saldana, Pegg, Cho, and Yelchin are compellingly amazing at their ability to continue the growth and transition of these characters by bridging the 50-year gap from the characters’ inception to today. They all deserve heart felt kudos. Boutella is very strong and the character she embodies fits well with this film and the crew. Simon Pegg and Doug Jung wrote this script that allowed the characters to shine through. However, I wasn’t necessarily impressed with the overall story plot. Justin Lin did an admirable job of keeping the tone and focus on the characters.

Overall:  I enjoyed the film mostly because the crew of the Starship Enterprise was perfect.

Fast & Furious 6

First Hit:  It was fun however so many of the stunts were so far fetched that it made it unbelievable.

This is one film in a series of films that highlight fast cars, car chases and some sort of crime.

We begin with everyone who participated in the previous film having some portion of $100,000,000 on which they are living the good life. However they cannot return to the United States because they are wanted for robbery. Also in the last film, Dominic Toretto (played by Vin Diesel) lost his love Letty (played by Michelle Rodriguez) in a fiery explosion.

A government investigator Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) is trying to track down an infiltrator named Shaw (Luke Evans) who is stealing items to make some unimaginable weapon (none of this is really clear because the film is more about the chases). Shaw needs only one more item and Hobbs is worried that he'll get it, so he makes a deal with Dom and his Fast & Furious warriors to stop Shaw.

The deal is that they will get absolute pardons for their previous crimes. But this isn’t the reason why they say yes, they say yes because they learn Letty is still alive and under Shaw's control. Tricks like jumping off a car, catching someone in mid-air and then landing on the windshield of another car moving the opposite way and not getting hurt? Right.... Or maybe it was the plane moving quickly down a runway that must have been 5 or more miles long before the plane even got 30 feed off the ground. Just isn't real - there is no such runway. Or maybe it was jumping from a plane and landing in/on a car some 30 feet below. Nope, not lined up like they were - just isn’t real.

I enjoyed the car chases and driving but that was it. “More” and “bigger” is not necessarily better.

Diesel is OK and I felt that the edge is gone and his ability to be believable has been diminished. Paul Walker as Brian is stronger here than he was in the previous films. Johnson was adequate as the government agent. Jordana Brewster as Mia (Brian’s wife) is good in a minor role. Rodriguez is OK but her interpretation of having no memory didn’t work for me. Tyrese Gibson as Roman was funny and enjoyable to watch. Sung Kang and Gal Gadot as Han and Gisele were good but didn't have enough screen time. Ludacris as Taj was funny as well and I liked the way he and Gibson played off each other. Chris Morgan wrote the screenplay and pushed it farther than needed. Justin Lin kept the film moving but some of the stunts were too unbelievable to buy in to.

Overall:  Action was fun, cars were great, but some of the stunts made it unbelievable and therefore I lost interest.

Fast Five

First Hit: Some fun car chases but mostly an unrealistic ill-advised script attempting to masquerade as an interesting film.

Vin Diesel has screen presence as does Dwayne Johnson. In this film they are adversaries and in a country, Brazil, where they are out of their element.

Dom (Diesel), Brian (played by Paul Walker), and Mia (played by Jordana Brewster) have to leave the US because both her brother Dom and her boyfriend Brain are fugitive escaped prisoners from the United States.

The US Government sends Hobbs (Johnson) to bring back these most wanted men but in Brazil the problems are more complex. Dom, Brian, Mia and a crew of misfits want to do one last job where they each will get 11 million dollars.

Their idea is to rob a local mob leader named Reyes (played by Joaquim de Almeida) who illegally runs Rio de Janeiro through drugs, prostitution and other graft. He owns the police and neighborhoods by bribes and giving people the minimum to survive. He wants a car which has been seized by the U.S. DEA. The car has an electronic chip in it that tracks where his money is collected and when all of it is transferred to banks. Dom and Brian find the chip and plan a robbery.

Reyes, worried about a theft, puts all his money (over $100 million) in a safe which is in the basement of the main police station. However Dom and Brian take two cars and some cable and are able to drag a multi-ton safe filled with money all around Rio (Yeah, sure). Hobbs is simply trying to catch Dom and Brian but runs into problems because he tries to strong arm Reyes thugs with his American arrogance. This gets everyone to be shooting everyone. 

Granted some of the car scenes are fun to watch and I would have like to seen a list of the cars used in the credits but, it just didn’t happen that way even though after a majority of the credits rolled there was a clip of more film. (Yes folks, I sit through the credits.)

Diesel was, as he usually is, gruff with a soft heart and plays a good outlaw. Walker is a pretty face but his role is marginalized and minimized by stronger actors. Brewster is attractive. Johnson is always a dynamic person on the screen and here he is thuggish and righteous. Almeida is very good in his role as tough master criminal. Chris Morgan and Gary Scott Thompson wrote this unrealistic script. Justin Lin spent a lot of money blowing things up, car chases, wrecking cars and creating long complex foot chases. The difference between amazing foot chases and long and uninteresting foot chases is to watch Daniel Craig in Casino Royale and this one. Craig’s chase is amazing.

Overall: This “Fast” series needs to end as the stories and execution are getting worse and worse.