Movies
Associated Press
In this image released by Paramount Pictures, Anton Yelchin, left, and Chris Pine appear in a scene from, "Star Trek Beyond."
A touch of humor invades "Star Trek Beyond" By JAKE COYLE Associated Press In the previous "Star Trek" installment, Spock cried. In the latest, "Star Trek Beyond," he laughs. And not just a little snicker, either, but a belly-full one. What bold explorations into the farthest reaches of the galaxy hold for Spock no one knows. A sigh? A hiccup? "Star Trek Beyond," like most of the rebooted properties flying around our movie theaters, delights in nostalgically resurrecting iconic characters and tweaking them anew. The balance is a delicate one, as seen in the pre-release debate around this film revealing Sulu (John Cho but formerly played by LGBT icon George Takei) as gay. The scene in question turns out to be a mere moment, lightly handled, showing Sulu greeting his same-sex partner and their daughter after a long mission. It's all expressed with just a few arms tenderly draped across shoulders. And it's the kind of welcome touch that director Justin Lin, the "Fast & Furious" veteran who takes over
for J.J. Abrams, has brought to this pleasingly episode-like installment. The opening scene, fittingly, plays with a smaller scale. Captain Kirk (Chris Pine), on a diplomatic mission, appeals to a snarling beast looming above him in a crowded amphitheater. Enraged at Kirk's offer, the alien beast hurtles down upon him, only to turn out to be no more monstrous than a feisty bulldog. The film finds a bored Enterprise finishing up a five-year tour in deep space. The (albeit brief) change of pace is immediately appreciated. The last two beefed-up "Star Trek" movies, as if overcompensating for decades of Trekkie nerddome, threatened to make the once brainy "Star Trek" less distinct from other mega-sized sci-fi adventures — just another clothesline of CGI set pieces strung together. Like its recent predecessors, "Star Trek Beyond" is mostly an assortment of effects-heavy scenes with bits of talking in between. But unlike the previous film, 2013's bloated "Star Trek Into Darkness," not everything is quite so much of a life-and-death issue (the exhausting de facto pitch
of today's summer blockbuster). The Starship Enterprise, led by Captain Kirk (Chris Pine, looking more natural in the role), is lured through a nebula where a would-be rescue mission turns into a trap set by the villain Krall, whose spectacular army of mechanical drones ("bees" he calls them) attack in an overwhelming swarm. In a galactic blitz, the Enterprise is torn to shreds and crashes down on a rocky planet where the ship's scattered crew tries to gather, survive and understand Krall's motives. A local becomes an essential guide for them: Jaylah (a nimble Sofia Boutella), a pale loner with black streaks running down her face who helps the crew discover the Federation's history on the planet. The backstory, though, never quite gets filled out, and the plot serves as little more than a mechanism to test the efficient camaraderie of the Enterprise crew. Among them: Zoe Saldana's Uhura, Simon Pegg's Scotty, Karl Urban's Bones and Chekov, played by the late Anton Yelchin, a fine actor who's disappointing underused here. They're an entertaining enough bunch meandering around, and screenwriters Doug
Jung and Pegg (who, as the writer of "Spaced," knows plenty about the intersection of comedy and science fiction) have injected some humor to the proceedings. The heart of the film, though, like the previous two, is the bromance between Kirk and Zachary Quinto's Spock. They're Felix and Oscar in outer space, and still the highlight of this batch of "Star Trek" films. It's only late in the film that the alien mask is pulled away revealing the actor underneath Krall: Idris Elba. For those who didn't place his baritone earlier, the reveal comes as a disappointment. It should be a crime in deep space, as it is on Earth, to shroud such a tremendous force behind mountains of extraterrestrial makeup. But I suppose had Elba been an unadorned baddie all along, the Enterprise might really have finally met its match. "Star Trek Beyond," a Paramount Pictures release, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for "sequences of sci-fi action and violence." Running time: 122 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
Nothing wrong with the new "Ghostbusters" film By ROBERT GRUBAUGH For The Edge
Sony has ramped up for the release of their "Ghostbusters" reboot this weekend by getting used to the idea that all publicity is good publicity. Since its announcement more than a year ago, the Internet has been full of more than its usual share of trolls trying to do harm to the picture before it even got out of the gate. "It can't be as good as the original." "It surely can't be funny without a male lead in the cast." "How can this travesty be allowed to exist?" Well, get over yourselves, anonymous Web posters. There's nothing wrong with the new "Ghostbusters" movie. It's not exceptionally good or bad, and some of the jokes fail to land, but the movie is a fun experience. What more could you really ask for from a
show like this than to be entertained? Treading where Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Ivan Reitman legendarily led the 1984 box office is a bevy of very successful comediennes, many of whom have been best catapulted into the public consciousness by the institution of "SNL", the comedy mill that turned out some of the most memorable "Ghostbusters" of all. Frequent host, sitcom star, and celebrated comedy actress Melissa McCarthy fronts the group as physicist Abby Yates who rejoins forces with her old partner, a reborn skeptic of the paranormal, Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wi i g ) a n d w h a c k y e n g i n e e r named Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon) to begin investigating sightings around New York City of unexplainable power surges and creepy phantoms. They're joined
by an early encounter victim, eager subway clerk Patty Tolan ("SNL" breakout Leslie Jones). The eventual plot of the movie, which I again say is irrelevant to one's enjoyment of the way it comes off, concerns the Ghostbusters stopping a weirdo (Neil Casey) from opening some sort of portal to another plane of existence that lies beneath a fancy old hotel. His intentions are not clear, but his actions are certainly dastardly enough to label him as the black hat villain. As far as the comedy goes, "Ghostbusters" hits as often as it misses. After the first two gags in the movie had me literally gagging, I was quickly afraid that this was going to be more of a train wreck than, say, last year's "Trainwreck". The ship rights itself, thankfully, long about the time that Chris
Hemsworth enters to interview for a receptionist job. The buff actor clearly has a comic timing of his own because he nails this role as a dim bulb pretty boy even more than his small part in last summer's remake of "Vacation". In addition to the subdued Hemsworth, all of the former Ghostbusters (including Murray, Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, Sigourney Weaver, and even the late Harold Ramis) cameo in bit parts that add to the fun. Murray was cast as a well-dressed debunker aimed at thwarting Abby's work, but I particularly enjoyed Aykroyd's cranky cabbie that refuses to drive all the way from lower Manhattan to Chinatown. There was substantial disagreement between forecasters as to how well the movie would perform in terms of ticket sales. The studio was playing it safe by
July 28, 2016
giving a modest number that could be easily attained. Other industry insider threw similar soft targets up. While "Ghostbusters" did open to more than $45 million during its opening weekend, that was in second place behind the sophomore efforts of last week's "The Secret Life of Pets", which suffered more than a fifty percent drop. The live action comedy isn't dead, but it requires a lot more effort these days for the mainstream to collectively believe in them. Director Paul Feig and McCarthy especially as no strangers to this idea. That's why the hopeful, sequel-oriented bumper scene at the end of the credits is so well crafted. Sneaky, sneaky. "Ghostbusters" runs 116 minutes and is rated PG-13 for supernatural action and some crude humor. I give this film two stars out of four.
On the Edge of the Weekend
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