Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 85% (Critics) / 86% (Audience)
Directed By: Karyn Kusama
Written By: Doug Jung and Simon Pegg
Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana and Idris Elba
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Synopsis: The USS Enterprise crew explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a new ruthless enemy who puts them and everything the Federation stands for to the test. – (Source)

The Good:
Count me in as one of the contingent of Trek fans who were iffy on Justin Lin being named the director of this film. I was not sure whether a guy who was known for his work on the FAST & FURIOUS franchise was the best choice for a Star Trek film but I was glad to be proven wrong. Lin brought a very dynamic direction style full of distinctive camera angles that gave the movie a really interesting kinetic energy that was totally different than what I was used to from the previous JJ Abrams films. And whoever realized that in Simon Pegg they had a proven wonderful writer needs to be given a raise because his script brought a lot of the heart back to the franchise as well as providing humor that actually worked.
I also was happy to see that McCoy was integrated into the Spock/Kirk friendship much more than he had been in the last two movies. Having the Big 3 actually behaving like they should was a major plus for this fan.
And I also was very happy to see the introduction of stranded alien survivor Jaylah, played with gusto by KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE star Sofia Boutella. Aside from having a very cool look, the character fit in seamlessly with the rest of the crew and adds another woman to the sausage fest that is the Enterprise gang. Hopefully the character is an officer on the ship when the next movie comes out.

The Bad:
I was really disappointed in the Krall character. As a villain he really didin’t do much for me and felt like a waste of the talents of an actor of Idris Elba’s talents. I kept wondering how much cooler it would have been to have not wasted the Khan Noonien Singh character on Benedict Cumberbatch in STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS and instead to have cast Elba as the reboot version of Khan. With Pegg’s better script and Justin Lin’s better directing style, I really do think that would have been a perfect combo.

The Ugly:
Why do Star Trek movie directors always feel the need to destroy The Enterprise? We have to be on the 100th version of that damn ship by now.

Final Verdict: After a slight stumble with the second film in the reboot series, STAR TREK BEYOND rights the ship and gives us a movie that feels like Trek should feel with just the right mix of humor, drama, heart and action. Justin Lin and Simon Pegg make a good directing/writing team and I really want to see what they can do with another Trek film. Sure the villain was underwhelming but the rest of the movie worked very well for this Trekker.

Grade: B+