2016’s summer movie season was weirdly unexciting, and no two films summed up this weird lack of excitement better than Star Trek Beyond and Finding Dory. These two films weren’t terrible by any stretch of the imagination. They weren’t notably fantastic either. They were simply adequate, and reviewing adequate films is boring. So, instead of having to write two dull reviews about two adequate films, I'm going to write one dull review about two adequate films.
Star Trek Into Sufficiency
Let’s look at Star Trek Beyond first. I need to clarify that I am not a Star Trek fan like I am a Star Wars one. My relationship with the franchise doesn’t stretch much further than the J.J. Abrams reboots, so this opinion is coming from someone who knows nothing about classic Star Trek, really liked the 2009 film, and enjoyed Star Trek Into Darkness.
For starters, Beyond has some major changes behind the scenes. Justin Lin has taken over directing duties from Abrams fairly seamlessly; the lack of lens flares being the only noticeable change. Meanwhile, Simon Pegg has provided the screenplay. His writing is competent, featuring the fast paced dialogue you'd expect from a blockbuster these days. Although strangely, seen as Pegg is a professional comedian, few of the gags land.
In terms of performances, things are solid; Zachary Quinto is still pitch perfect as Spock, and Idris Elba provides an intimidating and surprisingly three dimensional villain. Sadly, this level of character development doesn't stretch much further. As has been the case since the first Abrams film, Kirk and Spock hog most of it. It's a shame, but understandable. In order to keep the film fast paced and blockbuster friendly, some of the characters have to be overlooked.
Admittedly, the action could've been trimmed down to give the characters more room. Visual effects heavy sequences of flashy spaceships and lasers last slightly too long to keep my attention. Especially compared to the latest Bourne film, the action is very floaty. It lacks the gritty impact of that film, and subsequently has very little tension.
In other words, Star Trek Beyond is slightly better than Into Darkness, but not as good as the first film.
Finding Acceptability
Next, we have Finding Dory. I never loved Finding Nemo anyway, for me it's always been on the same level as films like A Bug’s Life or Brave, so I didn't exactly anticipate its sequel. Let's just say I got what I was expecting.
The usual ingredients of a Pixar release are here. Colourful animation, snappy dialogue, funny jokes and likeable characters. The problem is, it all feels like the bare minimum Pixar can offer. The animation is colourful enough, the dialogue is snappy enough, the jokes are funny enough and the characters are likeable enough.
The majority of the film also takes place in one location, which makes it feel awkwardly structured. It's like those claustrophobic thrillers set in a single confined space, except it's a kids film. Obviously, due to the nature of the genre, this doesn't heighten any tension. Instead, it makes the film feel uneventful, and more like an episode of a TV programme.
Still, making Dory the main character means she sheds the burden of comic relief and enters the realm of three dimensions. It's nice to see her mental illness being explored in a more sympathetic light, although the seal that fills the comic relief slot is shamelessly there to be laughed at for being “weird”. There are also one too many callbacks to the original that are intended to be clever, but just feel lazy.
Verdict
That was exceptionally boring. Now I've got this review over and done with, I might not procrastinate for over a month and instead write some reviews. Maybe.
Star Trek Beyond: 7.7/10
Finding Dory: 7/10
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