Besides the title, "Beyond the Trek" which conflates this project with the Star Trek franchise, it includes a clone (Sunny Mabrey) of the character played by Alice Eve in "Star Trek Into Darkness." These knock-off films are known as "mockbusters" or as those in the business call them, "a drafting opportunity." They hope to exploit the massive promotion of the real film(s) to give theirs a boost. Even if only 1% of the huge audience looking for the real Star Trek film(s) mistakenly pick up this one, it can be enough to push these relatively low budget flicks into the black.
However, the film is not anywhere close to the quality of Star Trek films. The acting is uneven -- approximately the quality you'd expect to see in a soap opera if the players were given just one more take.
However, there is a tangible plot line, decent FX, and plenty of techno-speak to keep geeks entertained. The cinematography is pretty good, too. Unfortunately, there is the subtle racial bias that seems to be creeping into more and more films these days. The character who is the most sneaky is stereotypically played by an Asian women. Another character -- who appears angry all the time, commits the the most abhorrent act of violence, has intellectual impairment, and who draws the crew into making amoral decisions -- is played by a black man, which reinforces the racial stereotype of the stupid and angry black man committing crimes.
This film is hard science fiction with all the techno trimmings and would actually be an entertaining hour and half if were not for the bad acting and the racial bias.
Triggers: strobe effects, racial stereotypes, racial bias in the composition of the cast/characters, graphic violence, gun (laser) violence, amoral behavior by protagonists
3/10 (originally published 16 May 2020; resubmitted 10 June 2020)
However, the film is not anywhere close to the quality of Star Trek films. The acting is uneven -- approximately the quality you'd expect to see in a soap opera if the players were given just one more take.
However, there is a tangible plot line, decent FX, and plenty of techno-speak to keep geeks entertained. The cinematography is pretty good, too. Unfortunately, there is the subtle racial bias that seems to be creeping into more and more films these days. The character who is the most sneaky is stereotypically played by an Asian women. Another character -- who appears angry all the time, commits the the most abhorrent act of violence, has intellectual impairment, and who draws the crew into making amoral decisions -- is played by a black man, which reinforces the racial stereotype of the stupid and angry black man committing crimes.
This film is hard science fiction with all the techno trimmings and would actually be an entertaining hour and half if were not for the bad acting and the racial bias.
Triggers: strobe effects, racial stereotypes, racial bias in the composition of the cast/characters, graphic violence, gun (laser) violence, amoral behavior by protagonists
3/10 (originally published 16 May 2020; resubmitted 10 June 2020)