Dumb

Rating: 6/10 (6 June 2017)

A reckless young battleship commander hunts down the assassin of his mentor, but needs the assassin's help to counter a threat from within.
Flashy action story with a confused concept. The opening sequence addresses the clash between the ethics of the organisation and the swashbucklng of our hero, but it makes a mockery of the thoughtful side of Star Trek and doesn't tie in with the rest of the plot. After that we're left with something like Top Gun - a barely disguised homage to American military might without any insight on the responsibilities of power or the potential of human collaboration. There is nothing to explain how the organisation could become so corrupted that it promotes war, and the threat from the villain seems to come from nowhere - I don't know much about the Star Trek universe, so I'm just commenting on the internal logic of the story, but the year 1945 seems to have significance.
The drama is limited, with simple-minded relationships, and the actors don't need to do much. Best performances are from the villain, with the usual icy British superiority, and a bit of steam rising from Uhuru's passion.
The director fits the pieces together fairly tight and throws in plenty of punch-ups, but there's not much of interest.
Overall: nothing to distinguish this from a dumb action movie.