The third film of the Star Trek reboot movies Star Trek Beyond was recently released and it not only met my expectations but exceeded them. Of all the reboots this one is definitely my favourite.

Beyond, the sequel to 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness, finds Captain Kirk, Spock, Bones and the rest of the Enterprise crew three years into their five year voyage attempting a rescue mission on an unknown planet. But things go awry and they are attacked by a vicious alien commander and his bee-like swarm ships.

For my non-spoiler review I will be breaking it into four easy to chew pieces:

I saw this film with the kind courtesy of Digicel IMAX and I will suggest that is the best way to enjoy it. The visuals are some of the best I have seen in any Star Trek movie, reboot or pre-reboot, and they are greatly enhanced the IMAX system. And the 3D really sucks you into the pulse pounding ship manoeuvres.

The Enterprise is captured in all her glory and the starbase they dock on, “Yorktown”, is also brimming with splendor. There is a lot of eye candy to be enjoyed here.

For this film the director of the two previous entries, J.J. Abrams, stepped away so he could direct Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. In his place stepped in Justin Lin who is best known for directing three Fast and Furious films. This choice had some Trek purists concerned that the movie would be a big dumb action-fest.

Now Beyond has a lot of action, one scene in particular would have worked well in a Fast and Furious flick, but it remains true to the Trek world. You have your phaser blasting and close quarters combat but the stand out was the attack on the Enterprise. It was loaded with thrills and you really felt the stakes.

This is some of the best action we have seen in a Star Trek movie since Star Trek: First Contact which came out two decades ago. And in the midst of all the action we do get some humour and character moments to balance the experience.

There was a somber cloud hanging over Beyond as production began following the death of Leonard Nimoy, the original Spock and “Spock Prime” in the reboot films, and in June after filming wrapped Anton Yelchin, who plays navigator Ensign Pavel Chekov, had died in a car accident.

The death of Spock was written into the film and, while I will not spoil it, handled in such a way that honours the memory of the iconic character and actor by extension. The film is dedicated to the memories of both Nimoy and Yelchin.

While the reboot movies have been divisive among fans I have found them fun and as a Trekkie I am glad for the resurgence of popularity after years of nothing. I enjoyed Star Trek as a cool little adventure but I was not a fan of Star Trek Into Darkness mainly because it ripped off the main villain and a number of scenes from one of the greatest Trek films ever – The Wrath of Khan.

What I liked most about Beyond is that I actually felt like it was moving forward and telling its own story. Idris Elba did a commendable job as the villain Krall and Sofia Boutella was a lot of fun as butt kicking alien Jaylah. The look of both characters was also well done and intriguing. My only complaint is that I would have liked to have seen a few more aliens on the planet they crash landed on, but it is a minor nitpick.

And while moving forward the film actually has a decent slice of fan service. Now some of it is more obvious than others but diehard Trekkies will be smiling a lot.

Rating: For a beautiful looking movie with lots of action, heart and Trek fan service Star Trek Beyond gets 3/4 mangoes boldly going where no mango has gone before.

So have you seen Star Trek Beyond? What did you think of it? Feel free to comment below.

For my Top Star Trek movies you can click here and for my Top 10 Star Trek species you can click here. And for more TV posts that boldly go where no post has gone before you can follow me on Twitter @suprememango012. Julien is outie like a navel. l8rs.

NB – This post originally appeared in Trinidad and Tobago Newsday