Summary
- Captain Kirk's inner doubts are perfectly captured in Star Trek Beyond's deep and insightful dialogue.
- Commodore Paris' advice to Kirk foreshadows the crisis he faces, highlighting the loneliness of a starship captain.
- Star Trek Beyond strikes a balance between action and character depth, with moments of profound musing and camaraderie.
My favorite line in Star Trek Beyond is the smartest and most insightful bit of spoken dialogue in the Star Trek movies produced by J.J. Abrams. Star Trek Beyond was directed by Justin Lin from a screenplay by Simon Pegg and Doug Jung. To their credit, Pegg and Jung went back to the source material and hewed Star Trek Beyond closer to the spirit of Star Trek: The Original Series. As a result, Star Trek Beyond fused J.J. Abrams' trademark slam-bang action with a greater emphasis on character depth, especially for Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine).
Star Trek Beyond starts off much more sober and philosophical than the two prior films J.J. Abrams directed, Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness. Three years into the USS Enterprise's five-year mission, Captain Kirk feels lost. The Starship Enterprise's voyages have become "episodic" to Kirk. Worse, Jim's mourns his father, Lt. George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth), on his birthday. As Kirk tells Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (Karl Urban), James is now "one year older than [his father] ever was." Kirk feels the answer to his woes is to leave the Enterprise and take over running the massive Starbase USS Yorktown.
Why I Love Star Trek Beyond’s Commodore Paris Dialogue To Captain Kirk
Captain Kirk's innermost doubts are perfectly captured
When Captain Kirk applies for Starbase Yorktown's Vice Admiral position, he consults with the station commander, Commodore Paris (Shohreh Aghdashloo). Paris sizes up and identifies the discontent in the young Captain of the Enterprise, and she gives Kirk a telling piece of advice which, I feel, is the best line of spoken dialogue in any of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies:
It isn't uncommon, you know, even for a captain, to want to leave. There is no relative direction in the vastness of space. There is only yourself, your ship, your crew. It's easier than you think to get lost.
Partially, it's the grace and compassion with which Commodore Paris delivers the line to Captain Kirk that makes it so haunting to me. But more so, it's the insight behind Paris' words. Star Trek Beyond is a metaphor for life. For Kirk, life on the Enterprise was routine, even dull, until disaster struck. Kirk needed to trust his crew, and himself, to defeat the villainous Krall (Idris Elba). Commodore Paris' dialogue was foreshadowing the crisis Kirk was about to face, but it's also a profound musing on the secret loneliness and isolation of a starship captain. Anyone can relate to Kirk feeling lost and adrift. Certainly, I can, on occasion.
J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek Movies Aren’t Known For Great Dialogue
No one accused J.J. Abrams' Star Trek of being overly thoughtful
J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies remain state-of-the-art cinematic thrill rides that injected new vitality into Star Trek, which continues to be felt in the various Star Trek on Paramount+ series. Star Trek as produced by Abrams remains incredibly entertaining and rewatchable. However, no one will ever accuse Abrams' Star Trek movies of being overly thoughtful. The trade-off for J.J. Abrams' kinetic action and galactic crises was shedding the moral quandaries and philosophical issues that defined classic Star Trek television shows.
I love how Commodore Paris' compassionate line to Captain Kirk sees into Jim's soul.
One of the most underrated and refreshing aspects of Star Trek Beyond is that it contains smatterings of insightful dialogue. Spock (Zachary Quinto) telling Kirk, "We do what we always do, Jim. We find hope in the impossible" is a perfect distillation of how the Starship Enterprise's camaraderie is the key to their ability to achieve victory from certain defeat. I love how Commodore Paris' compassionate line to Captain Kirk sees into Jim's soul and secretly urges him toward his ultimate realization in Star Trek Beyond: Commanding the Starship Enterprise is Kirk's first, best destiny. Anything else is a waste of material.
