*Spoilers*

As a movie, it’s an experience to watch and that’s saying the least. The colours in every scene, the clarity of each visual effect is incredibly beautiful.

The writing is fresh, fast paced, compelling and allows for a giggle despite the seriousness of the story. The addition of Simon Pegg to the writing team brings an aspect that was arguably missing from the first two movies. This one feels more grounded not only because most of the movie happens on a planet instead of in space but also because the characters are suddenly made vulnerable. With the shocking loss the Enterprise in the first part of the movie, the once strong, united crew find themselves split up, unable to communicate and in some cases, captured by the enemy.

This is where me meet Jaylah, by far one of my favourite characters in cinematic history. Jaylah is introduced by saving Scotty, who is alone after the crash. Portrayed by Sofia Boutella, she is an extremely well rounded character, something I found quite refreshing after Carol Marcus from Into Darkness (no offence to her, I loved the actress but I feel she was just there to be Kirk’s eye candy). Jaylah develops innocent and purely platonic relationships with the male characters, notably Scotty with whom she bonds over engineering. The other women in this movie are all well represented, none are there purely for sexual content, they all have a purpose to story and in this third instalment of the AOS, had their ranks visible on their uniforms.

That is one of the many aspects of this movie that feels like what Star Trek originally was. Thanks to director Justin Lin (who contrary to Abrams is a fan of the show) there is a nostalgic aspect to this film: the story itself feels like an episode of the original series, the relationship between Bones and Spock gets much more screen time developing what fans know and love and the many references scattered throughout such as the “the giant green hand” mentioned by Scotty (reference to the episode”Who mourns for Adonais?”). We also get to see a picture of the original crew of the Enterprise in Ambassador Spock’s belongings.

This amazing emotional movie ends as it should, with an amazing emotional scene. At Captain Kirk’s birthday party, the entire main crew: Kirk himself, Bones, Spock, Uhura, Chekov, Sulu and Scotty gather together, emulating the photo of the original cast, looking on at the reconstruction of the U.S.S. Enterprise. The movie closes on an emotional rendition of the famous “Space…” speech, each saying a line. Personally it made me cry.

Star Trek Beyond feels nostalgic, full of heart and a magnificent homage to the work of Gene Roddenberry.