Too Trek Too Furious: We Talked To Justin Lin About ‘Star Trek Beyond’ And Diversity In Film

Look, I know Justin Lin, the director of Star Trek Beyond, only took over the Fast and the Furious franchise from the third film and had nothing to do with 2 Fast 2 Furious. But I’ve been waiting to use this headline all year and it really does capture the good and the bad of Beyond, the third film in the reboot of the Star Trek franchise which came out this week.

When the first trailer for Beyond was released last December fans reacted negatively, accusing Lin, who has directed four Fast and the Furious films, of essentially taking the franchise and setting it in space. The fear that Lin hasn’t done long-term Star Trek fans justice has been lingering over the film in the lead-up to its release.

So, how does it stack up? Did Lin do a lazy copy/paste job? Well, other than a scene featuring Chris Pine’s Captain Kirk riding a motorcycle for what feels like half an hour, there isn’t a lot Beyond has in common with The Fast and the Furious. In fact the film’s greatest influences are other popular sci-fi films including the Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy.

Where the film is similar to Fast and the Furious however is its diverse casting. The Fast and the Furious and Star Trek Beyond have both been widely credited with bucking the Hollywood obsession with getting white actors to play every role (including roles that are clearly not about white people at all) and the has been a common point of conversation around the new film.

However when we talk to Justin Lin, he tells us that he never explicitly focused on building diversity into his films. His casting was more about giving as many “opportunities” as possible to potential actors in order to create the most interesting characters.

This hasn’t gone unnoticed. At Beyond‘s world premiere John Cho, who plays Mr Sulu (a character made famous by internet hero George Takei), explained that it was Star Trek’s groundbreaking diversity that attracted him to the franchise in the first place. While the series won praise for its representation of cultural diversity, it has previously been criticised for its failure to include any LGBTI characters. The latest film has introduced the first ever LGBTI character, by portraying John Cho’s Mr. Sulu in a same-sex relationship — a move which hasn’t come without its share of controversy.

In response to this, Lin told Junkee that he doesn’t think the Sulu revelation should be a “big deal”. “The impetus for that came from me wanting to spend some time with these characters outside of the ship,” he said. “As we were developing that I was looking for these moments to explore, and for every character I am equally proud of all of the moments we were able to find.”

i can't stress how big of a deal it is that sulu's husband is asian. https://t.co/7WKb22C8MG pic.twitter.com/FTBfAlDUSj

— E. Alex Jung (@e_alexjung) July 20, 2016

Takei, however, thinks it is a big deal and labelled the move as “really unfortunate”. He reportedly lobbied Lin and the film’s co-writer, Simon Pegg, to write a new gay character instead of retconning Sulu. “I’m delighted that there’s a gay character. Unfortunately it’s a twisting of Gene’s creation, to which he put in so much thought. I think it’s really unfortunate,” Takei said.

While Lin’s decision to portray Sulu as gay is clearly an attempt to show off Star Trek’s progressive credentials, it’s strange to suggest that fans shouldn’t consider it a “big deal”. He deliberately chose to represent Sulu as an LGBTI character and it’s very unlikely he would have been oblivious to the public reaction. The response has generally been favourable, but Takei has a point: it feels a little like a forced box-ticking exercise. ‘Oh, we have never had an LGBTI character? Let’s make Sulu gay. Takei is gay so it kind of works out. Oh, Takei isn’t happy? Let’s do it anyway.’

If the film’s writers and producers want to really fly the progressive flag they could have written a new LGBTI character, as Takei suggested. In a universe where new alien species are invented every episode and film it shouldn’t be difficult to write an LGBTI character.

On the broader comparison between Beyond and The Fast and the Furious, Lin remains unfazed. In fact, he’s happy to compare them, stating he doesn’t think there’s much difference between filming action sequences in outer-space and filming car chases.

“Whether I’m doing an action sequences or a little scene between two characters in an indie movie, my approach has always been the same. I’m trying to service whatever is happening in that moment. With Star Trek I really wanted to bring back some of the more tactile nature of the series, I wanted to feel the humanity.”

This comes through well. Far and away the best parts of Beyond are the ones that focus on the humanity and the relationships of all the characters. I know hardcore Trekkies will recoil at some of the action scenes (especially the motorcycle sequences) but to write off the film because of the director’s experience on The Fast and the Furious would be a mistake.

In fact, I’d take a more explicit mashup. Tyrese Gibson and The Rock in space! Please answer my prayers, Justin Lin.

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Star Trek Beyond is in cinemas now.

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Osman Faruqi is a Sydney based writer and broadcaster. You can follow him on Twitter at @oz_f.