MASSIVE SPOILERS!!!!

While the supporting roles of Doctor McCoy, Sulu, Chekov and Scotty are left relatively untouched, key other characters are dramatically impacted by the modern day. As if they need to apologize for what Gene Roddenberry created, they have nerfed Captain Kirk, buffed Uhura and altered Spock...well, a lot.
In this latest installment, Star Trek: Beyond, they have taken steps to at least get original again (they didn't bring back Harry Mudd or Klingons) but in so doing, they just...found something flat. It falls into the trap of other big budget titles which rely on character interactions to save them from poor story telling. You go to see people talk to each other (like Thor 2--people want more Loki, they don't care that the dark elves have been basically imprisoned for thousands of years and shouldn't have better technology than the culture which thrived through that time). Let's look deeper.