6

Thursday, July 28, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
ARTS

‘Star Trek’ not 
‘Beyond’ fluff

By ALEX INTNER

Summer Managing Arts Editor

“Star Trek Beyond” had some-

thing to prove this summer. In a 
year when the big box office sto-
ries focus on 
how 
sequels 

are both criti-
cal and finan-
cial flops, “Star 
Trek” had to 
show it wasn’t 
another 
pure 

cash grab and 
had a reason 
for 
existing. 

While it’s not 
the best new movie this summer, 
the new “Star Trek” film is a damn 
good time and clearly had effort 
put into it. Does it have the depth 
of other summer blockbusters like 
“Captain America Civil War” or 
“Finding Dory”? No, not really. 
But, ultimately that doesn’t mat-
ter here.

“Star Trek Beyond” starts with 

the Enterprise and its crew being 
sent to rescue a stranded crew, 
but they’re then attacked by Krall 
(Idris Elba, “Luther”), who wants 
to steal an artifact that’s onboard. 
He and his crew proceed to 
destroy the ship during the attack. 
The crew then ends up scattered 
across the planet, meeting new 
friends in their attempts to get off 
the planet and stopping Krall from 
destroying a major Star Fleet base.

The film’s biggest redeeming 

quality is how purely watchable 
it was. Simon Pegg (“Shaun of the 
Dead”, who co-wrote the screen-
play with Doug Jung and played 
the character Scotty) brought 
his sensibility to the script, pep-
pering many of the characters’ 
interactions with witty jokes. At 
its best, the banter sang off the 

screen, causing raucous laughter. 
The talented cast embraced these 
moments, especially Pegg, Karl 
Urban’s (“Almost Human”) Bones 
and Zachary Quinto’s (“The Slap”) 
Spock. These moments allowed 
the movie to relax, creating a fast 
and loose feeling that carries it 
from beginning to end.

It helps that the franchise 

brought in a visually talented 
director in Justin Lin (“Furious 
7”) to replace J.J. Abrams (who 
was busy making this little “Star 
Wars” film). The film’s action 
scenes crackled with excitement. 
As the camera swooped around 
the fighting, Lin made us feel a 
certain excitement, just like he 
did so well in the “Fast and Furi-
ous” movies he directed. This is 
especially true in Kall’s attack 
of the Enterprise. This sequence 
went on for multiple minutes, and 
were some of the most exciting 
moments in the movie.

Despite the movie being a 

goof watch, it wasn’t without its 
problems. The film didn’t really 
attempt to add much depth to the 
characters, something the first 
film did so well with the relation-
ship between Spock and Captain 
Kirk (Chris Pine, “Jack Ryan: 
Shadow Recruit”). Elba did what 
he could with the villain role, 
but the character doesn’t get any 
background until the film’s third 
act, and the twists felt like half-
hearted attempts at creating a 
character instead of a caricature.

Still, it’s easy to overlook how 

hard it is to make a competent 
summer blockbuster. This movie-
going season has been filled with 
efforts where the filmmakers 
clearly didn’t care. That makes 
“Star Trek” a refreshing breath 
of fresh air with its banter and 
incredible action scenes.

Gucci’s homecoming 
album a strong showing

Artist makes 
statement after 

release from prison

By ANAY KATYAL

Summer Senior Arts Editor

Gucci Mane’s propensity for 

trouble never really got in the way 
of his prolific music career. In his 
approximately 
2 years spent 
locked 
up 
at 

USP 
Terre 

Haute, 
Gucci 

released 
over 
twenty 

different 
projects, largely 
thanks 
to 
a 

backlog of old 
verses and an 
ever-so-loyal team of producers, 
artists and marketers behind him. 
After his various flirtations with 
the law and the dwindling image 
of his label and crew, the deluge of 
releases was a last-ditch attempt 
to maintain the artist’s relevancy 
as trap royalty — at least until he 
can go back to warming the throne 
himself. With millions parading 
#FreeGuwop all over Twitter 
as a gesture of support, Gucci 
and his team’s efforts didn’t go 
unheard, making the anticipation 
for Gucci’s first release post-
prison all the more sweet for 
his fans. Atlanta’s rap scene has 
seen an upheaval of sorts since 
Gucci’s incarceration, introducing 
newfound 
mainstream 
media 

attention and a smorgasbord of 
new players to the game. In the 
face of that, Gucci finds himself 
comfortably at home on Everybody 
Looking — a project that comes 
less than two months after his 
release. Despite some loose ends 
on the album, it’s as if he never left 
in the first place.

Helmed by Atlanta producers 

Zaytoven 
and 
Mike 
WiLL 

Made-It, Everybody Looking was 
tasked with the responsibility of 
ensuring fans (and quiet critics) 
that Gucci has yet to deviate from 
his form. With standout songs like 
“1st Day Out tha Feds” (initially 
released as a single) and “Guwop 
Home,” Everybody Looking packs 

a sonic punch, especially in the 
face his past two-to-three years 
of releases. Despite a steady flow 
of content while in prison, thanks 
to 
the 
haphazardly-slapped-

together nature of his many 
prison-era 
releases, 
a 
Gucci-

sized void was still glaringly 
present in Atlanta’s trap scene. 
The amalgamated image of what 
Gucci is as both a personality and 
a rapper slowly became muted in 
those absent years, taking away the 
authentic and bombastic aspects 
of his character from prominent 
public display. Everybody Looking 
eschews those mistakes, instead 
conveying Gucci in a light that 
wouldn’t be expected so soon 
after release from prison. He 
sounds clear, sober, healthy — but 
he also sounds strong, aggressive, 
and more full of life than ever. It’s 
the Gucci Mane we haven’t heard 
in years.

Despite Everybody Looking’s 

refreshing 
predisposition 

relative to Gucci’s past releases, 
it’s still necessary to observe 
the work through an objective 
lense. Gucci and his team’s past 
misjudgements don’t serve as a 
license for unabated praise. For 
all the charm Gucci serves on the 
record, the lack of aural variety 
can leave listeners longing for 
more. Zaytoven and Mike WiLL 
deliver with an arsenal of beats 
they had to have been saving for a 
project like this, but Gucci’s bars, 
as entertaining as they are, don’t 
seem to match the celebratory 
quality of production that backs 
them. Gucci isn’t known for 
being a master lyricist, but he’s 
had more memorable moments 
stringing together bars and verses 
on past tapes. Some fans might 

expect something next-level on 
a release like Everybody Looking, 
but those same fans probably have 
a history of having unreasonably 
high expectations too.

Even in the face of those 

critiques, Gucci’s homecoming 
project has an incomprehensibly 
charming gusto. Hearing Gucci 
happy, healthy and sober makes 
the 
album 
enjoyable 
purely 

on its own. It’s assurance that 
Atlanta’s rap godfather hasn’t 
left his patrons yet. It’s a promise 
that he has a lot more for us too. 
He makes playful and humorous 
jabs concerning his otherwise 
sordid 
upbringing, 
and 
he 

frames his rise to fame in ways 
that can only be described as 
fodder for inspiration. Gucci 
shows that prison matured him, 
both musically and personally, 
involving mainstream artists of 
rap’s new school with elements 
of the genre that Gucci can 
accurately call his own. It’s a 
message 
of 
redemption 
and 

success rather than simply being a 
piece of art — fitting, considering 
the kind of person Gucci is.

Everybody Looking isn’t Gucci’s 

magnum opus by any means. 
That’s probably not the point of 
it either, though. For an album 
hurriedly churned out in a matter 
of weeks, its quality exceeds the 
expectations it set for itself; for 
a rapper who’s had his fair share 
of trials and tribulations, it’s also 
an album that expresses a strong 
and resilient man whose best 
years are ahead of him rather 
than behind. Everybody Looking 
deserves a listen, not because it’s 
Gucci’s best yet, but because it’s a 
sobering message of the Gucci we 
have yet to see.

GUWOP ENTERPRISES/ATLANTIC

Y’all feeling Gucci?

PARAMOUNT

“I can make horseshit jokes when it’s logical!”

B+

Everybody 
Looking

Gucci Mane

Guwop Enter-
prises/Atlantic

FILM REVIEW
MUSIC REVIEW

B+

Star Trek 
Beyond

Paramount 
Pictures

Rave & Quality 16

