This is, and I hate to be the one to point this out, also the plot of "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" and, like that travesty of a film, it just doesn't work.
Production designers Carol Spier (who has sometimes worked with del Toro) and Andrew Neskoromny (who hasn't, and whose filmography is in fact quite awful: set designer on Star Trek V: The Final Frontier ?
There has never been a bad movie featuring Captain Kirk and the gang, but “Star Trek Beyond” belongs with “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier” (1989) and “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” (1979) among the weaker entries.