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TRAILER: Star Trek Beyond

2016 sure seems to be shaping up to be an absolutely huge year for all us geeks (fixes glasses), with movies like Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Captain America: Civil War, and X-Men: Apocalypse (among many others) set to release. And what’s this? Another Star Trek movie too? Well kiss my grits and color me…hopeful. Yes friends, the trailer for the third film in the Star Trek reboot, which is really just a newly created timeline, has been released! But let’s not rejoice prematurely. We have our credibility to uphold and as such, let us now direct our eyeballs to said trailer before making any prejudgments. Look down with eyes…now:

I can’t argue with the Beastie Boys, but didn’t we hear that song in 2009’s Star Trek already? You know, in that fun little scene where the child James Kirk steals his step-father’s Corvette and (sobs) destroys it? Only Kirk can get away with that in my eyes, and what a great song to set the scene to. I suppose what we’re getting here in the new trailer is a brick over the head that says: “Remember this song from that movie you saw six years ago? Remember liking it? You’ll like this one too.” Will we?

I will admit that when the first film was announced I was skeptical, as I often am, but I was certainly surprised by J.J. Abrams‘ take on the beloved Star Trek franchise; I really liked the movie. Star Trek Into Darkness was good too, but I didn’t like it quite as much as the first, outside of Benedict Cumberbatch‘s performance as Khan, which I thought was really well done. Long time fans of Star Trek may have noticed that there was a bit more…flair in these new films, which while being somewhat of a departure from the source material of the 1960s television show, helped to garner some decent numbers at the box office and a bunch of new fans. But I digress, I really do.

The trailer for Star Trek Beyond appears to be, by far, the most action packed advertisement for anything Star Trek related that I have ever seen. Not that that’s a problem per se, but it leaves me feeling a bit…concerned. It might have something to do with the fact that Abrams is no longer directing, which might have something to do with him being busy with that other movie. Now, there are a lot of capable directors out there who would be happy to take on the Star Trek franchise, but why…why Justin Lin? Yes, the same Justin Lin who directed such classics as The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Fast & Furious, and Fast & Furious 6! I love fast cars as much as any human male who grew up on a diet of James Bond and The Dukes of Hazzard (NOT the movie), but I don’t really see the connection between motorsport pornography and Star Trek. If I am missing something here, feel free to educate me. I’ll wait. Got nothing? Thought so.

Thankfully the cast are back for Star Trek Beyond, which is great news since all the actors do a fine job in their respective roles, especially Karl Urban as McCoy if I may say so. We get a fairly humorous scene involving Spock and McCoy in the trailer, which I chuckled at. I find that some of the comedic moments in the new Star Trek films border on being parodic of the original series, but that doesn’t bother me all that much. Speaking of Spock, Leonard Nimoy‘s passing means we won’t be getting any scenes with “Spock Prime,” but perhaps there will be some sort of nod to Nimoy somewhere in the film. And before anyone calls me insensitive, I’d like to point out that the gaping hole in the cast Nimoy’s passing will leave in Star Trek Beyond pales in comparison to the hole left in the collective heart of humankind. As many times as it’s been said, we will always miss him. Back to the trailer.

The apparent destruction of the USS Enterprise leaves the crew stranded on an alien world full of, well, aliens! What is this new species? I do not recognize it. I was very happy that the Klingons were included in Star Trek Into Darkness, and I had hoped we would get to see more of them in this franchise. It’s possible that we will see some familiar faces and species in Star Trek Beyond, but this trailer seems to indicate that Kirk and the rest of the crew will be dealing with an alien race that is new to Star Trek. Hmm…I don’t know about this, I just don’t. Sofia Boutella makes an appearance in the trailer as a member of this mystery race and I can assure that I do not, for the tenth time, find anything attractive about female aliens in comics, movies, or video games (statement not 100% accurate). Idris Elba is set to play the villain in Star Trek Beyond, which I am very excited about given his tremendous acting chops, so we can mark that in the “positive” category.

So what does all of this tell us? We’re getting a new Star Trek with a cast that has been proven to work well for the franchise, that will be directed by a man who made his bones (pun intended) with a few racing flicks. It’s fair to say that some of the detractors of the newly rebooted franchise who have been saying the films contain too much action and not enough of the ‘Trek cornerstones might just have their day in the sun with the release of Star Trek Beyond. Especially if a certain 1970 Dodge Charger makes an impromptu appearance in the film’s climactic scenes. It is also fair to say that despite my fears I will be seeing this movie, along with many others who are fans of ‘Trek or not, and that no final judgement will be passed until that time. Be sure to check back here for said judgement after the film’s release.

What did you think of the trailer for Star Trek Beyond? Will the film live up to the standard of the rest of the franchise? Let us know in the comments section and on our Twitter page!

About the author

Robert Porter