A few weeks ago, the first full trailer debuted for the film Star Trek Beyond which will be released in late July. I wasn’t fond of the teaser trailer that came out in December and I gave my thoughts on the film in my very first blog post in January. While I wouldn’t call this trailer incredible, I think it’s so much better than December’s teaser and is fairly good. I will embed the trailer here if anyone wants to see it before I give my thoughts on the trailer.
I’ll start off with the negative issues. I didn’t like it how Captain Kirk seemed to be implying to Dr. McCoy that he joined Starfleet for the wrong reasons. This looks like the filmmakers are still going with a Captain Kirk who is not mature enough. I know this is an Alternate Universe where things are different, but he’s been Captain for some time now, especially as this film takes place two and a half years into their five year mission. I really want to see this Captain Kirk having the leadership qualities we know and love, and still hope that at least some of that will be there in the film. I didn’t like the moment when Spock and Uhura kissed, as I don’t like it how in these recent films these two have a relationship. I do have some concerns the action in the film may be too fast paced and over the top.
I’ll now move on into the positives. I really like the shot of Captain Kirk, Spock and Dr. McCoy together as with the original characters, there was a great focus on the friendship between these three. It seems unlikely that this film will focus on that friendship, but it is good to see a moment between those three characters. The exchange between Spock and Dr. McCoy where Spock says “Fear of death is illogical” and Dr. McCoy’s reply “Fear of death is what keeps us alive” is a classic Spock-Dr. McCoy interaction. This film looks good visually with shots of the Enterprise, the swarm of enemy vessels, the underground prison, the zero gravity action on buildings and the Enterprise crashing towards the planet. I really like the new effect of travelling at warp speed. The villain Krall has an interesting alien accent.
I will suggest a theory of mine on where the plot could lead to in the film. This is a potential spoiler in case it turns out to be true, so if you are concerned this section may spoil the film for you, I recommend you skip this paragraph. My ideas will be italicised in the following section. Some of the crew meet a female alien named Jaylah on the planet. She could be really working for Krall. It can be seen in the trailer that Captain Kirk, Spock, Dr. McCoy, Scotty and Jaylah all end up on the old Starship USS Franklin that they found which they eventually get up and running, rescue the rest of their crew and go off into space. Krall may have hired her to pretend to be on their side and placed the USS Franklin on the planet knowing that they’d be able to get it up and running. In the trailer Jaylah says “Everyone who goes there, he kills” which could be a line said to make him look evil to them, thus making her appear good which would help her carry out her plan (similar to a deceptive tactic used at the end of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 2 when the enemy Jem’Hadar aliens were introduced). Krall could be setting up the Enterprise crew for a trap though Jaylah when they finally reach where it is that they’re going.
I’m not completely convinced I’ll like the film, but it does look good and made me get more excited about it with the hope that it can be a good film. Close to the end of next month all will be revealed.
