Trailer Trashin’: Kirk and Crew are Back in Star Trek Into Darkness

Oh my goodness, it’s almost here! After years of speculation, false starts, and delays, the release of the first part of The Hobbit trilogy is only a few short days away. And with such a big tent-pole release, the studios are rushing to attach previews to it, in order to create more awareness for their upcoming 2013 films. One such film is Star Trek Into Darkness, and that movie’s announcement teaser is the subject of this week’s Trailer Trashin’.

Premise: After being called back home, the crew of the Enterprise find a seemingly unstoppable force which has attacked Starfleet and left the planet in chaos. Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) and the crew of the Enterprise are tasked with leading the deadly manhunt to capture the party responsible and settle an old score.

My take: For the longest time, I was an outsider to the Star Trek franchise. While I caught the occasional part of an episode in TV reruns and had absorbed some knowledge through pop-culture osmosis, I had never watched any episodes or seen any of the movies. But that finally changed in the summer of 2009, when I saw Star Trek, the J.J. Abrams-directed reboot of the franchise. I loved the movie, and it gave me the impetus to finally check out the old shows and learn more about the franchise – although I still don’t think I’m knowledgeable enough to consider myself a Trekker/Trekkie. Anyway, it’s been three-and-a-half years since then, and Star Trek Into Darkness, the sequel to the Abrams film, is finally on the way. The film’s announcement teaser has arrived, and I think it looks pretty cool.

One of the big factors in why the Trek reboot worked so well was the great cast the filmmakers assembled. Fortunately, Chris Pine (Kirk), Zachary Quinto (Spock), Karl Urban (McCoy), Zoe Saldana (Uhura), Anton Yelchin (Chekov), John Cho (Sulu), Simon Pegg (Scotty), and Bruce Greenwood (Pike) are all reprising their roles. Obviously, the most notable new addition to the cast is Benedict Cumberbatch as the villain, whose identity is yet to be revealed; until it’s stated otherwise, I’m going to assume he’s Gary Mitchell from the Star Trek: The Original Series episode “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” Cumberbatch is an amazing actor, as anyone who’s seen his BBC series Sherlock can tell you, and I’m so happy that between this and doing the voice of Smaug in The Hobbit, he’s going to get some serious mainstream exposure. Also shown is Alice Eve as another yet-unnamed character; if Cumberbatch is indeed playing Gary Mitchell, then it makes sense to guess that Eve plays Elizabeth Dehner, a Starfleet science officer who also featured prominently in “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” Some other new people not seen here are Noel Clarke, Peter Weller, Joseph Gatt, Nolan North, and Heather Langenkamp, all of whom have not had their roles revealed.

I’m also impressed by the action on display here. Kirk and McCoy running through the red-colored vegetation and jumping off the cliff into the ocean. Spock in the hazard suit being lowered into an active volcano. A fight inside some kind of industrial ruins. The Enterprise emerging out of the water. Tons of sparks and explosions in spaceship interiors. And the building being destroyed in the city. It’s clear that they’re not holding back, and stuff is definitely going to get broken.

However, as jazzed as I am, there are a couple things that kind of bug me. The tone of this teaser is definitely on the dour side. While Star Trek does have its serious aspects, it also has adventure and humor, so I hope the filmmakers don’t go overly dark. And I have to say, for a Star Trek movie, I’m seeing a real lack of scenes in outer space so far. Of course, this is just an announcement teaser, so there’s still plenty of the movie that we haven’t seen yet.

But those small issues aside, I’m still excited by what we see here. I really enjoyed the last film, and I’m glad that a sequel is finally on the way. Anything that can help get more people into this franchise is okay in my book. And after seeing this teaser, I think that going to see Star Trek Into Darkness at the theater will be…logical.

ANTICIPATION: Helmsman, set a course for the nearest movie theater. Warp factor 1, engage.

Release Date: May 17^th, 2013

Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, Simon Pegg, Bruce Greenwood, Noel Clarke, Alive Eve, Peter Weller, Joseph Gatt, Nazneen Contractor, Anjini Taneja Azhar, Nolan North, and Heather Langenkamp
Director: J.J. Abrams
Writers: Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof, and Roberto Orci