Two Minutes Into Darkness

Wow.  We're really being spoiled this December.  First we get the teaser trailer and now we get nearly two minutes more of hunger-inducing action from Star Trek Into Darkness. It's been an on and off/stop start event for this trailer but's back on line TODAY

Once more the The Dark Knight Rises/Prometheus/Gladiator musical strains bring us into hazy focus of a cityscape,  most likely San Francisco followed by a flying shot through the Enterprise's gleaming corridors and the empty Cif-white bridge set all overlaid with a haunting monologue from Admiral Pike:

"There is greatness in you but there is not an ounce of humility. You think that you can't make mistakes but there's going to come a moment when you realise you're wrong about that. Then you're going to get yourself and everyone under your command killed."

As last time I'm not here to rate the trailer but to look at what it tells us particularly against the teaser we saw earlier this month.  I'm of two minds if the Admiral is warning Kirk or Harrison here.  It would make sense either way -  Kirk is putting his crew in mortal danger and could lose them all (cue TWOK-esque hand to hand on glass shot) or this is a speech from early in a prologue indicating what leads Harrison to his vengeance.  Overlaying a shot of Pine as Kirk just as the Admiral is talking looks like a classic distraction technique to move the audience into thinking it must be Kirk that he's talking about.

Nice to see that we're treated to a shot of all the cast including Chekov although did anyone else notice he's wearing Roadkill Red or was that just my feed playing up?! This would also hint that Pike is more likely to be talking about the Enterprise crew than Harrison and before we get to know the director's name (if we hadn't forgotten) we're shown the ceremony and fly-past again.  We can also add in there some extended scenes of Kirk and McCoy running through the red alien growth stuff. Not exactly giving up much in the way of plot Mr Abrams!!!

Big Question is; is this ceremony from the beginning and linked to Harrison's actions/treachery which motivates him for the movie or is that, the Federation flag-folding and the panning shot of rows of coffins (bit like Skyfall there) from the bitter end of the adventure and we may actually see one of the cast bite the proverbial dust?   (cue TWOK-esque hand to hand on glass shot - and yes that's its second mention in two paragraphs) Could they even be commemorating Harrison? Well, on closer freeze-frame (above) I think these could be stasis pods in a warehouse - are we seeing part of a prologue (Eugenics War) and this would suggest that it IS Khan??? Harrison IS just a codename (see previous blog on The Trailer Into Darkness)...or is this the end result of the film in a kind of Raiders of the Lost Ark warehouse moment? 

Just to drop a spanner in the warp drive as well, anyone notice the colour of the shirt on the nearside of that glass in the TWOK homage (below)?  It's not yellow...nor is is dress uniform grey...it's black.  Who else wears black in this trailer.....? What a twist to have Spock on the other side of the glass - is Harrison ultimately the person that saves the Enterprise and the memorial IS for him?! I NEED TO KNOW!!!

This trailer also has two distinct sections defined by the monologues from Pike and Harrison, separated by the "From Director JJ Abrams" moniker.  The former sets the scene, warns us of the threat to come and then we see exactly what that is.

"You think you're safe....You are not"

Immediately Cumberbatch drops into shot and the photo from earlier in the week is expanded so we see Harrison brig-bound.  I'm thinking it might be the Enterprise returning him to Earth.  Is his crew dead and he's the cause?  This looks early on and would suggest an escape attempt which could lead to the Enterprise taking to the water -  also slightly extended as per the Japanese trailer. This is probably all wrong but the pieces are there and in my mind it works that Harrison ditches the ship and then goes on a wrecking spree.    Mind-on-Possibility-Overload so they'd better be sending us another less convoluted trailer between now and Summer 2014!!!

Dr Who/Kidulthood actor Noel Clarke finally gets a blink-and-miss confirmation that he's in the film but doesn't give anything away as to what his role is however I might hypothesize that he is some kind of accomplice to Harrison. More interestingly what is the item he drops into the glass?  I can make out a "K" symbol on the bottom of a white cylinder but that's it, Trek fans.

There's a lot of space bound suited action with some unusual looking ships and serious explosive work going on including more of the fire planet from previous teaser pics and the first trailer. What is this all about and maybe this indicates that it's just a Starfleet vessel crashing and not specifically the Enterprise if rumours that the fleet gets trashed by Harrison are to be believed. What is Spock jumping off? What is Kirk firing at - notably his third distinct costume change from Starfleet yellow, combat clothes and what appears to be the dress uniform (no black though) as he shatters glass with a rifle shot (looks nothing like that "Where No Man Has Gone Before" version though...actually a lot cooler). Oh and there's some flashes of fisticuffs from Kirk and Harrison for good action measure. Phew!!!

"Is there anything you would not do for your family?"

Superhuman family perhaps, Mr Harrison? Speculation, speculation, speculation....

So that's it.  IMAX viewers get nine minutes if you see The Hobbit but for us mere mortals we can only wait...tick tick tick tick.....

Cue credits and the wait for our next taster installment!!! 

NOTE - as of the evening of December 17th this trailer was removed at the request of Paramount from the internet.  What is it that they don't want us to see??? It was available for about four hours before being pulled.  

Join me on Twitter @Clivos79