After what seems like an eternity the second trailer for Star Trek Beyond has landed, premiering at a fan event in the US in the early hours of Saturday morning, UK time.
Initially my thoughts on the new footage is that there has been a distinct move away from the action adventure and big explosions feel that pounded through every frame of the first trailer released many moons ago.
This is much more about character, about the crew and about a story than the first and the more subtle soundtrack works a treat to emphasise the direction.
"My dad joined Starfleet because he believed in it. I joined on a dare. You joined to see if you could live up to him...You spend all this time trying to be your father now you're wondering just what it means to be you." - McCoy
So the trailer opens on McCoy giving a heart to heart with Kirk about his position in Starfleet and what has led him to this point. There's a stunning little sequence of the Enterprise at warp as it pushes through the universe like never before and Kirk framed with the glow of a red alert hinting at the danger to come. From there we get a glimpse of what might be some giant starbase structure which resembles a city and the USS Enterprise docking with it. This is overlaid with a voiceover from Shoreh Agadashloo who only joined the cast during reshoots. We do get what may be an interior shot of that structure too and keep your eyes peeled for the Federation and Starfleet pennants that are at the bottom of the screen.
"It isn't uncommon you know. It's easy to get lost in the vastness of space. There's only yourself, your ship, your crew." - Shoreh Agadashloo
Insert shot of Kirk, McCoy and Spock looking up at what I can only surmise to either be the Enterprise repaired or its replacement with the doctor asking "So you really want to head back out there huh?". Given their outfits this definitely has to be from a later stage of the movie either the end or when they are (possibly) given the Franklin to rescue the crew. I'd plump for the former as they look way too happy for the latter!
Cue shot of Enterprise (from a rather unusual angle) heading out from what might be that starbase structure we see a few times in this trailer. You can just see it in a fraction of a second in the background. Suddenly though that calm is shattered by a sudden and seemingly unexpected attack on the Enterprise by a horde of ships that turn the starship into Swiss cheese in a matter of moments. Shots of Kirk, Scotty and Uhura declaring they are being boarded snap between flurries of starship destruction which push home the no-coming-back for the NCC-1701. We get our first look here at the alien armour worn by Krall's army as they board the starship firing as they go and just watch how that door is ripped open as they get onto the Enterprise. These guys are serious. Deadly serious.
We're treated to shots of Sulu, Chekov and McCoy making good their escape in one-man escape pods although Sulu's pod is picked up by one of those attacking ships. Looking at the fact we have most of the crew captured it could indicate this is how a lot of them are captured either before planetfall or while escaping.
Going from there we're shown the barren wasteland which is where the Enterprise crew are apparently marooned and it looks like a starship graveyard full of crumbling wreckage so the arrival of the Starfleet ship may not be unexpected to Krall.
"I know why you're here; why we are all here." - Jaylah
This brings in Jaylah (Sophia Boutella) as seen in the first trailer. She appears to team up with Scotty during her initial appearance and knows more than the trailer is letting us see. There's a reason everyone ends up on what I'll term as Krall's World and no one leaves it alive. There's a repeat of her combat skills from trailer one as well as a couple of nice character shots. The two aliens that she's fighting - of you freeze-frame - are the two that were pictured with director Justin Lin in one of the first promo shots for Beyond. Her scene with Scotty is revisited later when he reminds her that they can't be leaving his friends behind and also notes (on the Franklin bridge) that "everyone who goes there he [Krall] kills."
It does seem that the movie is being marketed with Jaylah very prominently part of the promotion at Cannes as well as on a limited edition poster given out at the fan event where the trailer was launched (which has close similarities to the poster for The Motion Picture). Spot later in the trailer where she's taking on Krall within the structure at the centre of that quarry-like prison camp. It's also the same one that Krall is examining data on Kirk on a matter of seconds after about 1:48 into the trailer. Minor reference that the Kirk in the holopic is wearing a uniform from the first two reboot movies with the lower collar. It also has his full name on there
Jaylah also gets the "last laugh" in the trailer, dropping herself on the captain's chair of the Franklin with no apparent respect for the chain of command. For note it's interesting how many comments I've seen that are getting excited about an NX Class ship being in the trailer. Similiar yes but not that class, the USS Franklin was unveiled (almost by accident) on a poster donors could receive for the competition to walk on the set last year. How that dynamic with Jaylah/Kirk will work has yet to be explored since any dialogue she's had has been with Scotty. "Our captain will come for us. Mercy will be the last thing on his mind." - Uhura
"I'm counting on it." - Krall
Uhura's encounter with Krall and her insistence that Kirk will come back for those he has left behind is very striking and emphasises that Zoe Saldana is still recognised as a major asset to the reboot. As with Jaylah she's been a strong component of the early marketing campaign and her romance is still on with Spock telling from the lingering kiss at 1:54. What race Krall is has not been announced. Suggestions so far have included Reman but I am inclined to suggest he's something new specifically for this movie. Good makeup though as I'd never guess it's Idris Elba under all that!
Follow that up with an attack by (what must be) Krall's armada on a Starfleet facility which could be that same starbase from earlier. It would tie everything together nicely and if you look in the background there are some rising structures that would support that theory. It's also see n later as a big space structure with what I can only describe as an atmosphere bubble as the Franklin approaches. That bubble might burst or be damaged which is why Kirk is airborne. That would hold up as if you look in the background of that scene there's a yellow shirt also flailing around in the sky. Result of an attack by Krall's ships? Definitely. I also think that the reason for his attack is that this starbase has encroached into territory that Starfleet have "claimed" and offers a secure position away from Earth for deep space explorers to return to rather than heading back to the home planet.
The situation is once again grim but luckily we're not needing the Beastie Boys not too much motor bike quarry jumping to heighten the excitement of this trailer. What is that effect that happens to Kirk on the bike though? Is that a time warp or is it a funky transporter? While it remains fairly scarce in detail and certainly chops around the sequence that the movie will come in there are some huge payout moments and a couple that are well worth rewinding and watching again.
Check out for instance the parts where Kirk is seemingly flying through the air to clutch at some sort of device above a cityscape. Is this Starfleet HQ? Is this also the same cityscape we see shortly after? Would that again be the same that we saw earlier in the trailer and if so, check out the logo at the top centre because it's embossed with the name Yorktown (credit to TheIrishTrekkie for noting this beauty!) Now that's a blatant homage to the original name for the Enterprise but I'd go as far to say it's the name of the space station structure that the Enterprise is docking with. "Death is what keeps us alive." - McCoy
Next up some brilliant shots of Kirk and Chekov escaping through the viewscreen of the crashed Enterprise saucer which we then get to see on fire as the pair have a sliding phaser fight down the primary hull.
Now here's a thing. Another shot of that cityscape has something being built above it and I'm going to make a bit of a leap here. Look at the angle of that arm. It seems like a white version of the Vengeance warp engine? Could the new Enterprise be something similar to that behemoth vessel from the 2013 movie? Maybe. It would also make sense that McCoy, Kirk and Spock are looking at it in that "get out there" clip right at the beginning of the trailer. How else would they pick up a ship so quickly?
"Unity is not your strength it is your weakness." - Krall
Also as the trailer runs to its end we have a planet fall of a circular object which could either be the Enterprise saucer on its way down or potentially the Franklin going atmospheric. Anyone else reminded of Generations with that part of the trailer?
The Franklin shows up quite a bit at the close of the trailer following a group standoff in the quarry (has to be the rescue since Spock is in his Franklin jacket and he's a slo injured) and we get to see the small starship skimming through the atmosphere and making its escape.
Close to credits and spot the fact that only Simon Pegg and Doug Jung are credited with writing this movie. Looks like all of the previous input was totally ditched then.
So, a great trailer that's more about Kirk finding himself and fully understanding his role as a captain rather than being the fish out of water we've had in 2009 and Into Darkness. From what I've see reaction to the trailer has been very positive and I think that the fan event that premiered it and 15 minutes of footage was key to build that belated excitement.
The event welcomed fans to a session where they were an audience to JJ Abrams, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Justin Lin. Plus at the even we discovered that the lawsuit against Axanar is being settled not dropped with some pushing from the Beyond director to make it happen. There will be consequences and conditions going forward however. Also the event saw a street at Paramount Pictures named after Leonard Nimoy and closed with the reveal of the first official Star Trek Beyond poster. Wow. What an event and certainly different to the overkill we received for the 2013 Khan reboot.
I'm definitely optimistic after this trailer as opposed to my feelings after trailer one. Good but still not blowing my mind. It seems to be heading in the right direction so with all the 50th anniversary announcements and our first teases of the 2017 series this is going to be a real big rollercoaster of a year for Star Trek and its fans.
What did you think to the trailer? What did you spot?
All images taken from Paramount Pictures trailer
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