This morning we have entered the final countdown for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” which SHOULD mean everyone else gets out of this juggernaut”s way and just lets history happen. Instead the opposite is happening. From “Independence Day” to “Star Trek Beyond,” sci-fi trailers are falling from the sky like CGI lens-flared rain, trying to get a piece of that sweet nostalgia pie.
The former gave pretty much exactly what you”d expect from a future two decades out from the “Independence Day” climax. We reverse engineered the alien tech and now the mothership is out for revenge. Fine. However, the trailer for “Stark Trek Beyond” is something else all together.
Let”s not beat around the bush: The J.J. Abrams “Star Trek” universe is divisive among the fandom. Many Trekkies believe – correctly – that the films have “dumbed down” the science-intensive side of the franchise in favor of action, witty quips, and explosions. So you have to wonder if putting Beastie Boys” “Sabotage” as the accompaniment for “Star Trek Beyond” isn”t Paramount Pictures trolling us a little bit.
If so? Well done, sirs and madams. I went into this trailer expecting to hate it and came out befuddled by my initial reaction which is: I kind of love this? Hear me out. The “Star Trek” movies and the “Star Trek” show have always been different animals. I spent many hours secretly watching “The Next Generation” when my parents weren”t looking. Peaceful negotiations and comedy-of-errors first contacts make for compelling television, holding up a mirror to society”s ills and making us long for a better, more inclusive tomorrow.
I love Star Trek but if Star Wars prequels taught us anything, it”s intergalactic politics make hella boring movies, at least until things start blowing up. Even Movie!Picard knows this, breaking the prime directive like it”s a Kit-Kat bar. It”s not elegant or progressive – and probably says something terrible about humanity as a whole – but we want to watch ships crash into each other in scientifically unsound explosions during space battle.
Plus, it”s an Alternate Universe anyway. Somewhere during the Parallels arc, this Kirk is their history. If it makes you feel better, imagine the Abrams Trek-verse is the one where the Federation is in shambles and the Enterprise crew would literally rather die than return.
Me? I”ll just be over here, watching this trailer again and imagining a future where “Sabotage” is classical music.
“Star Trek Beyond” arrives in theater on July 22, 2016.