2nd Star Trek Beyond Trailer Restores My Hope In Franchise

Early this morning Paramount Pictures released the second trailer for the next film in the Star Trek franchise, Star Trek Beyond.

Trailer 2:

Trailer 1:

Why I Was Worried After Trailer 1:

Star Trek has always stood on its own because it has never spoken down to its audience. Although the universe that J. J. Abrams created does rely heavily on action, it has always stood firmly in its roots as a space opera rather than a space action movie.

That is where trailer 1 went wrong. It inserted a rock song over the footage and relied on quick cuts and action to drive home the point that "this ain't your daddy's Star Trek." But we already knew that in 2009 when the first reboot came out. There was no need to "action it up" even more. The formula set by Abrams was perfect, and all Paramount needed to do was stick to that formula.

When J. J. Abrams left Star Trek Beyond to go to Star Wars VII, I was excited for him, but I was a little sad for the future of Star Trek. I grew up watching Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager with my father and I have always had a love for the universe.

After Abrams departure, Beyond went through a few script changes and another director before cementing with Justin Lin. Justin Lin is a great director, but he is mostly known for directing Fast 5 and Fast & Furious 6, and while those movies are popular, they are completely different from Star Trek films. So when trailer 1 was released and it showed a series of action set pieces, I was a bit worried at the direction they had gone.

Why I Still Had Hope After Trailer 1:

A trailer can sometimes be cut without input from the director or producers. It is usually a number of marketers in a room with a video editor cutting the trailer in a way that will appeal to mass audiences.

Then about 2 days after trailer 1 was released, Simon Pegg came out and said that the trailer does not accurately portray his script or the movie that was going to be released. Pegg plays Scotty in the new film and was also Star Trek Beyond's writer. He is a huge fan of everything nerdy, and he wanted nothing else than for the Star Trek franchise to be a big hit. That is why he stepped up to write the script and help guide the franchise in a successful direction.

So knowing that the trailer might not have been cut correctly and that Pegg was still behind the project, I did still have hope for this movie even after the 1st trailer was released.

Trailer 2 Restored All Hope:

As I stated before, Star Trek has never spoken down to its audience. It consistently tries to elevate our thinking and expand our horizons. It has done this over the decades by having compelling characters. The crew of the ships have always been the main focus in Star Trek, and this trailer showed that perfectly.

It showed us how this Captain Kirk is striving to live up to his father and at the same time trying to find himself. It focuses very heavily on all the crew, their unity, and the crisis that will have to overcome.

On top of that, Simon Pegg appears at the end of the trailer to promote Paramount's YouTube channel. Now... he may have done this because the studio was a little upset with him speaking out about the quality of the 1st trailer, but it also is a simple gesture to show his approval of this trailer and the movie that will follow. And for me, it definitely worked to keep my hopes high.

Conclusion:

I do realize that this trailer could have been the one that suffers from misdirectional editing and the first trailer could end up being more accurate to the film, but I want to hold out hope that Paramount understands the Star Trek community and will honor the films and series that have come before.

That's what I thought of Star Trek Beyond's 2nd trailer, what did you think? Leave your comments below, and remember to always keep it unpopped.

Paramount Pictures

Star Trek Beyond will be released in theaters on July 22, 2016 and stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, and Idris Elba.