Film Preview: Star Trek Beyond (2016)

Page Revisions:

(December 20, 2015) Original
(May 29, 2016) New Trailer (#2) / New Posters (#1-#6)
(July 3, 2016) New Trailer (#3) / New Posters (#7-#12) / Replaced No Synopsis with Vague Synopsis
(July 17, 2016) New Poster (#13)

Release Date:

July 22, 2016

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “The USS Enterprise crew explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a mysterious new enemy who puts them and everything the Federation stands for to the test.”

Poster Rating: C / F / C- (9) / D / F

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Review: (#1) An assault of unnecessary color and what appears to be excessive lens flare-like effects. While the design isn’t exactly awful, it’s certainly not attractive. (#2) This is corny as hell and there’s no other way to describe it. The colors are awful, the title placement is cheesy and there’s nothing of merit to give the design a higher grade.

(#3-#11) A series of colored character posters that fit the uniforms of the stars, but don’t really excite the mind, especially with the repurposed communicator lighting and crappy alien invasion motif. (#12) I guess if this character is interesting to you, having her full-page visage is perfect. For most everyone else, it’s not that good.

(#13) It’s another shapeless, unflattering design like #2, but with significantly less color.

Trailer Rating: C- / C+ / B-

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Review: (#1) Doubling down on the action-heavy nature of the rebooted franchise, Star Trek Beyond promises to destroy the U.S.S. Enterprises followed very quickly by splitting up the team and making them fair for themselves. That doesn’t sound very Trek-like, but with no J.J. Abrams at the helm, it’s possible, slightly possible, the action-oriented elements of the trailer won’t be as dispiriting when put into the context of the film.

(#2) We’re finally getting some more details about the film’s plot, but every element in this design suggests a film that continues to go astray from the core concepts that made Star Trek great. The film’s visuals remind more of a Michael Bay film than a film that might cater to or at least appease fans of the television series.

(#3) The trailers are giving more glimpses into the premise and while a lot of it seems stuck in the recent films’ wheelhouses, there are minor elements that suggest a film that might please the fans who are tired of superficiality and betrayal of purpose.

Oscar Prospects:

The first reboot received four Oscar nominations, taking home the series’ first for Best Makeup. The second film earned a single nomination for Best Visual Effects. Either this one will follow the path of the predecessor or it will be utterly ignored. A lot depends.