Star Trek Beyond

                                “Star Trek Beyond” looks like a corny, 
frantic mess: This is supposed to distract us from “Star Wars” mania?   
                         

    					    
                                With J.J. Abrams handing directing 
duties to Justin Lin, it's hard to be too confident about this new 
trailer                            

    					    Scott Timberg

                                 (Credit: Paramount Pictures)
                            

                                                                        It’s
 hard to think of another minute-and-a half that could set the Internet 
on fire like this. But in what looks like a naked attempt to keep the 
hype around “Star Wars” from blasting everything else out of the 
heavens, Paramount has released the first trailer
 from “Star Trek Beyond.” And while it’s always hard to get a full sense
 of a movie from these brief, chopped-up excerpts, it seems likely that –
 even by the standards of summer sci-fi blockbusters — this one is aimed
 squarely at amped-up teenage boys.This
 is the third film since J.J. Abrams rebooted what seemed like a tired 
franchise, bringing in Chris Pine as James T. Kirk, Zachary Quinto as 
Spock, and Zoe Saldana as Nyota Uhura. Abrams directed the first two – 
“Star Trek,” from 2009, and “Star Trek Into Darkness,” from 2013. This 
time, his hands full with “Star Wars,” he’s back as producer; Justin Lin
 directs.So
 what can we tell from the trailer? The main plot point shows Kirk 
stranded on a planet with neither crew nor ship, trying to figure out 
his way back. Besides that, it looks like there will be lots of dumb, 
smug humor pegged to explosions and other special effects. It all plays 
out over the Beastie Boys song “Sabotage,” which made an appearance in 
the 2009 “Star Trek” and which Spike Jonze’s immortal video turned into a
 ‘70s cop-show complete with bad mustaches. Nothing in the new “Star 
Trek” improves on those: This just looks like generic junk. (Iris Elba, 
who plays a villain, doesn’t show up in the trailer, sadly.)
What 
little we see of the dialogue comes mostly from the hall of action-movie
 clichés: “Well played!” one character offers. (Isn’t it time to retire 
that phrase yet?) When Pine’s Kirk falls abruptly onto a the floor of 
the ship, he breathes, “Okay, let’s never do that again.” As a character
 commences a fight scene: “Let’s hope this doesn’t get messy.” All 
that’s missing is a character yelling – after an abduction or similar 
catastrophe – “This isn’t my day!”

                                
                            
                    We’ve known for months now that Justin Lin – who 
helmed the last few “Fast and Furious” sequels — would be directing. He 
has a following: The team behind “True Detective” brought him in to 
direct two episodes of the messy and misfired season two. But he still 
comes across like a hack who blows things up when he’s not sure where 
else to go.
Trailers obviously compress action and everything else
 into a small, tight space. So maybe the ensuing film will be a model of
 toleration and scientific speculation like the ‘60s television series.
Some
 viewers are pleased with what they’re seeing here. “The Trailer for 
Star Trek Beyond Promises a Return to the Spirit of 2009’s Star Trek,” says Slate’s Laura Bradley. Abrams
 and his crew certainly brought some pop culture mojo and a quicker pace
 to “Star Trek” with their first film. But that 2009 trailer,
 like the film itself, is largely about responsibility and making peace 
with the past: It hinges on Kirk committing to the tradition of his 
father – enrolling at Starfleet Academy, becoming less reckless, 
eventually taking over command of the Enterprise. Looking at it now, it 
seems a bit portentous and a little close to the journey Luke Skywalker 
took toward the good side of the Force. But it gave that movie some 
emotional reference points and a larger mythic structure.
The 
trailer for the new one, by contrast, shows very little at stake except a
 series of one-liners. Maybe the movie will be gripping, but this one 
has us wondering what else is opening in July — or if it’s not too late 
to drag Abrams back to direct the next one.