Justin Lin is at the helm of Star Trek Beyond, now that J.J. Abrams is devoted to that other Star-titled sci-fi super-franchise. This latest entry in the rebooted Star Trek universe looks more straightforward and fun than Star Trek Into Darkness. No rehash of the Khan storyline, no needless “mystery”, and hopefully no needlessly manipulative false death of an iconic character that gets undone about ten minutes later. Nothing but aliens and action. Lots of action. Which, okay, is one of the common complaints about the reboot from longtime Star Trek fans, that the action aspect has all but overtaken the whole exploration aspect of the series–you know, the part where they’re supposed to be “trekking” between the stars. But who has time for space diplomacy and discovery when you have 30,000 aggressive spacecrafts swarming over you?
If there’s one thing Justin Lin is good for, it’s keeping things kinetic. Hell, some of these shots of the Enterprise overwhelmed by enemy fighters looks like one of those insane, “bullet hell” video games brought to live action. Aside from that, nothing really jumps out about this trailer, other than just how clean and effective it looks. It doesn’t spoil much of the story–or hell, virtually any of it–it doesn’t have an annoying soundtrack consisting of synth-orchestra horns blaring or some stupid, ironically slowed down cover of a pop song, it doesn’t sport any sketchy effect shots or ridiculous dialogue, and it doesn’t promise anything more or less than what the film is supposed to deliver. I know I’m setting the bar low by complimenting this trailer for simply being competent but, well, it’s just really competent and enjoyable. It doesn’t make me eager to see Star Trek Beyond, but it makes me reasonably curious about it. Mission accomplished.
Star Trek Beyond comes to theaters July 22nd.
