While the announcement trailer (which is something studios are doing now) was decidedly dark, there’s a shining kind of hope in this new look at Star Trek Into Darkness (via iTunes) even as the Tom Waits Lite voice of Benedict Cumberbatch issues threats and Bruce Greenwood tells Chris Pine‘s Captain Kirk that his arrogance is going to be his (and everyone around him’s) downfall.
Maybe it’s because we’re given glimpses of those people, crew members that we’ve already come to know and care about from the first movie. Or maybe there’s cause for celebration with the scope of this film. Or maybe it’s just because it isn’t as dark as it could have been.
Why does it need a little light? Because the universe has got it. I don’t say that in the too-passionate fan way where every detail and tone has to be recaptured, but there’s a danger with all movies (in all genres) of becoming too bleak and alienating itself and the audience from how life really looks at any given time. For there to be this much darkness, there had better be some dawn. And maybe some puffy hands tossed in for good measure.
A final thought here since we’re not allowed to post anything about Star Trek Into Darkness without mentioning the mystery surrounding the villain’s identity: it’s a good thing he’s still a secret. It’s the kind of thing that makes me absolutely giddy — knowing that in this craven age of too much information and scoopers looking for any tidbit about a big movie that will get them a bit of notoriety, Abrams and company have made their movie the most talked about for 2013 while keeping something big from people who are making it bigger.
Personally, I don’t particularly care what Cumberbatch’s villain’s name is. I just want the movie to replace my mind with a black hole and put a dropped jaw on my face.