So this was unexpected.
The final trailer for Star Trek Beyond, the third film in what was unofficially the “Abramsverse” but is now officially the “Kelvin timeline“, has a power ballad from Barbadian songstress Rihanna called “Sledgehammer”.
According to a new video (see below) Riri is a long time Trekkie and was introduced to the franchise by her father. She describes the song as “emotional, dramatic and haunting at the same time”.
Now unlike the Bond franchise Star Trek music has been confined to its iconic instrumental themes. But in the new trailer the pulse pounding tune lends itself well to the building drama.
The new trailer (also in the video below) begins similarly to the previous trailer, with Kirk talking about his dad and following in that legacy with Bones. Then we get a few images from first film before the fireworks start.
The action scenes includes the Enterprise being shredded by those tiny ship things, ship battles, phaser blasting, those reptilian aliens blasting, more of badass alien girl beating up people, Uhura fighting, Uhura screaming, and escape pods launching while Kirk delivers his “last report”.
Then we see Kirk on the bridge declaring “let’s make some noise” and Sulu shouting “hold on to something” while the ship escapes from flames to Rihanna’s refrain “I hit a wall” hitting a crescendo. It was all some epic stuff.
While Fast and the Furious director Justin Lin does seem to be bringing a lot of action the trailer does show off some cool looking aliens on an alien planet, lending hope that we do get to do some exploring on this mission. And the movie does seem to be going where no previous movie has gone before *cough cough Star Trek Into Darkness cough cough* and that is a good thing for both Trekkies and non-Trekkies. And the film takes on a new significance as it is one of the final performances of actor Anton Yelchin (Pavel Chekov) who died on June 19. Star Trek Beyond opens in the US on July 22.
So how do you feel about “Sledgehammer” as the theme for Star Trek Beyond? Feel free to comment below.
For my review on the previous trailer you can click here, you can click here for my list of top 12 Star Trek flicks and for more Riri you can check out her voicing role in the animated Home here. And for more movie voyages of the Starship Redmango you can follow me on Twitter @suprememango012 or subscribe via e-mail. Julien is outie like a navel. l8rs.
NB – All photos courtesy Paramount Pictures