Happy Trails: "Star Trek Into Darkness"

An Experiment: I'd like to take a look at the advertising campaigns for certain movies, and how I feel they're either successful or not. A good place to start, in my mind, was 2013's Star Trek Into Darkness. 

The Film:
I like Star Trek Into Darkness. In fact, I like it more each time I see it. I'm a huge Star Trek fan, and I loved the 2009 film, so I was predisposed to see this one. But I have to admit, the advertising campaign for the film did little to entice me. I had to rely on my general feeling of excitement about new Star Trek to really feel much of anything before the film was released.

Let's talk about why.

The Posters:

 

First we have this rather apocalyptic shot of Benedict Cumberbatch, San Francisco burning behind him. "Earth will fall," we are told. 

Next up, one of the film's general release posters featuring the Enterprise crashing toward the Earth. This image was also featured on the soundtrack album cover and some of the home video release covers.

Four character posters released separately and in one large banner featuring Kirk, Uhura, Spock and Khan. 

Another banner poster. There were a lot of similar posters featuring the characters in dramatic action poses.

So what about these posters is problematic? Personally, I don't think they represent either the film or Star Trek all that well. Aside from the bold colors on the third poster, all of these images are fairly generic. Removing the Star Trek Into Darkness logo and one might not even guess from some of them that this is a Star Trek film.

But posters aren't really the most egregious part of this film's dull advertising campaign.

The Trailers:

What do these trailers do? Their major crime is that when you think about it, they really do kind of give away the entire film. All those shots of the ship crashing into San Francisco? The shots of Spock and Khan in San Francisco? The Enterprise falling apart as it enters the atmosphere? 

All that stuff is from the climax of the film. In their hopes of giving us the big money shots that will lure us into the theatre, the trailer editors did us a disservice because now we've seen a little bit of literally every major sequence in the movie. The film's major plot twist was one of the worst-kept secrets on the Internet in 2013, and the "kitchen sink" approach to the trailers wasn't helping anyone.

It's a problem too many movies suffer from these days - the trailer has almost become a condensed version of the film itself, rather than something designed to get us interested in seeing it. 

Coming out of the film, I found myself frowning, thinking about how the trailers had really shown me a lot of what I had just seen, and I didn't feel surprised about it. My general reaction to the movie was, "That's about what I expected." When I saw the film a second time, I enjoyed it a lot more. 

Star Trek Into Darkness is definitely an action film, no doubt about it. But it is also a Star Trek film, steeped in the lore of that universe as well as its common themes and social commentary. It is a bit darker than its 2009 predecessor, but it's also a colorful movie full of humor. Very little of that is represented in the posters or the trailers for the film, and worse, the trailers essentially give away all the big sequences. (And, hell, some of Benedict Cumberbatch's ominous lines aren't even in the movie.) Why should anyone bother to see the film after that? I went because I love Star Trek and because I had faith the team behind the 2009 film had made another movie I would enjoy, but not because of the advertising campaign.

I approached the movie with trepidation because of these factors. 

Happy Trails: "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" (2012)

I hope this movie is as awesome as the sheer absurdity of its premise suggests.  I haven't read the book, and honestly I didn't even make it through "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" so I haven't really explored this historical horror parody genre very much.  Still, this looks like it might have some sweet action and if it can get the right tone, it might just be a lot of fun.

Happy Trails: "The Amazing Spider-Man" (2012)

This trailer does whatever a spider can.

Forgive my crappy pun, but man, this one looks great.  Darker and more serious than the Tobey Maguire/Sam Raimi pictures from the last decade, but still fun and exciting.  I've been a little wary about rebooting this franchise already, but this trailer nearly wipes out those fears.  It's interesting that this film seems to explore Peter's parents, a concept usually ignored in both the comics and in adaptations to other media. And so far, it's looking like Andrew Garfield is going to be a great Peter Parker, and I'm always up for having Emma Stone around.

Happy Trails: Super Bowl Edition (2012)

Another year, another football championship.  And another batch of promos for this year's upcoming blockbuster tent-pole films.

First up, Paramount's "The Dictator" -

Sacha Baron Cohen of "Borat" fame stars in this comedy about a silly Middle Eastern dictator.  I don't know too much about this one, but parts of this spot look reasonably funny.  I did enjoy "Borat," and Cohen was pretty funny in "Talledega Nights" with Will Ferrell.  Here's hoping.

Next, Paramount's "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" -

The Rock quotes Jay-Z in this one.  Not too much in the way of new footage, and I still don't know much about this film in general.  But it looks like it has some impressive action sequences, and the potential of the Rock teaming up with Bruce Willis is exciting to say the least.

Here's Disney's "John Carter" -

Based on the pulp novels, "John Carter" adapts "A Princess of Mars" and gives it a way lamer name.  I really dig the epic rearrangement of Zeppelin's "Kashmir," and it does look like a cool movie... I'm just not sure how much in common it really has with the book.

Happy Trails: "The Dark Knight Rises"

I've spoken about movie trailers in relation to the final films in my posts before.  In this new series, I will be talking about new trailers for upcoming movies. Trailers give us a glimpse into a film, sometimes accurately, sometimes not, to help us decide whether we want to see it.




There are two previews out now for Christopher Nolan's hightly-anticipated "The Dark Knight Rises," sequel to "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight."  Firstly, there is a theatrical trailer attached to prints of "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows."  Secondly, there is a six-minute opening sequence playing before IMAX showings of "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol."

Both of these things are awesome.


Firstly, "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight" are both excellent flicks.  They have some flaws, to be sure, but the joy I've experienced watching both over and over has never begun to wane.  So to say that I'm excited for "The Dark Knight Rises" is a bit like saying that the opening of "Saving Private Ryan" depicts a minor skirmish in a limited conflict.

Happy Trails: "Battleship"

I've spoken about movie trailers in relation to the final films in my posts before.  In this new series, I will be talking about new trailers for upcoming movies. Trailers give us a glimpse into a film, sometimes accurately, sometimes not, to help us decide whether we want to see it.

 

 Uh... So I've played "Battleship," and I really don't recall aliens being part of it.  Like, ever.  This is a really strange direction to take this franchise.  It obviously wants to capitalize on the success of Michael Bay's "Transformers" films, which to date have brought in over two and a half billion dollars at the box office.  But more than just saying "from the dudes who brought you 'Transformers,'" the trailer for "Battleship" actually seems to crib a lot of the style of those films, as well.

Happy Trails: "GI Joe: Retaliation"

I've spoken about movie trailers in relation to the final films in my posts before.  In this new series, I will be talking about new trailers for upcoming movies. Trailers give us a glimpse into a film, sometimes accurately, sometimes not, to help us decide whether we want to see it.



"G.I. Joe: Retaliation" is the sequel to 2009's "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" directed by Stephen Sommers.  "Retaliation" is directed by Jon M. Chu, and features almost an entirely different cast from the original.