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SALT LAKE CITY — J.J. Abrams' next Star Trek adventure is creeping ever closer and the announcement that the first trailer would be attached to "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" has fans on the edge of their seats.
The trailer is just about two weeks away, but the first teaser poster for "Star Trek Into Darkness" is now online and the first thing that came to mind when we saw it was, "Well, this looks familiar."
Before we get into that, let's break down the poster a bit.
Visually the teaser poster is striking. The "Into Darkness" part of the title is very apparent here. The poster seems to be completely void of color except for the hints of orange fire coming from the corners.
It's not clear who the man in the poster is, but it appears to be Benedict Cumberbatch, the new film's villain.
An official synopsis for "Star Trek Into Darkness" was released last week and this is what we can expect:
"In Summer 2013, pioneering director J.J. Abrams will deliver an explosive action thriller that takes ‘Star Trek Into Darkness.' When the crew from the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis.
"With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew."
While the villain has not been made official, many have speculated that this "one man weapon of destruction" is Gary Mitchell.
Mitchell appeared in the original series as a friend and fellow crewmember of Kirk. In the episode Mitchell gains unearthly powers and uses them for evil.
If Cumberbatch is indeed Mitchell, according to the poster it appears he has taken out a building, likely Starfleet, and its surrounding city. Could be fun.
While the poster is visually striking it looks all too familiar.
We have people complaining to us all the time that Hollywood is out of original ideas and it appears that their poster makers are just as unoriginal.
If you feel like you've seen this poster before it's because you have. You saw it when the title on the poster was, "Battleship," "The Raid: Redemption," "Battle Los Angeles," "Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief," "The Dark Knight," "Inception," "Tron: Legacy," and "Cowboys & Aliens" instead of "Star Trek Into Darkness."
Even the poster for the summer blockbuster "The Dark Knight Rises" originally used destroyed buildings to create the franchise's logo. So, the one bright spot of the poster, the space being used to create the Stafleet logo, also appears to be stolen.
All of the posters look pretty sharp, but it's becoming a tired theme. I believe it's time we starts seeing some more original posters like the ones from "The Ides of March," "127 Hours," and "Drive." It's just a coincidence that two Ryan Gosling posters ended up on that list. I promise.
Anyway, even though the poster is unoriginal doesn't mean the movie will be bad. For example, "Inception," "The Dark Knight," and "The Raid: Redemption" were all excellent films with tired posters. So, let's hope "Star Trek Into Darkness" follows the lead of those films.
"Star Trek Into Darkness" is scheduled to hit theaters May 17, 2013.
What do you think of the plot synopsis and the new poster? Are you excited to see the movie? Let us know on the comment boards, Facebook or send me an email.