Magazine Analysis 1 - Empire Star Trek review

This double page spread is Empire Magazine's double page spread review of Star Trek : Into Darkness. Star Trek is a very popular and iconic Sc-fi franchise and Into Darkness is the sequel to the reboot film that brought the classic series to a modern audience. Empire is a populist magazine that covers mainstream films and art films and in particular major Sc-fi action films such as this one.


This double page review has an interesting layout, the vast bulk of text is in the far right of the spread and is in 2 long columns, which means the reader would have to skim through the imagery before getting to the text which would keep the audience interested and not put off by bulked text. The text it's self is in a fairly simplistic format and is spaced into paragraphs so it doesn't appear too much.

The image they have chosen features two of the main protagonists displayed in a two shot from the film Cpt Kirk and Spock, both are very iconic characters who would create nostalgia for fans of the classic franchise. They both have heroic concentrated facial expressions which would suggest they are engaged in intense situation. The background of the picture is very clean and modern so it's safe to assume it a Sc-fi space ship environment most likely the Enterprise.

 In the bottom left corner there is a list of 4 notable points from the film, which is a feature included in all Empire magazine reviews. It features a list of things to look out for in the film and trivia to engage the audience and offer interesting facts that other film review sources do not provide giving Empire magazine a unique edge.

Both pages have a black border going around the edge. The top layer features the Empire magazine ident in the top left corner, and the date in the opposite corner, pretty basic information that isn't related to the film. The banner at the bottom features the Empire tagline for their film reviews that is featured in every film article.