Star Trek

From the moment it was pitched, JJ Abrams' new take on the adventures of the Starship Enterprise never had the Trekkies in its targeting computer.  

With a far larger audience available, the director's intention has been to make a rollicking sci-fi action adventure with all the elements that made Star Trek a hit so many years ago, but without pandering to the (nerd) logic that all Star Trek movies must be in canon.

It opens with the birth of Kirk, set against the backdrop of his father's heroic demise in a typically Abrams life-versus-death sequence (see Lost) and subsequently dipping into Kirk's life as a brash young upstart.

Angry at the world and lacking the purpose that his razor-sharp mind craves, it takes an invite from Bruce Greenwood's Captain Pike to get a twenty-something Kirk into Starfleet Academy, where he soon hooks up with the likes of Leonard 'Bones' McCoy (Karl Urban) and the stunning Lt. Uhura (Zoe Saldana).

Elsewhere, a young Spock (Heroes' Zachary Quinto) is coming to terms with his parentage - a rare case of a Vulcan having a human mother (Winona Ryder) resulting in constant bullying and emotional anguish.

His rapid rise through the Starfleet ranks mean that by the time Kirk turns up to beat Spock's training program, the logical one has already assumed the role of commander, putting him on a collision course with Starfleet's cockiest young recruit.

But this is no Full Metal Jacket. Eschewing the training that could have swallowed up half the running time, Abrams throws the new recruits into combat within the first hour and elects to build up the characters from there. He pulls off the balancing act admirably.

Having nipped back in time to bump off Kirk's dad and a selection of planets, Eric Bana's time-hopping Romulan turns up again to deal with the young Kirk and co, kick-starting a series of events that eventually sees the young/old faces taking over the bridge of the Enterprise and taking on the Romulans on their own.

This is impressive stuff. Abrams moves the plot at breathtaking speed, yet still has time to feature heroic acts from all the original show's key players.

Action sequences are gloriously realised in bouts of marvellous special effects, while the airtight script and inch-perfect performances - particularly Urban's Bones, replete with 'Dammit Jim!' one-liners  - give credence to a movie that could have easily become a laughing stock.

There are minor quibbles - not least the Enterprise appearing to be in the hands of the Hollyoaks cast for half the movie - but the rapid-fire nature of the action, be it indigenous monsters, Simon Pegg's Scotty in a drainpipe or one of the numerous space battles, leaves no time to ponder such concerns.

And then there's Quinto's embodiment of Spock - better, in fact, than that of the doddering Leonard Nimoy whose cameo elicits just enough affection from the audience to forgive his almost comedic appearance.

Fanboys will complain at the time-jumping set-up which will certainly free the franchise from the shackles of Star Trek history, but they will be in the minority.

Star Trek is a bold adventure, and anyone that says otherwise should find a convention to go to.

Rich Phippen