On paper, it might seem like another hollow, desperate grab for cash from Hollywood: get a "hot" young filmmaker and revitalise one of the studio's biggest cash cows. Hollywood loves a sure thing, and amongst moviegoers and sci-fi fans, Star Trek is an instantly identifiable "brand". Something wonderfully strange and surprising has happened here though: that "hot" young director, J.J Abrams, is actually highly talented, and this is not a project rolled out on autopilot.

Star Trek bristles with energy and excitement, and you can practically sense the enthusiasm with which this film has been approached by everyone involved. The screenplay by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman is imaginative and highly respectful of the many years of mythology attendant to Star Trek; the performances are rock-solid across the board; and TV vet Abrams (he's the creator of Lost, Felicity and several others) brings the same energised approach to the material that he did with his propulsive big screen directorial debut Mission: Impossible III.

As the film begins, we meet the youthful versions of the beloved Star Trek original crew - calm, logical and super intelligent half-alien Spock (Zachary Quinto); the cocky Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine); the cantankerous, pessimistic Dr. "Bones" McCoy (Karl Urban); the excitable Scotty (Simon Pegg); the slightly wet-behind-the-ears Chekov (Anton Yelchin); the stoic Sulu (John Cho); and the strong, fiercely independent Uhura (Zoe Saldana) - while they're in training at Starfleet Academy. Still learning the ropes, their lives are thrown into turmoil with the arrival of the villainous Nero (surprise casting choice Eric Bana is dazzling in bad guy mode), a very, very angry Romulan with an axe to grind, and a vendetta against one of the crew.

Without revealing too much, the appearance of the old Spock (Leonard Nimoy) also plays a major role in the film, and he's not in there just for a throw-away cameo. Old Spock is instrumental in the film's greatest gamble, and it pays off in spades. His participation allows Abrams to "reboot" the Star Trek franchise in a literal, narrative sense. It's nothing short of a masterstroke, and is indicative of why Star Trek works so well: the filmmakers are reverent of what has come before, but they're not afraid to bust out on their own. There's much of the "old" Star Trek here (there's lots of bizarre humour; the excellent cast of young actors hit all the right notes, never simply just aping the actors who made their characters; and there are plenty of perfectly placed in-jokes), but fortunately this eye-popping, funny, and wonderfully entertaining film isn't afraid to head off into exciting new frontiers.

GET MORE:
Watch the trailer.
Watch our interview with Eric Bana
Watch our interview with Chris Pine & Zachary Quinto