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In a word: Wow! JJ Abram’s prequel (well not quite, but more on that in a moment) to the tired and inconsistent Star Trek movie franchise is not only one of the best films in the series but a fantastic space-faring action blockbuster in its own right.

In a daringly clever move, Abrams and scriptwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have vengeful Romulan miner Nero (Bana) travel back in time and begin his mission against the Federation by destroying the starship USS Kelvin. The captain and his first officer, George Kirk, are killed in the attack, but not before Kirk’s pregnant wife escapes, giving birth to a son they name James Tiberius. And so in one fell swoop, James T Kirk is born into an entirely new timeline where anything is possible and the filmmakers have rid themselves of the need to conform with a formidable 43 years worth of established but bloated Trek canon.  

In this new backstory, Jim Kirk (Pine) still grows up in rural Iowa, where he becomes a wild (yet reportedly genius) twentysomething, content to steal cars and start bar fights with Starfleet cadets before he is convinced to enroll in the academy himself. Meanwhile, on the planet Vulcan, the half-human Spock (Heroes’ Quinto) endures bullying as a child and blatant racism from the Vulcan elders as an adult before heading to Earth and Starfleet himself, where the familiar cast of characters – Dr Leonard McCoy (Karl Urban), Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Sulu (John Cho), Chekov (Anton Yelchin) and Scotty (Simon Pegg) – begins to assemble. Without giving too much away, Spock’s conflict with the headstrong Kirk is unavoidable and it is the evolution of this relationship, from rivalry for the affections of Uhura to eventual friendship, forged during the inevitable battle with the crazed Nero aboard the USS Enterprise, that creates some of the best scenes in the film.

Abrams has done more than simply recast the ageing characters with fresh young faces for a new generation, he has reinvigorated and reinvented the entire Trek mythology. While existing fans will surely get a kick from seeing a young Kirk pass the infamous ‘no-win’ Kobayashi Maru test and finding out how ‘Bones’ McCoy got his nickname, those of us new to Trekking can simply enjoy a funny, action-packed and yet character-driven summer blockbuster that shows Hollywood movie-making at its best.

Star Trek – The IMAX Experience runs until 4th June at BFI IMAX (Waterloo).